Seawall work on St. Joseph Bay often needs more state paperwork than usual because the bay is an aquatic preserve, so the permit plan matters as much as the repair method in Port St. Joe.
866-398-9323Licensed seawall specialists — FL · GA · SC
Seawall Repairs by Solid Foundations provides seawall repair in Port St. Joe, FL for bay-front homeowners, marina and commercial owners, and Cape San Blas area property owners. Typical projects include filling voids behind St. Joseph Bay walls, sealing joints on older bay-front bulkheads, and repairing caps damaged during Hurricane Michael's surge. Call 866-398-9323 or use the quote form to book a free on-site inspection.
Port St. Joe, the Gulf County seat, sits on St. Joseph Bay, and that bay is unusual for the Panhandle. FDEP describes it as a coastal lagoon partly cut off from the Gulf, with high salinity because very little fresh water flows in. The St. Joseph Bay Aquatic Preserve, established in 1970, covers about 55,675 acres. NOAA's Port St. Joe station averages about 1.6 feet of daily range. The bay also took a direct blow from Hurricane Michael, so many walls here are either rebuilt or carrying hidden damage.
Port St. Joe is part of our Panama City & Forgotten Coast region. The Panama City seawall repair team is the regional lead and coordinates scheduling and permits for Gulf County jobs.
To the west, Mexico Beach seawall repair covers the canal town that shared Michael's worst surge. To the east in Franklin County, our Apalachicola seawall repair team works another protected estuary with similar state review.
The National Hurricane Center measured 7.2 ft above mean higher high water in the Port St. Joe area and estimated 9–14 ft of inundation above ground along the coast from Tyndall Air Force Base to Port St. Joe.
The waterfront showed it. The News Herald reported that the Port St. Joe Marina had to be extensively rebuilt from scratch after Michael. It reopened as Point South Marina, with 252 dry storage slips and 48 wet slips on St. Joseph Bay.
Signs include soft spots or sinkholes behind the cap, muddy water at the base after rain, and caps cracking or separating.
On a wall that's still straight, our technicians work from the land side, injecting NCFI marine polyurethane through small ports to fill voids, bind loose sand, and seal joints. Learn about polyurethane injection for seawall repair. Working from behind the wall limits disturbance to the bay bottom, which matters in a preserve. Cracked caps are re-formed, and leaning walls can often be anchored.
Seawall Repairs by Solid Foundations is an NCFI-certified polyurethane installer, holds Florida license CBC1267322, and has served Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina since 1996.
City permits. Inside city limits, the City of Port St. Joe Building Department handles permits. If Planning Board approval is needed, the board meets on the second Tuesday of each month and needs a complete application 21 calendar days ahead. Residential plans are typically reviewed within five working days.
State review. Florida Statute 403.813(1)(e) exempts restoring a seawall at its old location, upland, or within 18 inches waterward from a separate FDEP permit. But FDEP's shoreline guidance says projects in an aquatic preserve still need written authorization to use state-owned submerged lands even when they meet the other exemption criteria. On St. Joseph Bay, plan for that step.
Book a free Port St. Joe seawall inspection and we'll lay out both the repair and the permit steps.
Often, yes. FDEP's guidance says work in an aquatic preserve needs written authorization to use state-owned submerged lands, even when it meets the other exemption criteria. We prepare that request.
The city says residential plans are reviewed within five working days. Projects that need Planning Board approval take longer because the board meets monthly.
It's a state aquatic preserve of about 55,675 acres, with high salinity and little freshwater inflow. Preserve status adds review to shoreline work.
Surge likely washed sand out from behind the wall. The void grows over time until the ground sinks. Filling it and sealing the joints stops the loss.
In addition to Port St. Joe, our licensed seawall repair team serves these nearby Florida communities:
Service Area: St. Joseph Bay and the Gulf of Mexico
We serve all waterfront properties on St. Joseph Bay and the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding canals, lakes, and waterways.
Seawall Repairs by Solid Foundations also serves these waterfront communities near Port St. Joe:
Licensed, insured, NCFI-certified. Serving Florida, Georgia & South Carolina since 1996.
866-398-9323