Waterfront Projects Done Right
Trent Hollis Trent Hollis · June 24, 2026
Three winters back, I got a call from a property owner near Pensacola whose dock had just taken serious structural damage from a hard freeze. Three of his pressure-treated pilings had split lengthwise — pilings I’d installed myself almost a decade prior. He’d gone back and forth on whether to install ice protection for two … Read more
Trent Hollis · June 23, 2026
Plenty of waterfront property owners operate under the assumption that “seawall” and “bulkhead” are interchangeable terms — just different names for the same structure. After a storm season or two, that misunderstanding shows its teeth. I’ve driven out to properties where owners spent years repairing the wrong way, applying maintenance strategies that were never going … Read more
Trent Hollis · June 23, 2026
When I inspect a seawall, the first thing I check is whether water’s actively weeping from the face—or whether the concrete’s bulging where it shouldn’t be. That bowing tells me everything. Back in Pensacola, a homeowner called convinced his wall was failing structurally. What he actually had was years of trapped hydrostatic pressure with nowhere … Read more
Trent Hollis · June 23, 2026
Most waterfront owners believe that cosmetic crack repair requires a contractor’s involvement — and that’s where the real money bleeds away. Let me flip that: many seawall cracks you see won’t fail structurally, and misconceptions about their severity push people toward six-figure replacements they don’t need. A concrete cap that’s cracked on the surface doesn’t … Read more
Trent Hollis · June 22, 2026
Down at the marina one summer, I watched a guy’s 12-pound redfish die in a borrowed cooler when the ice gave out before weigh-in. He’d had that fish alive an hour before. It’s one of those moments that stays with you. What he needed was a functional DIY dock-mounted livewell — the kind of setup … Read more
Trent Hollis · June 22, 2026
Out on the water near Pensacola, I once watched a spinning rod valued at roughly $200 slip off a dock post and vanish into the bay. The rod holder had been fastened through a hollow aluminum post using nothing but undersized screws, no backing plate underneath, and no sealant around the holes. When a bull … Read more
Trent Hollis · June 21, 2026
Run your hand along the underside of a dock cleat in August, and you’ll feel it — that gritty orange coating, salt-locked rust bleeding down onto the wood below. That’s what happens when people rush installations, skip the depth math, and end up with a fish light mounted so poorly that the entire electrical system … Read more
Trent Hollis · June 21, 2026
Spend enough time at the bait shop or hardware store and you’ll hear it: “Just bolt any old table to your dock rail and you’re good to go.” That advice evaporates the moment saltwater gets involved. I’ve watched dock owners follow that exact guidance, only to call me six months later when their mounting hardware … Read more
Trent Hollis · June 21, 2026
Hurricane season along the Gulf Coast has a way of exposing what your dock really needs. When salt spray picks up and the wind tests every fastener you’ve installed, gaps in design become obvious — and nowhere is that clearer than at a fish cleaning station. Most DIYers bolt down whatever’s handy and hope it … Read more
Trent Hollis · June 20, 2026
Kneeling beside a corroded light fixture I pulled from a Biloxi dock last month, the housing cracked clean through and the lens clouded to near-opacity, I was reminded why this conversation matters. Green versus white underwater dock lighting—which genuinely pulls more fish to your structure? My neighbor two slips over had been evangelizing white for … Read more