6 Foot Dock Decking Issue
 

Hi all,

we have a 6 foot wide x 25 foot long aluminum dock in great shape but it needs new decking. I want to change it over to one of those plastic “thru flow” types but its become quite the task. I am wondering if anyone has found a decent material for a 6 foot wide dock. Thank you!!

Here are the issues I’ve had so far. The plastic deckings only come in 3, 4, and 5 foot widths (by 1 foot long). I could use two 3 footers to make the 6, but my dock has beams at 0, 2, 4, and 6 feet. No center support. I can add one, sure. But then the materials say to support every 18 inches which it would not be. And the screw holes wouldn’t line up with my beams. Also the 3 foot sections are really a half inch under 3 feet so I wind up missing one inch between the 2 sections.

I wanted easy removal as well, even though we used a water circulator, but it seems as removing these would mean a few hundred screws that will strip out after several installs. This is a lower priority issue. Something that had a border and just drops in would be great. Customization is expected.

Yes I know we can stick with wood or trex but that is last resort.

Thank you!!

Couldn’t you put two 3’ together with screw and bolt? Also, I have the same issue of screws into the aluminum. Mine is close to 30 years old and the screws no longer hold. Retap a few, with larger screws. But, what I have gone with the past two seasons is heavy duty tie wraps. Hold very well. Not expensive. Available in many lengths.


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For the thru flow, you would need to design and fabricate aluminum surrounds and structure that the panels would set into... possibly 6 wide for the six 12" wide pieces.

When we replaced our old wood frame dock a few years ago with a 6'x30' seasonal aluminum frame crank-up design, I got it without decking, to save on cost. For deck, I used 1x6 cedar, grade STK (select tight knots). Cedar has a natural rot resistance and is relatively light, compared to pressure treated wood or something like Trex. I created panels the width of the dock and just short of 4' out, with a pair of tie boards underneath placed to rest just inside the outer dock frame members. Gravity holds them in place. I weighed one panel after I had them ready, out of curiosity. It weighed 57 lb. Stripping the dock prior to crank-up is easy. I just stand a section up on the 4' side edge, back up to it and grab the sides somewhat below mid-height, and walk away with it.