Dock redo

[Tom King]

This is a continuation for the posts I started about this job in "What did you do today" thread.  It turned into more of a job than I thought it would be, so I'm just putting it in its own thread.

I had expected I could pound the posts back down into postion, but the end two pairs wouldn't move much.  I had used the tractor auger when they dropped the lake level in 1986 to do some dam repairs.  Ice had lifted all the posts, and the end ones the most.  I expect waves got under the ice on the end and lifted them more than the ones close to shore.  I think I couldn't pound those end posts because they were leaning enough for the bottoms to be hitting the sides of the 8" holes.  I would have packed the dirt around the posts, but with the subsoil here, you can never pack it by hand as hard as it is normally, and even underwater it takes much more than a 20 lb. hammer to drive posts.

Today, I pulled a line to see if I could align the outer two sections by the first section. The amount I would have to space out the end post was over the thickness of the posts, so I took up the decking I'd put down on the first section, and moved the outer end of the first section over 1-1/2".  You can see how far out the line is in the picture with the scaffold plank.  That's why I'm moving the first section over to the left.  While I was moving it anyway, I dropped the end down to level.

I was at first thinking we would have to take this dock up when we built the Big One on the other side of the point out on the end.  You are only allowed to have one dock per "lot".  I figured out if I change the property line on the "lot" for the rental house to take in this dock, there is still way more than mimimum land left for the point "lot" to be allowed to build another dock.  After thinking about that, I decided to put more time into getting this one nice and straight and level.  It will be nice to have one near the beach.

I'm not to the point of needing the canoe yet.  Today I used a 12" x 24' one man scaffold plank to be able to get out to the end to "pull a line".  I screwed a short board across the end, and used a masonry line block to hold that end of the line so I could move it to get it aligned like I want it.  I'm using gauge blocks.  It took me at least 12 trips back and forth by myself, whereas it would have been quick and easy with a helper.  This is a pretty common method for building straight stuff.  The lens was fogged up when I took the pic of the line block, but it was already a balancing act on the end of that plank, so I didn't fight it for long.

The picture with the scaffold plank in it was before I had moved the first section over to the left.  The last picture in this post shows the left band moved to the left 1-1/2" on that end, and dropped down to level.  The next working day on it, I'll move the right first section band over (I'll have to cut 1-1/2" out of that post), and move the end of the line over to judge straight off of the newly set first section.  The masonry line block allows you to slide it where you want it.  The tension in the line holds it in place.

The next day I can work on it, I'll do what cutting I need to of the post on the right, and reset the line to take measurements for the tapered pieces I need to make for the right side posts on the end section.  I had some dry pieces of treated beams to cut them out of.  I'll use the big bandsaw, and post pictures.

I also ordered dock bumpers and edging.  So hopefully I won't have many more days in this job.  I'm only able to work for a couple of hours a day at best.

Edits were mostly just to correct grammar.  Spax lag screws came, so all these crooked 30d nails will go in deep water.

edited later to add a picture of what we started with from the other thread.  It's the last picture in this post.

 

 

[Coop]

I bet that was a bear, doing it by yourself. 

[Tom King]

That plank just weighs 78 pounds.  Pam helped me get it in the back of the truck from off the wall where it was hanging.  I just backed towards the dock, and slid it out.  Once I had it on the ground, the center is marked, so it wasn't that bad my myself.  I have some larger ones that are about like standing on a sidewalk, but also like moving a sidewalk.  I need loader forks for those.

Pulling the nails wasn't so bad.  I wore waders and mostly used a slide hammer nail puller, and 3' long wrecking bar.  Some that I couldn't get a clear path to with the slide hammer were pulled with a cat's paw nail puller.  There were only a couple, near the bottom of the cross piece that were a little aggravating to get to.  Not really hard, but took some time.  I screwed short pieces of 2x4 below the bands to catch them, set a level on top with a screw started, picked the end up to level, and ran the screw in.  

There's always a way to do it, but takes multiple times longer by yourself.

Here's what a slide hammer nail puller is.  They're easier to use than it may look like.

https://www.amazon.com/Crescent-56-Home-Tools-Pullers/dp/B00002N7SD/ref=asc_df_B00002N7SD/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309811990469&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4349504036421433138&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9008615&hvtargid=pla-523770244270&psc=1

[Tom King]

Here's the first video I found of how a slide hammer nail puller works.  This guys lack of co-ordination freaks me out a little bit, but you can see how it works.  I get the teeth of the jaws much closer to the nail head.  You can pull anything from a small finish nail, to a very large framing nail with them.

 

[BillyJack]

We had a Woodnet get other many years ago. Mac showed us his vintage nail puller. Interesting...

[drzaius]

On 7/28/2022 at 7:20 AM, Tom King said:

Here's the first video I found of how a slide hammer nail puller works.  This guys lack of co-ordination freaks me out a little bit, but you can see how it works.  I get the teeth of the jaws much closer to the nail head.  You can pull anything from a small finish nail, to a very large framing nail with them.

 

My dad had one of those and even as a little kid I could pull out the toughest nails. And I don't feel bad saying that I was way better at it than the guy in the video. He shoulda had that nail out in about 4 seconds. I wonder why they are so rarely seen anymore.

A light spritz of WD40 on the slide shaft helps the sliding work smoother.

[Tom King]

I think he must have been thinking about what he was going to say, and was distracted from what he was doing. 

Most people probably think they're hard to use, or dangerous.  I'm always holding the business end down close to the jaws, so have never slammed my holding hand in the pinching position.

I had to push my weight against it with the slide all the way out to start those 30d nails out, but it didn't slip on a single one.  I just pulled them out enough so I could get a wrecking bar under them.

Cats Paws come in a bunch of different sizes too.  There would be no good reason to use a big one, like he showed early in the video, on a finish nail.

My "Pulling" toolbox weighs well over 50 pounds.  It's one of the 28" ones with wheels, and a pull out handle.  It's one of the heavy boxes that stay on the floor level of my toolbox cubbies so I can just roll it out.  I built those cubbies with just a 1/4" plywood on the bottom, so the wheels roll easily in and out.

These used to be 35 bucks in Home Depot.  I'm not sure what they are today.  Home Depot is the only place I've seen them with the wheels and handle.  This Amazon link doesn't show it with the waterproof seal, but they do have it.   https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-28-Tool-Box/dp/B01FQLX8IS/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=Cj0KCQjwio6XBhCMARIsAC0u9aFPZQat1v8neKJhNnA4kwJg25BnWfZjB3jLbzB5JE876VdZkp-9gV8aAsDFEALw_wcB&hvadid=494006222528&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9009793&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=15850557533600051747&hvtargid=kwd-328859518508&hydadcr=28789_10167636&keywords=dewalt+dwst28100&qid=1659105602&sr=8-1

Pam has had to carry dogs to the Vet's for Rabies shots yesterday, and today, so I haven't been able to work on the dock for a couple of days.  I have to stay here with my 106 year old Mother.

[Coop]

That tool is cool. I can’t tell you how many nails my dad pulled and we straightened and I’ve never seen one of those.

[Tpt life]

I would not work so far away from the nail. He had his shoulders open, trying b to not block the camera 

[Tom King]

I've decided to build a pile driver, and put in a few more posts.  Stay tuned.  I'll still get the frame built, and straightened up on the existing posts so I know where exactly to put more posts, but since we've decided to keep this dock, I want to build it so it will last.  I don't trust those end four posts to stay like they are long term.

Busy with family stuff that will delay the job for several days.

Years ago, when the county put in a water system, the contractor came by and asked if I wanted the leftover pipe and had anywhere to put it.  I did.  There is a big pile of it.  I'm thinking about filling a 4 foot length of 8" PVC pipe with concrete, which should weigh about 220 pounds, build a wooden frame that I can take apart to move for guiding it, to drop it up to 8' onto a post.  I'll pull it up with the tractor, and cut the end of the rope to drop it, sacrificing a bit of rope for each drop.  I found similar on youtube, but none quite this big.

I ordered an 8" diameter 1" thick steel disk for the bottom, to weld stuff to for reinforcement, and a loop at the top.

Might be a "hold my beer, and watch this" moment, but with no one on the dock, it won't break anything I can't fix.

I asked one of the dock builders if they were coming by this way how much to drive 4 posts, and he said a grand if I bought the posts.  This will be more fun anyway.

[wtnhighlander]

I can't wait to see that in action, Tom!

[Tom King]

I'll get a video taken.

edited to add:  My BIL was a big boat sailor.  I asked him if he had a spare rope clutch laying around.  He said he might.  You can release a line under load with a flip of a lever using one of them-a Lot more load than a few hundred pounds.

A somewhat more powerful one than this, but similar idea:

 

[Tom King]

Cloudy with a high of 89 today, so it looks like the perfect day to get back to work on this dock.

I'm still waiting on an 8" diameter steel 1" thick plate for the bottom of the pile driver weight to get here, so motivation to keep going in high 90's waned.  I'm planning on a 4' long concrete and steel filled piece of 8" PVC pipe for the drop weight.  I thought I had a piece of 10" pipe, but didn't.  Target weight is 250 pounds, and the four foot length will make it easier to roll on and off the dock to get it into position.

All the dock bumpers came, so that will help me figure out how to cut the wedge shaped spacers for the right side.

My BIL is here to help for a few days.  He was getting bored with nothing to do at home, and wanted a job to do.  It will be good having some help.

[Tom King]

We were able to get the left side straightened up, and fastened permanently.  It was more of a job than it looks like after we've finished with that.

My 1-1/2" guesswork on moving that second post out worked out close enough.  We didn't have to do anything to the end post, and I only had to do some chainsaw carving on one post.  It's within 1/16" of the line using a gauge block, so that should be good enough.  You may be able to see the line set with gauge blocks in the second picture.

I ended up wading out to the end to pull the nails to drop that band down to level, so we didn't need the canoe.  It would have been over the top of the chest waders, but the water felt great!

The clouds didn't hold like they said they would, so we quit for the day at 11.  For the other side, we'll just measure off the side that we have in place, and the decking will be the easy part.

 

[legenddc]

Looking good! I'm not used to permanent docks.

When my grandparents had a lake house in Clarksville, VA it was a floating dock and same with my in-laws place at Deep Creek, MD. One of the first years my grandparents lived in Clarksville the water was up so high the dock had to pulled all the way back to the trees and we walked on 2 extension ladders to get out to the dock ramp. My dad fell in and lost his glasses. They turned up about 7 years later.

[Tom King]

This lake only varies by one foot.  Kerr Lake varies a Lot.  I've put in at the marina in Clarksville, racing a sailboat years ago,  when the floating dock access ramp was laying on the ground.  The area we raced on the lake wasn't very wide then either.  That was the only time I pulled a boat there.

[Tom King]

We made a lot of progress this morning (Saturday), but I was soaking wet and didn't want to handle my phone, so no pictures yet.

We have the next to the last section completed, including screwing down the decking boards.  I just have the end of the last band on the right to pull all the nails out of, and reset with some chainsaw whittling on the one last post.  I can leave the end band to hold the scaffold plank for that step.

I had to stop to do some welding for a friend of mine, but the Sun was out a little before 11, so was a good time to quit for the day anyway.

Probably all we'll do tomorrow is get that one band set.  I need to get some more materials.  The first trip, I just picked up all I could get under the toolbox on my truck.  It won't take anything like as much to finish.  The last two sections' middle joists needed replacing, and I only bought one, but we used that one on the section we did today.

I'll wait until Monday to go to a real building supply.  I hate digging treated boards out of the racks at box stores, and will lose a day rather than do it.  I can back my truck up to the stacks at my building supplier, and pick through the stacks pretty easily to get all good boards.

[Tom King]

Woke up this morning with a dog in labor, but she was finished delivering by 10, so we worked on the dock again.  All the outside bands are set, and everything cleaned up.

Materials list in the truck for tomorrow.  I was going to take a picture, but had been in the water all morning, so laid my phone on the dock.  The Sun was out, so it was too hot to operate when I tried to take a picture.  I'll run back down there later and take a picture.

I had to cut a big chunk out of that end post on the right to get a plumb section to support the band.  It looks pretty good now though, even without the last section decked.  Picture is making the shoulder cut with the top of the chainsaw bar.  It fit perfectly, and no fine tuning of the post was needed after the chainsaw.  I had screwed a 2x4 to support that last band at the correct height, and left it long enough to be able to push the band to the side for chainsaw clearance.  That 2x4 also supported the scaffold plank in this position. 

No tools were ever dropped in the lake.  I didn't realize SIL had been taking pictures.  She had a paddleboard to pick up pieces of wood kicked in the lake.  I'll trim the decking boards after they've dried some more.  

.

[Tom King]

All we accomplished on it this morning was to pick up the rest of the materials to finish.  Lumber prices have come down a lot.  2x12x16 was $45, so about half what it was a few months ago.  2x4's still seem pretty high though.  This is $396 worth of treated lumber.  We were able to pick mostly clear pieces.  I'm going to swap out that board with the big knot in the previous picture.

Made the weekly bird seed stop.  Yes, they ride fine up there.

 

[Tom King]

We finished the structure, and the rest of the decking.  I'll let it dry for a while, put the other screws in, and trim the edges straight even with the old bands.

I'm going to add a layer of 2x12's over the outside to come up flush with the tops of the decking boards.

My BIL had to leave, so we put some old boards across the posts so I can handle the 2x12's by myself.

I'll let the decking boards dry out for several days before the next step.  I'm not sure how long, but I'll check to make sure they've done what moving they're going to do.  I have some extra boards to replace any that need it.

 

[Tom King]

The decking boards had already dried down to 14%, and started to move slightly, so I screwed them all down this morning, and trimmed the edges straight.  My BIL is coming back on Thursday, to stay here for a while, being bored with nothing to do at home, so I'll wait on him to help me get the new 2x12 bands on.  It looks better already.

 

[gee-dub]

Nicely done. Congrats.

[Tom King]

How many builders do you know who countersink lag screws evenly spaced with dividers?

The new 2x12 bands are still soaking wet, so I left them a little bit high until they dry out.  Once they dry out, I'll plane the tops down level with the decking boards, and put on the dock edging bumpers.  I have an aluminum dock ladder, five wide step angled out, coming for it too.

This is what I do-make something out of nothing.

 

[Coop]

That’s darn purty Tom. Judging from the height above the water of the other piers in the pics and yours, these are purposed for power boats and not Jon boats? 

[Tom King]

I haven't seen a Jon boat on this lake in 50 years.