Thursday, July 18, 2013

How to Build a Boat Dock

How to Build a Boat Dock

This Step by step building a boat dock article will show you how to build a basic removable boat dock. This will also give you some understanding of everything that goes into your new project.

Instructions

    1

    Designing and making your material list, This can be a hard one because there is so many dock options and so many different needs that people have for there docks that your options start to get endless. But what we will be going over in this article is just a basic removable dock with a material list and basic framing procedure, to build a simple dock that will out last the test of time. Our example boat dock in this article is 3'x 24' the basic framing of this dock is simple, but planning is everything when trying to get set up to build anything even a boat dock. Having to keep running to the local lumber store everyday because you forgot something and or just the time wasted trying to figure out what your missing can double the projects over all time. When first starting having no plan is a sure plan to fail. Think about your boat, about different water levels, what kind of stress it must go through, so taking the time to hand draw a blueprint and make a good material list to be sure your buying the right size boards and enough of them will save you a lot of time, back work, and the headache of running all over just to get your job started and or finished. It doesn't take a engineer to make you a boat dock design (blueprint) or a material list for your dock project. But for the little money you would spend on out sourcing the design to fit your needs and a material list that covers everything needed, would be money well spent if you have never done anything like this before. There is a lot of estimating and design services all over the web you could spend hours just talking to or finding the right service to fit your needs. If getting a design and material list made is something you think you mite save you time and money both you can go to FreelanceConstructionEstimator.net sign up as a project manager, you will be able to post all your design and material estimating needs all in one spot. The best part about it is that it is a freelance marketplace you post your project for free and have construction pros worldwide give you competitive quotes on the cost of doing anything that is out of your skill level. (Design, material list) Plus you can post a project budget and have them design and estimate it to cost just about anything inside of reasonable and or practical cost.

    2

    Setting up your perimeters, Run all your stakes that you use to string your perimeters out 2' past the total measurements of your dock. Then fill a 5 gal bucket with gravel about half way, that way it can float around in the water with you, cut the height of your circle concrete forms to size. They should be about 6" or 8" higher then your water level set your concrete forms 4" to the farthest point past your string line start with your corners. Next level up the forms and fill them with a little gravel to keep them in place, cut your 4x4 post longer then the needed height being sure that you add in the thickness of the framing above (in our example dock that would be 3 1/2") to give you the finish height needed after you set your pitch. Set all your post to the inside of your line, (example: if my dock was 3'x 24' I would need to set 6 posts to build off of that's 1 post for every 8' of run.)
    Try not to touch the post to the line start filling each one with bags of dry readymix concrete (what I am talking about when I say dry is right out of the bag not adding any water because the forms will already be full of water) Stir it and keep adding concrete to it till it is thick.

    3

    Set your pitch, you will want to give your boat dock a 1/4 pitch sloping back, that means for every 1' of run or every 1' long your dock is it should rise by a 1/4" sloping back to shore. The easiest way to set your scope is to use a chalk line snapping it from corner to corner that way you can see the pitch line on all the 4x4 posts running down the center. Figuring out what your starting height would be is based on your boat, personal wants, and how far out away from shore you put it.

    4

    Framing up your dock, since our 3'x 24' and we have to have a post under the framing every 8' we would need to build 3 box frames 3'x 8' out of 2x4s to set on top of the 4x4 posts. After all box frames are built you set them on top of your 4x4 posts and you should now see the total outside perimeter of your boat dock. Next cut 2- 2x6s to 10' using 16-D nails, nail them up flush to the top of your middle box frame but do not put any nails into the part hanging over your middle box by 1' on each side. (that's called our lip) That is to be screwed in to make the boat dock removable for the winter, that way it is just a few simple screws to take it back apart. finish boarding up the outside of the 2x4 box frames use 2x6 cutting them to the full length needed so that you only use one peace on each open box frame that is left showing. Then when your finished it should have a double outside perimeter 1- 2x4 and 1- 2x6 and when you look at it the 2x4s should be sitting on top of your 4x4 posts and your 2x6 on the side of the posts. The 2x6 should be hanging down 2" with the one in the middle being used to connect all 3 together. The 2x6 hanging down is to lock everything in place. The reason we frame it this way is so that it is removable, simple, and a lot less work. The 2x6s that hang down past the 2x4s and sit over the top of the 4x4 posts lock in the frame from sliding one way or the other and screwing the middle box frame to the other ones make it one peace. To now install and remove your boat dock you only have to add and or remove the screws we put in the lip of the middle 2x6 box frame. The next step is adding your 1 1/4" deck boards to the top of the box frames, it is important that you start in the middle and when nailing (or screwing) them in you don't nail to one of the locking boards together. We cut a 10' 2x6 and nailed it in the middle of the middle box frame, that box frame is where we will be starting from you can start at one end or the other. Start running deck boards all the way down to you hit the end of the 10' 2x6. Now that the center is done you just fill in the other two open areas all the way till complete. After all your deck boards are on your done but just rememeber that when you go to remove your boat dock that you take the screws out and pull the center one out first.

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