Sinking docks, leaning boat lifts, and cracked decks along the West Palm Beach waterfront are usually repaired by transferring the load to firm soil with helical piers or by filling voids beneath the slab.
866-398-9323Licensed seawall specialists — FL · GA · SC
Seawall Repairs by Solid Foundations provides marine foundation repair in West Palm Beach, FL for lagoon-front homeowners, condo associations, and marinas. Typical projects include helical piers under sagging docks off Flagler Drive, re-leveling boat lifts on the Intracoastal, and lifting settled pool decks behind El Cid seawalls. Call 866-398-9323 or use the quote form to book a free on-site inspection.
Two causes account for most of these: soil too soft to carry the weight, and soil escaping through the wall.
The city's older neighborhoods grew up along a natural high spot. Flamingo Park's houses, for example, sit along the coastal ridge line (West Palm Beach, Florida). But the lagoon edge itself was reshaped with seawalls and fill, and that ground behaves very differently from the ridge a few blocks inland.
Tidal water also reaches farther than it looks. The city has installed tidal flood valves in more than a dozen neighborhoods to keep lagoon water from backing up through storm drains (City of West Palm Beach). That same water rises and falls in the ground under your patio. Over time, that cycle:
Anything resting only on that upper layer will keep settling. Shimming a dock or pouring new concrete over a sunken slab only adds weight to the same soft ground. The durable answer is to reach firmer soil below, or to fill the hollows so the existing soil can carry the load again, and often both.
Steel shafts with helix plates are screwed into the ground until installation torque confirms they've reached soil that can carry the load. We attach the structure and lift it back toward level. It suits docks, lifts, decks, and light waterfront buildings. See helical pier installation.
Beneath pool decks and patios, injected polyurethane fills voids and stiffens the soil. It can often raise the slab without demolition.
Damaged dock or lift pilings can be jacketed, wrapped, or supplemented.
If soil is leaving through the seawall, we pair the work with bulkhead repair in West Palm Beach so the ground stops moving.
Typical West Palm Beach pricing is $700–$2,000 per helical pier and $8–$25 per board foot for void fill. Most residential marine foundation repairs run $5,000–$25,000, depending on the number of piers, depth to firm soil, and access.
Then the city's dock rules come into play. West Palm Beach's code generally allows docks to extend 100 feet into the waterway, and longer docks need City Commission approval (Palm Beach Post via Yahoo News). Seagrass near shore is part of that review. We aim to keep repairs within your existing permitted footprint. For new docks, see marine construction in West Palm Beach.
We also handle marine foundation repair in Fort Lauderdale.
Repeated high water can soften the soil around lift pilings. If the pilings are sound, we can add support and re-level the lift.
Often, yes. Polyurethane injection or helical piers can bring it back toward level without tearing it out.
As deep as needed to reach firm soil, which changes from lot to lot. We verify each pier during installation.
If soil is washing through it, fix the wall at the same time. Otherwise the ground under your deck will keep moving.
Licensed, insured, NCFI-certified. Serving Florida, Georgia & South Carolina since 1996.
866-398-9323