Starting Your Pier

Pier of d’Nort offers three ways that you can begin your pier depending on your shoreline:

1. Starter Section
2. Shore Mount
3. Fascia Mount

Starter Section

Our most economical way to start your pier is with a ramp section. The ramps differ from our standard sections in that their legs can be adjusted so that they remain vertical while the ramp itself slopes upward or downward. The shore-end of the ramp rests on any horizontal surface; a stairstep, grass, sand, cement blocks, etc.

In order for the legs to remain vertical when the ramp slopes up or down, the folding brace that attaches to the side of the frame must be able to be attached at different spots. This is provided for by a series of holes in one of the grooves of the main frame rather than just the single hole usually provided for bolting brace to frame. The owner simply chooses the hole that works. The rest of the holes are neatly covered up by an aluminum piece that slides within the groove. This provision is standard for ramp sections but it can also be ordered for our regular sections so you can slope up or down from a Shore Mount or a Fascia Mount. Ramps simply have no hook hardware on their shore-end.

Shore Mount

The shore mount attaches to any horizontal surface and pretties up your beginning with a three-board mini-ramp. Shore mounts can be bolted down, staked, lag screwed, or they can simply be placed on the ground without being fastened. Fastening is optional, your pier won’t go anywhere.

Some folks bury a railroad tie into the ground and attach the Shore Mount on top of that. Others attach to cement walkways or buried cinder blocks. Still others just rest it on the grass or ground. The Shore Mount doesn’t care. It’s not even alive.

Fascia Mount

The fascia mount attaches to any vertical surface such as a railroad tie, boardwalk, step face, or another pier. It comes with its own single board . . . which looks a lot nicer than without.

The Fascia Mount will likely not have to be removed between seasons (except for the board). Mounting this piece requires a face that is structurally sound. When attaching to older wooden piers or decks it’s smart to reinforce them as necessary.

Building Your Pier

With our unique flip-in installation method, you can build out your pier with as many sections as it takes

Our standard section consists of a 4′ x 8′ welded aluminum frame* with our patented, dual-braced folding legs on one end, and our patented swiveling hooks on the other. None of that bolting and unbolting between seasons. The frame is topped with two 4′ x 4′ deck panels.

*Other available sizes include: 4' x 6', 4' x 4', 6' x 6', 2.5' x 8' and 2.5' x 6'

We offer two kinds of decking: durable vinyl in multiple color options, and western red cedar wood. For those handy sorts who might like to build their own deck panels, we even sell frames without decking.

All About Legs

Measuring for Water Depth

Each and every leg is cut to order by the half-foot, and comes with a standard footpad or larger depending on how hard or soft the bottom of your body of water is (larger footpads must be specified during the order process and carry an upcharge). Once your leg is inserted into position, the pier frame is adjustable up and down just about the entire length of the leg.

Typically we will add about 30″ of leg-length to whatever the water depth is at a particular leg’s location. If the pier is twenty inches above the water, the tops of the legs will then extend 10″ above the deck, and you will have about 17″ of adjustability in the upward direction and even more in the downward direction.

If you want or need more/less, no problem! Just let your sales manager know. Once your pier is installed and leveled, if your legs are too high or uneven, they can easily be cit with a Sawz-all or pipe cutter.

Some folks ask how to measure the water depth. If you already have a pier there now, simply measure those legs! Otherwise, you can walk out and measure the depth using a tape measure or long piece of wood every 8 feet. If the water is too deep, consider using a boat, kayak or canoe.

Some are less concerned about that, and only provide the water depth at the end of the pier, letting us interpolate the intermediate lengths. Still others guestimate or prefer to cut their legs after installation. The downside of that is that it’s more work to cut the legs after installation than it is to measure the water depths. We leave the preference to the customer. The minimum height that can be achieved from the footpad to the top of the deck is about 21″. The maximum leg length/water depth that can be achieved is 16 feet.

To be precise, that would give you 17″ of adjustability in the upward direction and even more in the downward direction. Most folks want their leg-tops to line up nice and neat, so they are happy to measure their water depths. Some are less concerned about that, and only provide the water depth at the end of the pier, letting us interpolate the intermediate lengths. Still others guestimate or prefer to cut their legs after installation. The downside of that is that it’s more work to cut the legs “in situ” than it is to measure the water depths. We leave the preference to the customer. The minimum height that can be achieved from the footpad to the top of the deck is about 21″, and our recommended maximum leg length is approximately 15'.

First Time Height Adjustment

As with everything else about our pier, height adjustment is simple and reliable. If you want to raise the pier, lift the pier up and step down on the footpad. That’s it! It stays there. Period.

The secret is a one-way cam, the leg can slip one way but not the other. The clever engineers at Pier of d’Nort figured out which way to mount the cam so it holds the pier up rather than the other way around.

When you want to lower the pier, all it takes is a 1/8 turn of a wrench to loosen the cam mechanism. Now you can lower or raise the pier. When you let go of the wrench the pier stays. No more set screws that can strip and rust. No expensive, slow, heavy, and finicky screw-type adjusters. (more about those shortly). Place your cursor over the closeup to see how our cam-cincher works.

Grab the cam’s shaft with a common half inch wrench and pull up. As you lift the frame with the wrench, the leg releases, allowing you to lower (or raise) the frame using the wrench as your lifting point. When you’ve got it where you want it, release the wrench to re-engage the cam. Large adjustments can be made in mere seconds, which comes in very handy when installing your pier for the first time. No other height adjustment scheme is faster.

Let’s say you’re installing your pier for the first time. Before installing a section, slip a pair of legs into their leg sleeves one at a time using the wrench to hold the cam “open.” Unless you measured an old pier, you’ll be guessing how far to insert the legs and that’s fine. Throw the section in as shown previously. If the section lands too low, that’s good. From in the water, pick the section up from one corner until it’s level, then push the footpad to the ground. The pier is stiff enough so that the other footpad will now be above the ground. Move to that side and simply push that footpad down. Now you’re ready for the panels and the next section. If you can guestimate your leg insertion on dry land so that the frame sections always land a bit lower than horizontzal, the above simple procedure will allow your pier to be installed in not much more time than that taken walking back and forth.

Now let’s say the section lands higher than horizontal. Grab a camshaft with your wrench and lift, then raise the freed leg way up off the ground and lock it there. Move to the other side and, again using the wrench, raise that leg also. While still holding the frame up with with the wrench, lower the frame to where it’s level and drop the leg to the ground. Go back to the first side and push that footpad to the ground (or drop it by releasing the cam with the wrench). You’ve still only taken but a few moments.

A word about above-deck adjustment

Is it possible to install the pier the first time without getting in the water? Yes; we offer two different jack systems to help you out: the Jack of All Heights and Pulling-Your-Leg Jack.

Let’s say it’s spring and you notice that the water is up a foot or down a foot. You can simply go to your stack of frames with your wrench and slide each leg the necessary foot. They’re all right there. Alternatively, let’s say come mid-summer you realize that you need to raise your whole pier, say, six inches. The great news is that now the water's warm!? Lift each corner in turn and push the footpad down. If your water is too deep, check out our jack options.

Stabilizing

For pier heights of 7 feet, you may want to add deep-water bracing to the last section for extra stability.

The Extra Bells and Whistles

Accessories for mooring, watersports, seating, fishing and more give you plenty of options to make the most of your pier experience - you simply have to decide which ones you want!

• Seating & tables
• Stairs, steps & ladders
• Cleats & anchor points
• Canoe, kayak & paddleboard racks
• Fishing rod, umbrella & flagpole holders