Concrete vs Wood dock. Thoughts?

My future MIL has a house on the sound at Morehead. Home value is in the $1 million range. It has a 110 foot dock that needs to be replaced.

She has asked us to guide her as I am her fix it person down there.

We have received several quotes and just don't know a whole lot about it.

One quote is for $25,000 for removal and replacement with treated wood and 8 inch pilings. (Which is what we have now. Has lasted 25 years)

Another is for $32,000 for removal and replacement with new 8 inch pilings and hog slat concrete slabs.

Both quotes are from reputable companies that have done work for MIL's friends.

MIL is in her mid 70s and in excellent health. We will likely be coming from a rest home to attend her funeral in 25 years. (She backpacks all over Europe etc)

Cost is not really an issue.

What are the advantages to the hog slat dock?

MIL does waffle back and forth about selling the place or passing it on so we do want to do this wisely so it will help resale if it comes to that.

I haven't been able to find anything on line about why the concrete is better, or if it is.

Any thoughts?

For the difference in cost I'd definitely go with the concrete, especially the way docks tend to take a pounding down there. Galvanized bolts and concrete slabs/treads have far less tendency to fail when slammed from underneath than nails or even screws. I would certainly think it would balance out the cost in resale value as well...

I would also think that the concrete would require a lot less maintenance than a wood dock. My aunt has a place at Sunset Harbor, and we are constantly having to do little repair jobs on her wood pier. Those repairs don't get any easier as we get older either!

For the incremental increase on the project I would definitely go with hog slat for a number of reasons:
1) it is permanent
2) it is rot proof
3) it resists storm surge uplift unlike wood decking on joists- storm surges can lift pilings and the entire pier feet at the time and wreck a wooden pier and the pass through design plus weight of hog slat eliminates this
4) it requires virtually zero maintenance- some cleaning for bird poop and/or fish bait & guts might be in order occasionally
5) there is no worry with splitting & splinters
6) it gives the property a very clean & finished look and shows an upper class of construction over wooden piers...i.e. higher resale value
7) being more stable it is easy to run conduit and pipes for water & electrical service without worrying about movement causing stress cracks and breaks (not a huge issue with wooden piers but something to consider nonetheless

The only disadvantage is when women wear somewhat fancy shoes...heels and hog slat do not mix well, if at all, but that is typically not an issue with a private pier.

If she is your future mil, my advice is to be a fantastic boyfriend and future sil!! Lol Sounds like a nice place and location. Not to hijack...used to eat at Sanitary Fish Market and restaurant in late '70's-early '80's on the way back from Core Banks. The young ladies who escorted you to the table wore "granny dresses". Lots of great memories and fishing stories.

and no toe-slicing nail heads popping up that constantly need to be hammered down with the concrete.

I agree with all of apexhunter's points. To me, it would be like choosing vinyl over brick siding on a house.... why not brick if money isn't a hurdle? Its appearance and condition won't change much over the years and is much more durable. It might be cooler on bare feet in the summer too.

Rescue44 said:

If she is your future mil, my advice is to be a fantastic boyfriend and future sil!! Lol Sounds like a nice place and location. Not to hijack...used to eat at Sanitary Fish Market and restaurant in late '70's-early '80's on the way back from Core Banks. The young ladies who escorted you to the table wore "granny dresses". Lots of great memories and fishing stories.

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I would actually be a DIL, not that it matters. It is a gorgeous spot. The house is older and has been added on to over the years. I am hoping she leaves it to one of the young nephews who is consumed with fishing so we can visit. I don't think I want to have to foot the future bill for taxes and insurance!!!! As it is we get to use it often in the summer and I do lots of repair work for all her widow lady friends down there. Apparently tradesmen are hard to find.

Ooops. LOL.

I don't know anything about the concrete, but I would imagine in that environment 25 years is a nice long life for a wooden pier. I'd expect an average lifespan of 20 years with yearly maintenance starting as early as five years. Like I said, I don't know, but I'd expect much better longevity with the concrete, and after a couple of years in the elements, I'm sure it will look much better than wood. At 25k versus 32k, I'd definitely go concrete unless a quick Google search on concrete raised some serious concerns.

Also, FYI, I opened this thread because I thought it said concrete versus wood duck, and I was very interested to hear that story.

It totally depends what you are wanting/looking for. Traditional pressure treated lumber has its limitations and in my experience in that type of environment that 2x material is better for decking vs 5/4 decking boards. Concrete has its issues also. A big positive is it's typically tougher in the weather vs pressure treated lumber. Adding on to the deck could be a bit more of an issue with concrete but not a huge deal. It can be slightly rougher on the feet but doesn't have splinter issues. I'd take your future MIL to see a couple hog slat docks and get her opinion.

Hog Slat for sure. I have the pleasure of using a couple of docks that have hog slats on them and a few with wood. Hog slat beats it hands down in my book.

I think I'll go against the grain with the given scenario. Others are correct on many things, especially the lifespan of the concrete decking. But, per your explanation, the slabs will still be supported by wood. This includes pilings and all framework including bracing. The life expectancy of that area will not be lengthened by the concrete. I've seen poorly built piers of all sorts with the #1 issue/problem being nails. In coastal regions, my #2 seen issue is post rot. Storm surges and ultra high tides can play havoc on any pier that is not built with that as a strong thought during construction. We built a new pier at the house at the beach on the waterway a few years ago (replaced the 30+year old pier that we just got tired of patching). The entire pier, deck, floater, railing, etc is constructed without nails except the initial ones to hold placement until screws/bolts could be installed. I made floaters/scrubbers for all the pilings to keep barnacles from attaching and eating the wood and treat the topside annually with Thompson Waterseal. It's now 7 or 8 years old and other than the wood normally aging, it's still solid as can be. It survived the storm surge of several feet above the deck during the hurricane a couple of years ago with the only damage being the floating pier washing off its pilings, thankfully I had from the start attached ropes to it from the deck to hold it in place if a post got broken from a big boat wake.. I see no reason for that pier to not last many years with minor maintenance. I guess, in a nutshell, I like the feel and asthetics of wood over concrete as well as the ease of making changes later if wanted .. ommv

Well, after getting more details on both quotes there is more difference than initially indicated. Wood will be about $26k and concrete about $50k. Given that the existing wood pier lasted over 25 years, I think we will just go back with wood. The end of the dock has an odd shape which would mean that we would have to change the original footprint. Not worth the permitting hassle.

Thanks for all the input guys!

You could still use synthetic board materials and last much longer with fewer issues than wood at a cost that wouldn't be that much more. There are multiple brands of these synthetic boards and some have zero wood fiber while others have quite a bit. They are awesome on the feet compared to a wood deck and have held up well for our deck.

Eric Revo said:

You could still use synthetic board materials and last much longer with fewer issues than wood at a cost that wouldn't be that much more. There are multiple brands of these synthetic boards and some have zero wood fiber while others have quite a bit. They are awesome on the feet compared to a wood deck and have held up well for our deck.

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I've distributed composite and now PVC decking for 25 years and can speak to using them for docks & piers. Depending upon how the structure of the pier/dock is designed you might be better off to stay with PT. Most docks & piers are constructed with the stringers 24" on center which would dictate 2x6 decking and in that dimension you would be relegated to using normal composite decking versus the modern day "co-extruded" composite or PVC. If the stringers are 16" on center you can use nominal 5/4x6 decking and could benefit from something like Azek (PVC) or a co-extruded composite to assure better longevity with minimal maintenance...but your cost factor does increase.

Thanks guys. This is becoming a moving target. We finally insisted on some changes to both quotes and updated final quotes. Now it seems there is about a $10k difference between the two. Both contractors have sound references that are folks we know. I think I am going to sit down and ask MIL if she wants a Lexus or a Toyota. Both are fine. Its a matter of what do you want? (She drives a Lexus but also clips coupons!)

Have you looked into using a tropical hardwood decking board instead of pressure treated? I work for a wholesale lumber company and we import Ipe, Cumaru, and African Redwood decking. I have a few customers that use these products for making docks and piers in a marine environment. One customer builds quite a few out of Ipe in the Charleston SC area. It will last longer than the pressure treated, will require less maintenance (but there will still be some maintenance to it) and you can typically use 1 X 6 board for the deck vs a 5/4 X 6 board.