Dock maintenance

[uschisk]

Hello all - our island camp has a standard dock that is pulled up in the winter. I believe it was new in 2007 or so, before we bought the camp. We have never done anything to the wood, and now I am wondering if we should have? We are starting to see some breakdown on the surface, and this week I have gotten splinters as I was reaching across it. How do people take care of their docks? Whatever we do would need to not be slippery. How long should these wooden sections last? Thank you!

[LIforrelaxin]

It all depends on what the floor sections where made from, as to the best way to take care of them.

From where your at now, I would start buy pressure washing them, and then giving them a light sanding.... Through this process you should take care of any spots that may give you splinter problems.

From there I would simply go with some type of clear water proofer (Thompson Water Seal)... Just make sure it is rated for UV protection, and will not break down quickly with exposure to the sun.

Down the road when it is time to replace the floor boards, I suggest going with Pressure treated wood .... My dock is now coming up on 25 years of age.... while we have replaced boards here and there, most of the floor boards are original..... All we do for maintenance, is a power wash, when they look gross (every 5 to 10 years)........

Now if you don't like the idea of true pressure treated wood.... you can also find wood, that has had pressure treated with Thompson water seal, which is good as well....(yes there is a difference here, the water seal treated stuff is great for deck flooring etc. but isn't good to be in contact with the ground like true pressure treated wood.)

[DickR]

Assuming the frame also is PT wood, that ought to last quite a while, but ultimately they too will deteriorate, notably in the posts at the water line or where the tops of the joists are attached to the posts. I had to disassemble part of the frame on my old dock a couple of times late into its life to replace a post, and it wasn't fun. Ultimately I replaced the dock with an aluminum frame crankup after 20 years of lugging the heavy frames out of the water each fall. The dock was getting old, but I'm far older.

If ultimately you want to replace the deck, for either a wood or aluminum frame, sections can be made of PT wood, cedar, or synthetic decking. PT sections are medium weight (but you already know the weight of your sections if they are PT), and PT is fairly cheap. Synthetic decking (eg. Trex) is more expensive and much heavier, unless you opt for an even more expensive but lighter weight product. In the end, I built mine out of cedar, which has a natural rot resistance and is fairly light. I weighed one of mine, six feet wide and a few inches short of four feet out; it was 57 lb, and quite easily moved. Synthetic decking would have been around twice the weight (ugh). Cedar comes in a grade called STK (Select Tight Knots); likely you'd use 5/4 x 6 planks (1" thick, 5-1/2" wide). It can be stained/painted for appearance, but as that wears regular reapplication would be needed. Cost of cedar is quite reasonable.

[fatlazyless]

U know what works amazingly good for redoing the surface of pressure treated lumber like 2x6's etc ........ boiled linseed oil ...... which sells for about six dollars /quart at the Wal-Mart paint dept.

The wood does not have to be totally dry either ..... boiled linseed oil can be brushed onto a horizontal dock already installed into the lake as long as u be careful not to slop it into the lake. Applying with a brush on a hot and sunny day is best! The results are almost instant ...... and about 24-hours later ....after it has dried into the porous pressure treated wood .... it looks real good.


It gives old, dried out pressure treated lumber a new do.