New docks go against the grain
Every blissful July afternoon on Lake Coeur d’Alene is underwritten by a host of little chores. John Hough’s least favorite has been dock maintenance.
“Miserable, miserable docks,” he said.
Sanding, staining and repairing the five wooden docks surrounding his parents’ float home in Blue Creek Bay consumed too many summer days, said the Coeur d’Alene bed-and-breakfast owner. So this spring, Hough replaced the docks with a Fiberglas system. It was made by Dynamic Fabricators LLC, a Rathdrum company that hopes to create a market for synthetic docks in the Inland Northwest.
The docks are a side business for the firm, which is better known as a manufacturer of parts for industrial cooling towers, such as the Cogentrix gas-fired plant on the Rathdrum Prairie.
Company President Wade Wolcott started experimenting with Fiberglas docks about five years ago. He was looking for ways to diversify the company’s customer base.
“After Enron, the cooling tower business tanked and took a dive,” he said. “We needed to come up with other things we could do.”
Dynamic Fabricators started selling its trademarked “Ultra Docks” in 2005. The low-maintenance docks meld Wolcott’s experience in marine and industrial applications for Fiberglas.
The dock surface is made like a boat hull. Its non-slick surface is slightly crowned, so the water runs off. The pontoons are filled with marine-grade foam and attached with an adhesive.
Hough had the Fiberglas custom-colored to match the battleship-gray siding on his parents’ float home.
“A side benefit is that the Canada geese don’t like the feel of the surface on their feet,” he said. “They’ve all gone over to the neighbors’ docks.”
The docks cost about $30 per square foot – an 8-foot wide by 24-foot long model runs about $5,500 – and come with a 10-year warranty. According to Wolcott, the Fiberglas docks cost about 10 to 15 percent more than a high-quality wooden dock.
“It definitely wasn’t the cheapest, but I liked the idea of it,” said Gary Higley of Mead, Wash., who purchased 48 feet of Fiberglas dock for a cabin on Long Lake.
Given the cost, Higley said he checked out docks made out of several types of synthetic materials, including wood composites and plastics. The Fiberglas was heavier than plastic, which gives the dock stability on the water, he said.
The Ultra Dock also competes with steel-truss frame docks made by Harrison Dock Builders, one of North Idaho’s largest manufacturers and installers of docks. The steel-truss frame docks come with either concrete or composite decking, said Mark Wagner, the firm’s senior vice president.
At Dynamic Fabricators, docks account for 8 percent of the company’s overall sales of $5 million to $10 million, said Controller Danajo Cole. Eventually, she envisions marketing the docks in the Great Lakes states and the Gulf Coast.
The docks will also get some local exposure this summer at the Windbag Marina in Sandpoint. Dynamic Fabricators was awarded a $95,500 contract to replace a section of old wooden docks. The bid specified non-wood materials.
“Docks made out of natural wood require regular maintenance,” said Kim Woodruff, director of Sandpoint’s parks and recreation department. “I was very interested in anything that would be low maintenance and have a long life.”