Laker Weekly | FILE 2007

Mike and Jane Turner's dock in The Water's Edge features composite decking, which has gained increasing popularity over the years.

Courtesy of Pete Cox

Floating docks, such as this aluminum dock by Lakeside Services, have long been the standard at Leesville Lake. They are gaining interest on Smith Mountain Lake because they rise and fall with changes in water levels. The dock also features a HydroHoist floating boat lift, which eliminates cables.

Laker Weekly | FILE 2008

Jim and Donna Jasinski's dock in Southwind Key includes a closed-in roof with access to the boat lift mechanisms.

'Tis the season for dock building, as homeowners try to get their docks completed or spruced up in anticipation of the summer season. For homeowners, there is "very little new" when it comes to options, said Jason Turner, vice president of Turner's Building.

"You don't have a lot of people out there trying to innovate in a market when sales are slow everywhere," he said.

There are, however, new or escalating trends for convenience, aesthetics and maintenance.

Remote access

A trend gaining momentum is remote-controlled boat lifts, said Turner. Homeowners can use remotes to lower the lift enough to board the boat, then climb in and lower it into the water, he said.

"It's a convenience thing, but it's also a safety thing," said Bill Nissen, owner of Dock Solutions in Moneta.

Having a remote control on board means not having to let someone on and off to operate a dock-mounted lift, which increases the chance that someone could slip off the dock and fall into the water, said Nissen.

It's also a security feature, said Lynn Swain, owner of Inland Shores Dock Construction.

"Nobody can let your boat down without the control," he said, adding that each lift is programmed so remotes can only be used on one lift.

The remote controls are waterproof and systems can be installed on new or existing docks, said Swain.

Remote controls also can be used for dock lights, said Turner. Boaters can turn the lights on as they're pulling in toward the dock, diminishing the amount of bugs surrounding the lights and saving electricity, he said.

Lift access

Another feature that is "really catching on is putting all the mechanical lifting mechanism in the ceiling," said Swain.

Homeowners choose this for safety, convenience and aesthetics, he said. By enclosing the lift mechanisms, it keeps the bugs and birds from nesting in the equipment, said Swain.

Aesthetically, the only things visible on the dock are the cables.

The lift mechanisms are accessible via pull-down stairs, with enough crawl space for homeowners to service the lifts, said Swain.

Floating lifts

There is movement in the boat-lift market as well. Some homeowners are doing away with cable lifts completely and opting for floating lifts.

At Parkway Marina in Huddleston, James Clayton offers Sunstream Boat Lifts, hydraulic floating lifts that operate in "30 seconds or less."

The lifts run on a 12-volt, solar-powered marine battery. They're available in various sizes, from a personal watercraft lift to one that will accommodate a boat up to 36 feet long and 13,500 pounds.

Clayton said the hydraulic fluids are nonpetroleum and water-soluble, so a leak would not pollute the lake.

The lifts can be integrated into an existing dock or, with a cover, can be used instead of a dock, said Clayton.

"Some people on the lake call it a portable floating garage," he said.

At Lakeside Services, Pete Cox offers HydroHoist Boat Lifts. The floating lifts are made from steel with Polyethylene or Fiberglas tanks.

"It nestles and protects the boat," said Cox.

The HydroHoist Boat Lifts come in various models and sizes, for water as low as 3 inches and boats as heavy as 32,000 pounds. Remote controls are sold separately.

Floating docks

Boat lifts aren't the only things floating on Smith Mountain Lake. Cox offers aluminum floating docks made by Wahoo Docks of Georgia.

Cox said floating docks haven't had much of a following at Smith Mountain Lake, although they're standard at Leesville Lake, where water levels fluctuate up to 13 feet. But droughts and floods at SML in recent years have started bringing customers to the floating market.

Cox said homeowners have been frustrated when flooding puts their docks and walkways underwater or raises the boats into the dock ceiling. During droughts, the cables aren't long enough to lower the boats into the lake.

With a floating dock, water fluctuations don't hamper a homeowner's ability to use the boat, said Cox.

Although some homeowners are moving toward floating docks, Cox admits they haven't been an easy sell.

"Some people say, 'I like the strength of aluminum, but I don't like that it's shiny,'" he said.

Cox said some homeowners have put wood wraps over the aluminum or other treatments in various colors that mask the shiny metal. Composite decking options are similar to standard docks.

Composite decking

In the early days of dock building, the only decking option was wood. But many years of innovation have created a boom in the composite decking market.

"Everybody wants low-maintenance," said Swain.

Most composite decking materials only require pressure washing. There are no splinters or warping as with wood, no staining is required, and the material doesn't get hot in the sun, said Nissen.

Area dock builders recommend various composites, including AZEK, EverGreen, Ipe, Monarch and EverNew. Swain said composites generally cost $30 to $65 a board, although the Ipe model can stretch beyond that.

"We've got the Brazilian hardwood by Ipe," said Swain. "It looks just like teak. It costs $6 a linear foot. We got one dock we did at The Boardwalk that had $18,000 just in decking."

Entertaining design

The guiding trend behind most innovations in dock building at SML is entertainment.

"People are getting more dressy with their docks," said Reba Dillon of Michael Dillon Custom Docks. "In the summertime, they're using their docks more."

Homeowners are asking for larger entertainment areas and fancier designs such as octagons and gazebos, she said.

That means more time spent in construction and more money. It's a far cry from the first docks Turner's father, Mike Turner, built on the lake in the 1970s.

"When my dad first got started, a lot of times they would pull in on a Monday morning to start a job and finish up by Friday afternoon," said Jason Turner. "Now, the average time that we spend on a job site is probably closer to five or six weeks."

Gone are the days of a small entertainment area supported by six pilings with a little floater beside.

"I can't remember the last one we built that was that small," said Turner.

With the Shoreline Management Plan, homeowners can't go bigger with their docks, so they're having to make decisions as far as design is concerned, said Nissen.

"Cathedral ceilings are starting to get more popular," he said. "You can make it look much bigger, but you're not adding to the square footage of it."

Dillon said homeowners also are shying away from bare pilings. Many are opting to paint the pilings to match the dock or having the pilings framed in to look like architectural columns.

"For the most part, most people that are up here, they realize they're going to spend a lot of time out here on their dock," said Turner. "They're wanting that first-class product out there where everything matches."