New Dock Suggestions

[Swanpoint guy]

Forum experts...
We moved to the lake 3 years ago and our cottage had a dock that was surviving on duck tape and luck. We are looking at getting an up to date seasonal dock for next season. Which company would you suggest or recommend for building a new dock. We plan on staying at the lake for a long long time, so quality is most important. Also, should we work with the dock company for our DES permit - or could someone suggest a lawyer that specializes in that area.

[Diana]

We love our Watermark dock. They did a beautiful job integrating it into the shoreline. The did all the permitting for us and it was painless.

[tis]

Forum experts...
We moved to the lake 3 years ago and our cottage had a dock that was surviving on duck tape and luck. We are looking at getting an up to date seasonal dock for next season. Which company would you suggest or recommend for building a new dock. We plan on staying at the lake for a long long time, so quality is most important. Also, should we work with the dock company for our DES permit - or could someone suggest a lawyer that specializes in that area.

Just your last comment is pretty sad isn't it. The thought that one might have to hire a lawyer to get a permit for a dock.

[EllyPoinster]

I'd recommend that you take a look at an FWM dock (http://www.fwmdocks.com/fwm-docks/aluminum-pole-driven-docks/). I particulary liked their track system for mounting accessories such as cleats and bumpers which allows them to be easily moved from one location to another. FWM Docks are manufactured in Nashua, NH.

[fatlazyless]

My old aluminum dock which must be original to the 1950's or 1960's is so danged old and rickety that it is loosing its' rivets. It gets shaky with the motorboat waves, and the other day I put on a dive mask and snorkel and picked up about 15 lost aluminum rivets off the bottom.

I plan on keeping this 30' old rickety aluminum dock and fixing it forever.....it's a classic ....and very different than the late model aluminum docks. Old aluminum docks never die.......they just pop their rivets and get a little wave-shaky which gives them a swing & sway type of a personal movement...........as it grows old......it starts to lose its grip on stability? .. :D:laugh::D

[dan]

I'd recommend that you take a look at an FWM dock (http://www.fwmdocks.com/fwm-docks/aluminum-pole-driven-docks/). I particulary liked their track system for mounting accessories such as cleats and bumpers which allows them to be easily moved from one location to another. FWM Docks are manufactured in Nashua, NH.

My neighbor and I have had FWM Docks for at least 8 yrs. IMO they were the best on the market. Their service is also great. Our dock is one of the ones featured on their brochure. Pete Williams of Winnisquam Dock puts it in and out every year. He is a dealer for FWM. His cell phone # 603-630-5264. PM me if you want more info.

[codeman671]

Forum experts...
We moved to the lake 3 years ago and our cottage had a dock that was surviving on duck tape and luck. We are looking at getting an up to date seasonal dock for next season. Which company would you suggest or recommend for building a new dock. We plan on staying at the lake for a long long time, so quality is most important. Also, should we work with the dock company for our DES permit - or could someone suggest a lawyer that specializes in that area.

If you have sufficient frontage (75'+) and are doing single dock you can file a Permit by Notification yourself. No need to go through the complete process. Anything more involved than that will require your first born to be surrendered.

[Swanpoint guy]

We have sufficiant frontage to do a 3-4 slip dock, and we want a cloth canopy to keep the blueberry bird poop off the boat. (I will miss washing it off every weekend). We will need a dock company that knows the permit process. We have talked to a couple of dock groups that made the permit process sound very complicated and unpredictable. That is why I asked about a lawyer that specializes in the process. We want to make sure will follow all the laws - but still get a nice dock.

[codeman671]

We have sufficiant frontage to do a 3-4 slip dock, and we want a cloth canopy to keep the blueberry bird poop off the boat. (I will miss washing it off every weekend). We will need a dock company that knows the permit process. We have talked to a couple of dock groups that made the permit process sound very complicated and unpredictable. That is why I asked about a lawyer that specializes in the process. We want to make sure will follow all the laws - but still get a nice dock.

In that case, go Watermark or Cynthia Folsom for the permitting. Once that is in hand you can shop out the build.

[winnipiseogee]

Are you following the footprint of your existing dock? If you are then the permitting process is pretty easy. If you are trying something that isn't pre-existing and therefore grandfathered it can get considerably more difficult. Eitherway Watermark is great for permitting even if you don't end up using them to actually construct your dock. They don't like it but after watermark get the permit its up to you who you use for installation. As to the watermark docks I've seen some very good ones and I've seen some pretty cheapo flimsy looking ones. Not sure if its just the price the homeowner paid but I would make sure to check out exactly what you are getting.

[Dave M]

Has anybody used Raise A Dock or heard about them. Its located at the top of the hill going to the Weirs from Meredith. Used to be a chinese restaraunt before. They use galv pipe instead of the 4X4 woden posts.

Dave M

[tis]

Has anybody used Raise A Dock or heard about them. Its located at the top of the hill going to the Weirs from Meredith. Used to be a chinese restaraunt before. They use galv pipe instead of the 4X4 woden posts.

Dave M

We used Raise a Dock but he is in Sanbornville or Milton off route 16. Maybe he opened a second place? His name is Dennis. Anyway, he was great. We love our docks!

[secondcurve]

I have used Raise a Dock (0n Rte 16 as Tis noted above). Dennis is a good guy and I'd use him again.

[NHBUOY]

The name of that dock place that resides where the chinese restaraunt used to be is Production Dock. They are good people.

[camp guy]

I no longer live on the Lake, but I want to really emphasize the need to get the permitting done absolutely correctly, whether by a lawyer or a specialist from a company. If the permit is flawed, then even the best of the best docks is at risk to the State, particularly if you want to modify the dock in the future. A good dock company (like Watermark) will get the permit right so that they can do work for you now, and into the future.

Good luck, and enjoy.

[Greene's Basin Girl]

The business near Weirs installs the Raise A Dock that Dennis builds. Dennis recently built and put in a dock for us. He is an absolute perfectionist and I love his work. His docks are pricey, but well worth it. After removing our slats in the fall we will just have to press a button and our dock will automatically come out of the water. No more worries about the dock shifting from ice damage.

[Belmont Resident]

I know there is one dock company that I've heard all kinds of bad things about and there was a previous thread with a lot of comments on this subject.
Either way I'd not use wood of any kind, go with a quality composite decking.

[AllenFolsom]

I could help you with your dock permit. Check out my website www.advantagenhlakes.com. Thanks

[RLW]

http://i44.tinypic.com/1499wms.gif AllenFolsom, I just noticed that you are fairly new to posting on the forum and glad you have joined us. Have fun and enjoy the Winni Forum while making many new friends.:)

http://i54.tinypic.com/2e56yqf.gif

[sluggo]

I would call John Or Don over to Center Harbor Dock & Pier. They do permiting and consulting...they also carry the shoremaster aluminum docks and boat lifts and build custom aluminum and wooden docks. 253-4000

[Belmont Resident]

We love our Watermark dock. They did a beautiful job integrating it into the shoreline. The did all the permitting for us and it was painless.

I second Watermark. Great people to work with.

[Lake Docks]

I'm the owner of Bestmade Docks and I ship docks all over the north east. My own designs, not someone elses. Here are a handful of tips to consider...

* You'll be hard pressed to find a low quality manufacturer as the market would snuff them out. Most all new docks are quality, so you'll have to look at other factors.

* Dock stability is most always a function of water depth. Picture being on the top rung of a step ladder. The higher the center of gravity, the more wobble. You'll need to cross brace any aluminum dock over 4ft of water.

* There are many different decking options, so you'll have to decide what is most important to you. Price, looks, maintenance, etc.

* There are many docks with many features -simple to the dock equivalent of an iphone. You need to decide which features are most important to you, and then decide if they are worth paying for.

Hope that helps!

~Joe

[nhboat61]

Has anybody used Raise A Dock or heard about them. Its located at the top of the hill going to the Weirs from Meredith. Used to be a chinese restaraunt before. They use galv pipe instead of the 4X4 woden posts.

Dave M

They fabricated our dock and delivered it. 4 teenagers and me installed in in an hour. We had a 30' floater, could not wait to get rid of. Still cutting it up - what a pain.

Anyway - Raise a Dock is a good product, very sturdy and the decking is great (composite). I also like his own designed cleats and footplates.

[Redwing]

I, too, own a "Raise-a-dock"....we had it installed in 2009 and absolutely adore it. My son and daughter-in-law take it in, and out, every season and it takes them ca. one-half hour. Dennis is a perfectionist and his invention is a brilliant one. He is also a gentleman and never lost his patience with me (I was very impatient at the delay in permitting process, and thus installation) but all worked out in the end! :coolsm:

[Redwing]

I, too, own a "Raise-a-dock"....we had it installed in 2009 and absolutely adore it. My son and daughter-in-law take it in, and out, every season and it takes them ca. one-half hour. Dennis is a perfectionist and his invention is a brilliant one. He is also a gentleman and never lost his patience with me (I was very impatient at the delay in permitting process, and thus installation) but all worked out in the end! :coolsm:

[BroadHopper]

If you are trying something that isn't pre-existing and therefore grandfathered it can get considerably more difficult.

I agree 100% here. I work with a guy in Tuftonboro who bought property from an estate. The property had 3 docks but the previous owners have not use the docks since they took it out about 8 years prior to the sale. The new owner though he can put the docks back in the water and use them. It was not the case, he had to go through the whole process as if he is installing new ones. Because he has only a 100 feet frontage he is only allowed to put in one dock with two slips rather than 3 docks with 6 slips.

This feature was one of the reason he bought the property. He consider this false advertisement on the realtor.

[ApS]

"...Forum experts...We moved to the lake 3 years ago and our cottage had a dock that was surviving on duck tape and luck...We plan on staying at the lake for a long long time, so quality is most important..."
IF I had it to do over again, I'd build a "skid" for a huge, but useless, boulder uphill from where our present "permanent" :rolleye2: piling dock eventually got built.

I'd have moved that boulder downhill into the lake so its depth was adequate to mount a cross beam above the highwater mark; then, I'd have built a steel "cage" around it, and bolted one lo-o-o-n-g section of dock to it—and design the cross beam to be adjustable for any shifting that resulted from "seasonal events".

:( 'Course that would have been only possible years ago, before DES would frown on "altering" the lake.

BUT...you may already have such a boulder in place! :look: