You naturally want to use the best and most durable wood that will last a lifetime with minimal maintenance while building or rebuilding your boat dock.

The dock’s constant proximity to water, constant saturation with water, and abuse from waves lead to mold and mildew formation on the wood. It, in turn, leads to the wood’s quick rotting and decay.

Unfortunately, not all wood types are suitable for dock pilings and construction. There are different wood types and materials to build your dock. 

Your piling contractor will help you select the appropriate wood to create a durable and robust dock. 

The Vertical wooden planks in the sand of an unfinished wooden dock at the beach under a cloudy sky

This is the most common and affordable wood used to build boat docks. Pine, however, is softwood with its share of pros and cons. 

While cedarwood is also a softwood, it’s an upgrade compared to treated pine. Though cedar has rot resistance abilities, it needs a water sealer coating every year or two years to prevent wood rotting. 

The manufacturers initially advertised composite materials used for docks and decks to be maintenance-free. And this was the feature that led to increased demand for building docks. 

However, some class-action lawsuits followed once homeowners realized that these materials were not maintenance-free. And the reason being is that it is impossible to declare any material used outdoors to be maintenance-free.

You can’t even find many maintenance-free options for indoor purposes like kitchen flooring. With materials under constant exposure to harsh outdoor elements, you should realize that all materials require some sort of maintenance. 

To make things worse, while some artificial composites have indeed helped keep up well, some of them crumbled with time. Knowing the pros and cons of these materials helps before using them. 

And if you are considering composite materials for your dock, it’s better to do some research on the brand you are interested in. A Google search will reveal if homeowners have any issues with the brand and any decking complaints or problems. 

Many exotic hardwood boat dock materials from South America like Ipe, Tigerwood, and Garapa. These products last as many as 75+ years and require minimal maintenance. 

These hardwoods are sustainably harvested and are naturally rot, mold, and mildew resistant. Besides, they do not quickly deteriorate like softwoods, and most importantly, they do not splinter easily. It thus means you can safely walk on them, even barefoot. 

These materials also do not get hot like most plastic decking materials, thus making them safe and comfortable to walk barefoot. And as you can use short-length boards, these hardwood species make an excellent choice to use for building your new boat dock. 

Don’t worry if you are overwhelmed with your dock piling options. Your piling contractor uses these materials every day for their different docking projects.

They thus know everything about them and will be able to help you select the suitable material befitting your dock, requirements, and budget. 

The post What kind of wood is used for dock pilings? appeared first on Thaler Contracting Inc..