Permitting Questions
Do I need a permit for a dock in New Hampshire?
Yes, in essentially all cases. NHDES wetlands permitting applies to all new docking structures and modifications, seasonal and permanent, and to all boat and jet-ski lifts. What varies is the route. A qualifying seasonal dock can often proceed under a Permit by Notification under RSA 482-A:3, IV-a; permanent structures require a full wetlands application. Our permit wizard will orient you and the full summary sets out the criteria.
My dock is seasonal. Surely that is exempt?
No, and this is the most common misconception in the subject. Seasonal docks are regulated; they simply have access to a simpler route if they meet the criteria. Those criteria include being the only docking structure on the frontage, sitting at least 20 feet from the abutting property line, requiring no shoreline modification, and actually being removed for at least five months a year.
Can I build a permanent dock on my lake?
Only if the lake is larger than 1,000 acres, and only where wind or wave conditions may prevent the use of a seasonal dock. That rules out permanent structures entirely on Waukewan, the Suncooks and Webster Lake among others. On the larger lakes, the burden is on demonstrating that a seasonal dock would not work at your frontage rather than that you would prefer something permanent.
How big can my seasonal dock be?
Six feet wide, and the length depends on the water: up to 40 feet on a waterbody of 1,000 acres or more, and up to 30 feet on one below that threshold. It must be narrow, rectangular and perpendicular to the shoreline, and the parcel must carry 75 feet or more of shoreline frontage — that is a criterion of the notification in its own right, so below 75 feet this route is not available and the project needs a direct conversation.
What about an existing dock that has always been there?
If it is an existing legal structure, NHDES operates a voluntary registration for non-tidal docking structures which, once accepted, exempts it from needing future repair or replacement permits for the term — typically five years. If it was never permitted, that is a different and more careful conversation. Either way, repair in kind is treated differently from reconstruction, and that distinction is worth settling before materials are ordered.
Cost Questions
What does a new dock cost?
Installed: seasonal pipe roughly $18–$28 per square foot, roll-in $24–$34, crib $40–$60, permanent pile $50–$75. A typical whole new dock lands between $3,000 and $30,000. The configurator will narrow it for your plan, and it excludes permitting, which is a separate cost and timeline.
What does seasonal install and removal cost?
Roughly $400–$900 per visit for a typical residential dock, set by size, footing count and access. Larger docks with a lift and canopy run higher. Island properties are quoted separately because barge mobilisation, not the dock, is what drives the number. An annual contract covering both visits costs less than two one-off calls and secures your place in the schedule.
What does a boat lift cost?
Supplied and installed, roughly $4,000–$12,000 by capacity. Size to the boat's loaded weight rather than its advertised dry weight, and note that depth at your frontage can constrain the choice independently of the boat. Adding a lift to a dock not built for the load may also mean reinforcement — we assess that before quoting.
Why is island work more expensive?
Because the barge is the cost, not the dock. Materials, equipment and crew all arrive by water, weather can remove a working day entirely, and mobilisation has to be planned rather than improvised. The dock itself costs what it would anywhere; getting to it is the difference.
Seasonal Questions
When should my dock come out?
Before the first sustained ice on your water. Sheltered frontage freezes weeks ahead of the broads, so a date set by what Winnipesaukee's open water is doing is already late for a cove or a small lake. Take the early slot rather than the convenient one — two weeks early costs nothing; two weeks late can cost thousands.
Can my dock go in as soon as ice-out is declared?
Usually not immediately. Ice-out means the main lake is navigable for the Mount Washington between its five ports, not that your cove is clear or that the shoreline will carry equipment. On sheltered frontage that can be a week or more later. See the ice-out history for how much the date varies year to year.
My dock looks fine after the ice. Does it need checking?
Probably. Ice damage is most often compression at the footings and loosening at the hardware, and neither shows from standing on the deck. A dock that looks level can be sitting on a bent pipe that fails under load in July.
How far ahead do I need to book?
A season for install and removal — the autumn windows in particular go early. For a new build, start in autumn for the following summer, because permitting rather than construction sets that timeline.
Structure Questions
Which dock type should I choose?
Whichever suits your exposure, depth, bottom and access — not whichever the neighbours have, and not automatically the most substantial. On sheltered frontage a seasonal system is cheaper, easier to permit, and avoids the ice problem entirely by not being there. We assess those four factors before recommending anything.
Should I repair or replace my old crib dock?
Frequently repair, and for a regulatory reason as well as a structural one: an existing legal structure may carry a status a replacement would not inherit. That question should be settled before the engineering one. We will still tell you honestly when a crib is genuinely past saving.
What decking is best?
Pressure-treated is the value option and works well. Cedar looks better and is pleasant underfoot. Composite is low-maintenance but gets genuinely hot in August, which matters on a swimming dock. Aluminium costs most, stays coolest, and is by far the lightest to carry up the bank every October — worth more than it looks on a seasonal dock.
Can you work on a dock you did not install?
Yes, routinely. A good deal of our repair work is on structures built by somebody else, often by someone long gone. Send photographs and we will tell you what we can see before coming out.
Do you service island properties?
Yes, by barge, and it is routine rather than exceptional. Weather governs island scheduling in a way it never does on the mainland, so we build contingency in and are straight about it. If the dock is your only access to the property, book the spring install the previous autumn.