What Each One Is Actually For
Seasonal pipe dock
Sheltered water, moderate depth, a shoreline where an annual in-and-out is practical. Roughly $18–$28/sq ft installed.
The correct answer far more often than people expect. Simplest permitting path, lowest cost, and a dock that spends winter on the bank has no argument with ice at all.
Roll-in dock
Similar conditions to pipe, with wheels that make the seasonal move easier on a gradual shoreline. Roughly $24–$34/sq ft.
Excellent on gently shelving frontage such as the shallower Ellacoya stretches or the Suncooks. Less suitable where the bottom drops away quickly.
Crib dock
Rocky bottoms and exposed frontage where a seasonal system would not survive. Roughly $40–$60/sq ft.
Lasts decades when built and maintained properly. A significant structure and a significant permitting conversation — not a default choice.
Permanent pile dock
Deeper water and situations genuinely needing a fixed, robust berth. Roughly $50–$75/sq ft.
Highest cost, longest life, most regulatory involvement — and only permissible on lakes over 1,000 acres where wind or wave conditions prevent a seasonal dock.
A point worth making plainly: a more substantial dock is not automatically a better dock. On sheltered frontage a permanent structure costs several times what is necessary, involves a far harder permitting process, and spends every winter arguing with ice that a seasonal dock would simply have avoided. We would rather sell you the right structure than the biggest one.
Four Things We Establish Before Recommending Anything
What the frontage faces
Not across the lake — down it. Wave energy is generated over fetch, so what matters is the longest open run of water pointing at your shoreline. On Winnisquam in particular, two properties a few hundred yards apart can face entirely different problems.
How fast depth arrives
This sets dock length, and it is where people most often over-build. On steep frontage like Newfound you reach usable depth close in, and a dock built to match the neighbours is wasted structure and extra surface for ice to work on.
What the bottom is
Sand, silt, rock or ledge. A shoreline that will not take a driven pipe needs a different footing strategy entirely, and on the rocky frontage common around Squam and Newfound this frequently decides the structure type on its own.
How we physically get there
Drive-up, steep path, or barge. This affects cost, scheduling and sometimes what can be built at all — a structure deliverable in sections is a different proposition from one needing heavy plant on the shoreline.
Start This in Autumn, Not in May
The build is usually the short part of a new dock project. Permitting is what sets the timeline, and on a permanent structure it can run months.
NHDES wetlands permitting applies to all new docking structures and modifications, seasonal as well as permanent, and to boat and jet-ski lifts. A qualifying seasonal dock can often go through a Permit by Notification under RSA 482-A:3, IV-a, which is considerably simpler. A permanent structure requires a full application, is available only on lakes over 1,000 acres, and requires demonstrating that wind or wave conditions genuinely prevent the use of a seasonal dock.
We identify the likely path before the design is fixed, because designing first and permitting second is how projects lose a season. Our permit wizard will orient you in a few minutes, and the full summary sets out the criteria in detail.
Plain-language summary for orientation, not legal advice. NHDES administers these rules and is the authority on how they apply to your property.
- Site assessed for exposure, depth, bottom and access first
- Structure recommended to suit the site, not the catalogue
- Permitting path identified before design is finalised
- Honest advice when a simpler dock is the right dock
- Barge access for island and unreachable frontage
- Written quote with the assessment behind it
The Choice That Affects How the Dock Feels
| Material | Cost effect | What it is actually like |
|---|---|---|
| Pressure-treated | Baseline | The value option and perfectly good. Cups and splits over time; needs occasional board replacement. |
| Cedar | +15–25% | Looks considerably better and weathers gracefully to silver. Pleasant underfoot. Softer, so it marks. |
| Composite | +35–60% | Very low maintenance. But it gets genuinely hot in August — a real consideration on a swimming dock with bare feet. |
| Aluminium | +50–80% | Most expensive, coolest underfoot, and by far the lightest to handle. Worth more than it looks on a seasonal dock two people carry up the bank every October. |
New Dock Questions
Do I need a permit for a new dock?
Almost certainly some form of authorisation. NHDES wetlands permitting applies to all new docking structures and modifications, and to lifts. Many qualifying seasonal docks proceed under a Permit by Notification; permanent structures require a full application and are only available on lakes over 1,000 acres where wind or wave conditions prevent a seasonal dock. The wizard will indicate the likely path, but NHDES is the authority.
How long from first call to a usable dock?
The build is the short part. For a seasonal dock going the notification route, a project started in autumn is comfortably ready for the following summer. For a permanent structure, permitting can run months, and starting in May for that summer is not realistic. Autumn is the right time to begin either way.
Can you match or rebuild an existing dock?
Yes, and on an older structure the first question is regulatory rather than structural: whether the work is repair in kind of an existing legal structure or reconstruction, because those are treated very differently. We raise that at the assessment. Rebuilding on an existing footprint is generally a far simpler proposition than expanding beyond it.
What about swim rafts and platforms?
Separate structures with their own anchoring requirements and, frequently, their own permitting considerations — moored structures are not governed by the same rules as a dock attached to the shore. Worth asking before you buy one.
How much does the whole thing cost?
A typical whole new dock lands between $3,000 and $30,000, which is a wide band because the inputs vary so much. The configurator will narrow it for your specific plan in a couple of minutes, and a site assessment turns that into a written number.