Vinyl, Fiberglass and Plastic
The dock and seawall business is changing for the better based on new engineered materials.
The dock you installed, or a deck or even landscaping timbers you used 10 or 20 years ago were made differently.
So while there’s a chance that those wood dock pilings and the treated lumber for your deck are still in pretty good shape – it’s for a “bad” reason.
The wood preservatives used in “pressure treated” lumber since then has changed. For a good reason.
The older pressure treated lumber was treated with a trio of chemicals the EPA has since been clamping down on:
- Aresenic
- Chromium
- Copper
Chromium Copper Arsenate (CCA) was a very effective preservative, but as you can tell just from the name, it was not the most environmentally friendly.
The newer preservatives used are somewhat safer, but also mean that you just can’t expect a new wooden deck or dock to last as long as they used to. That’s about 10 years with care. (Tampa Dock will wrap wood pilings we’re installing currently with black plastic – it helps, but doesn’t match the performance of current materials)
The good news is that we now have the option of using composite materials that come with a 25 year or up to a LIFETIME warranty.
EcoPiles from Shoreline Plastics
EcoPiles from Shoreline Plastics and WearDeck from Weardeck.com are both perfect examples of using new materials to boost the look, longevity and boost a green environmental profile for our Dock building projects in Tampa, St. Petersburg and surrounding areas.
Just look at the image above on the right – that wooden piling has seen much better days. And that’s a fate that EcoPiles, the image on the left, will never have.
EcoPiles and its sister products are replacement for those big wooden pilings. The ones that have been not only naturally deteriorating but suffer badly from shipworm here in the Tampa Bay area.
EcoPiles are manufactured of a vinyl and fiberglass composite that comes with a TWENTY-FIVE year warranty. And will be completely free of shipworm, other pests and are not subject to rot. https://shorelineplastics.com/ecopile/
WearDeck is the modern version of outdated pressure treated lumber for docks & decks
WearDeck is a 1:1 replacement for that pressure treated wood decking you were going to buy.
Described as “reinforced polymeric lumber” they use High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) with fiberglass to produce wood-look decking that will literally last a lifetime.
The images below will give you a good idea of what you can expect from a pressure treated wooden deck or dock vs the composite material that WearDeck is made from.
TODAY’s Dock and Deck Materials
Newly engineered materials are even working their way into seawall construction.
The latest seawalls are built with interlocking vinyl seawall panels. And those are a MUCH more long lasting and maintenance free solution than cement!
For your next outdoor project – dock, deck or seawall – consider using longer lasting, more environmentally friendly materials… and using Tampa Dock & Seawall to help!
Tampa DOCK and Seawall
There are examples of our work all through the website and on Facebook if you’d care to look. But the best thing you can do to get started on your replacement dock is getting started with us!
Just call or contact us here.
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