When a Brunswick dock walkway, deck, lift or patio near the marsh sinks or tilts, the lasting fix is usually helical piers driven through soft marsh soil to firmer ground, or polyurethane to fill voids under slabs.
866-398-9323Licensed seawall specialists — FL · GA · SC
Seawall Repairs by Solid Foundations provides marine foundation repair in Brunswick, GA for marsh-front homeowners, HOAs, and marinas. Typical projects include helical piers under sagging dock approaches over the marsh edge, lifting sunken patios behind bulkheads, and re-leveling boat lifts on tidal creeks. Call 866-398-9323 or use the quote form to book a free on-site inspection.
Almost all of these trace back to soft soil that can't carry the weight or soil escaping through the bulkhead.
Georgia's coastal marsh covers about 368,000 acres in a band behind the barrier islands. The Coastal Resources Division says it formed as lagoons filled with sediment from rivers and streams (GA DNR CRD). Near the marsh edge, that means:
Water makes it worse. Big daily tides soak and drain the ground near the bank, and storms like Irma, with nearly 10 inches of rain in Glynn County, leave soil saturated for days. A footing sitting in the soft top layer will keep going down.
Steel shafts with screw plates are turned down through the soft layers until torque readings show they've reached soil that can carry the load. Then we bracket them to the structure and lift it back toward level. See helical pier installation.
Where soil has washed out under a patio or slab, polyurethane fills the gaps and can lift the slab back into place.
Rotted or borer-damaged pilings can be wrapped, jacketed or supplemented with new support.
If soil is leaving through the bulkhead, foundation work won't hold alone. We pair it with bulkhead repair in Brunswick.
Brunswick has a specific version of this problem. The City's East Brunswick Outfall Improvements project found that non-functional stormwater drains were acting as tidal flooding conduits. The fix was new headwalls, riprap scour protection and check-valve tide gates at seven outfalls, permitted under the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act (GA DNR CRD). On private lots, a yard drain or pipe through a bulkhead without a working flap can let high tide in under your patio the same way. We check for that before lifting any slab.
Private docks over state water bottoms need a Revocable License from CRD. Georgia is also in the middle of adopting new private dock rules, with Board action expected in late October 2026 (GA DNR CRD). We keep foundation repairs within the existing footprint wherever possible. For full rebuilds, see marine construction in Brunswick.
Brunswick pricing is typically $700–$2,000 per helical pier and $8–$25 per board foot for void fill. Most residential marine foundation repairs total $5,000–$25,000, depending on the number of piers, depth to firm soil and access.
Our Brunswick seawall repair page covers all local services. We also do this work in St. Simons Island.
That's where the soil is softest and wettest. Supports there often sit in soft sediment. Helical piers can carry the load down to firmer ground.
Water may be coming up through a drain or pipe without a working flap valve. We check drainage paths along with the slab.
As deep as needed to reach bearing soil, which varies by lot. We confirm each pier's capacity with torque readings.
Contact CRD first. Private docks over state water bottoms are covered by a Revocable License, and Georgia's dock rules are changing in 2026.
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