Signs Your Dock Needs Repair
Before Hurricane Season
Myrtle Beach Elite Dock Builders has been building and repairing docks across Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand for over 20 years! Atlantic hurricane season runs June through November. For Grand Strand waterfront property owners, that window is not an abstraction — Georgetown and Horry counties have taken direct impacts from major storms including Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and Hurricane Ian in 2022, and the region sees tropical storm activity in most years even when a direct hurricane landfall doesn't occur. A dock that has structural problems going into storm season is a dock that may not survive it. More importantly, a dock that fails under surge and wave load becomes a debris hazard to neighboring properties, vessels, and waterway infrastructure. The time to find and fix structural problems is before the season opens — not after the storm passes.
Why Choose Us
High Quality Materials
We source materials built to last — not the cheapest option on the shelf. Every product we use is chosen for durability, performance, and long-term value so your project holds up for years.
Professional Workers
Every person on our crew is trained, experienced, and takes their work seriously. No day laborers, no shortcuts — just skilled tradespeople who treat your property with respect.
Experts In Engineering
We don't just swing hammers — we understand how things are built. Our team brings real technical knowledge to every project, so the work is done right the first time, not fixed later.
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Piling Condition Is the First Thing to Check
Pilings are the foundation of every fixed dock structure, and they deteriorate from the inside out in South Carolina's coastal waters. Marine borers — shipworms and wood-boring crustaceans endemic to warm saltwater environments — penetrate untreated or aging CCA-treated pilings and consume the interior wood while leaving the surface relatively intact. A piling that looks acceptable from the dock deck may have lost 50 percent or more of its structural cross-section to marine borer activity.
Physical signs that pilings need assessment include soft spots when probed with a sharp tool at or below the waterline, visible boring holes or tunnels on the piling surface, horizontal cracking or checking in the wood grain above the waterline, and any lateral movement when the piling is loaded. A piling that moves when you push against the dock framing is carrying less load than it was designed for and should be evaluated before storm season.
Decking and Framing Fastener Integrity
The fasteners connecting your decking boards to the framing members and your framing members to the piling caps are the most corrosion-vulnerable components on a saltwater dock. Galvanized fasteners in South Carolina's coastal environment show meaningful corrosion within 10 to 15 years. As fasteners corrode, the connections they maintain lose clamping force — and a dock with degraded fastener connections distributes storm load differently than a properly fastened structure, concentrating stress at the remaining sound connections until they fail sequentially.
Walk the dock and look for decking boards that move or flex independently when stepped on, fastener heads that have corroded flush or below the decking surface, visible rust staining running from fastener locations into the decking grain, and any framing members that show visible deflection when weight is applied. These are all signs that fastener replacement should happen before storm season loads the structure.
Gangway and Connection Hardware
The gangway — the structure connecting your fixed land to your dock — is a frequent failure point in storm events because it bridges two structures with different responses to surge and wave load. A gangway with corroded hinge hardware, worn aluminum at the pivot points, or degraded connection fittings at the dock-end landing will disengage under the lateral and vertical forces a tropical storm generates. Check the hinge condition, confirm the dock-end connection is secure, and look for any cracking or deformation in the aluminum gangway sections that suggests fatigue from previous storm events.
Get an Assessment Before Season Opens
If your dock is showing any of these warning signs — or if it has not had a professional structural assessment in the last three to five years — scheduling an inspection before hurricane season opens is the right call. Myrtle Beach Elite Dock Builders performs pre-season structural assessments and hurricane reinforcement retrofitting for dock owners across Horry and Georgetown counties, including Murrells Inlet, Pawleys Island, Little River, Garden City Beach, Grande Dunes, Surfside Beach, Georgetown, and Litchfield Beach.
Myrtle Beach Elite Dock Builders delivers custom dock building, marine construction, and waterfront installation services for residential and commercial properties
throughout the Grand Strand.