Remove Barnacles From Pilings
Onofre Alamillo
Most docks, piers, and their pilings are made of wood. With time wood always deteriorates, especially when submerged in water. Shipworms, barnacles, weather, waves, natural disasters, etc. can all aid in the destruction of your wood. Luckily, there are ways to prevent and protect against piling deterioration.
DS diving is a one-stop shop! Our certified crew can inspect your pilings, strip & clean, apply protective wrappings and reinforce your pilings with concrete. We are the perfect team to dock-tor up your dock or pier. With affordable prices, we provide all possible methods in restoring and reinforcing your dock. Get your dock back in ship-shape with DS Diving.
However, one of the most unsightly things that can happen to your pontoon dock is the growth of barnacles. Barnacles are small, hard crustaceans that attach themselves to surfaces in salt water. While they may look harmless, barnacles can cause damage to your pontoon dock and boat. Therefore, it is important to regularly remove barnacles from a pontoon dock to protect it and your boat from damage.
Today, we will provide a comprehensive guide on how to remove barnacles from a pontoon dock. This guide will touch on the importance of eliminating barnacles, the best methods for removal, and products that can assist in the removal process.
Barnacles can also cause problems for boats and other docking vessels by potentially causing damage. When barnacles attach themselves to fenders, which are used to provide cushioning between the boat and the dock, the boat ends up rubbing against the rough barnacles. This friction is bound to cause surface scratching to a boat but can also lead to more significant damage that needs repairs.
One popular method for removing barnacles from anything is to use a power washer. This is a quick and easy way to remove barnacles, but it can also damage the pontoon dock if not done carefully. Power washers are high-pressure machines that shoot water at a very high velocity, so use them with caution.
To remove the barnacles, wait for the tide to change, so the barnacles are exposed. Then, simply soak a rag in vinegar and apply it to the affected area. Let it sit for a few minutes, then use the scraper to scrape off the loosened barnacles. Repeat this process until all of the barnacles have been removed. Once they are gone, you can rinse off the vinegar with fresh water and enjoy your clean dock!
To use one of these products, simply apply it to the affected area and wait for the barnacles to detach. Once they have been removed, be sure to rinse the area thoroughly with fresh water to neutralise the chemicals. With a little diligence, you can keep your pontoon dock free of barnacles all season long.
Once you have removed barnacles from your pontoon dock, you will notice they leave behind a circular calcium foundation known as a husk. To remove the husk, carefully use a scraper to remove the remainents of the barnacle.
If you have a pontoon dock, you may eventually be dealing with barnacles. Barnacles are small crustaceans that attach themselves to surfaces to filter food from the water. While they are mostly harmless, they can cause damage to your pontoon dock and boat.
With a bit of diligence, you can keep your pontoon dock free of barnacles all season long. Remember to regularly scrub the pontoon with a brush and clean any dirt or debris that accumulates on the surface.
Once you watch our installation video and have all the materials on hand, it should take an experience crew of 2 people about 5 minutes per piling to place the jacket. Concrete can be placed in as little as 2 minutes per pole, depending on the filling method. A homeowner would likely take about 20 mintues to mix bags of cement and pour them into the void.
We recommend that you have at least 1.5 inches of annular space around the jacket. When pumping cement into the jacket, using a flexible flat hose over the end of the cement hose will allow you to fit the hose into tighter voids, so it is easier to use a tighter jacket. When pouring mixed cement in from the top, it is easier to have more space to allow the concrete to fall in easier. You will need more concrete but will save yourself the headache of getting the cement to fall through such a small void.
You sure can! Just use an abrasive brush to remove marine growth. However, cleaning the SnapJacket is not required and has no effect on its useful life. The plastic is far easier to keep clean than wood. Pro tip: by using flexible irrigation line to make a circle around the jacket, the ring will float up and down around the pole. By going up and down with the tide everyday it will agitate the barnacles off before they have a chance to latch on and die, leaving you a much cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing pile.
Because the wood piling is encapsulated with concrete and the SnapJacket, it creates a water tight seal. All pilings are pressure treated and contain harmful chemicals that are toxic to marine creatures. This seeping happens immediately after the piling is installed. Using SnapJacket stops this process.
Here's how it works...as the attachment advances across the surfaces being cleaned, the outside knocker-cutter bars that are attached to the tool's outside housing (or diameter) shatter the barnacles and other heavy growth, while the rotating inside hardened steel cutting wheels follow up with their chipping and scraping action which attacks and removes the tough barnacle adhesive and balance of material left by the outside knocker-cutter bars, leaving the surface clean. The constant flow of water passing through the tool keeps the inside wheels washed clean and free. These same round inner cutting wheels that do the chipping and scraping are also the wheel that the "Barnacle Cutter" rides and rolls on, acting like casters and adding to the attachment's mobility and stability.
Displacement of water caused by the rotary action of the "Barnacle Cutter" creates a vacuum effect under the attachment which results in the attachment being pressed and held against the vertical work surface firmly yet gentle enough to allow the attachment to yield to the divers' control to guide it in any direction by applying a slight pressure on either side of the attachment. The attachment performs equally well in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.
Piling Wrap is a great way to protect your dock pilings as well as yourself. No more splinters or snagging clothes, lines or yourself from cracking old pilings. The Pile Wrapper provides excellent protection to the piling itself, extending life of the wood and avoiding costly replacements. The pile wrapper is also maintenance free.
THE WRAP IS INSTALLED DOWN INTO THE MUD LINE AND ONE FOOT ABOVE THE HIGH TIDE LINE OR UP TO THE WHALERS ON THE DOCK.
NAILS ARE INSTALLED EVERY 2 INCHES ALONG THE SEAMS. OUR PILE WRAP IS ONLY AVAILABLE IN BLACK COLOR BECAUSE OF ITS HIGH UV RATING FOR ADDED PROTECTION
Effective December 31, 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency banned most chemicals used to effectively treat the wood used in docks and pilings due to their toxic effects on the environment. Creosote (the most commonly used) contains numerous constituents that are extremely toxic to aquatic organisms. Both the treatment process and the use of treated-products can result in exposure to pesticides for both people and the environment.
Current manufactured pilings are projected to last about 10-15 years consistently deteriorating without any inspections, maintenance, or preventative measures. However, the life span of these pilings can be drastically increased (easily doubled) through the use of piling wrapping to serve as a protective barrier from the elements with absolutely no harm to the outside environment. This proven method can extend the life of your piling an additional 20-30 years.
The most destructive of the marine wood borers is shipworm or teredinidae. This mollusk enters submerged timbers when it is very small and grows rapidly inside the wood. Myriads of these creatures riddle the interior of the wood until, without noticeable damage on the outside, an entire structure may suddenly collapse.
The city of Bainbridge Island and the state Department of Natural Resources are working to catalog and remove an estimated 2,500 chemically-coated pilings and driftwood from the island's eastern shores. The project is one of the first of its kind in the state funded by the governor's wide-ranging Puget Sound Initiative, which is funneling $4 million over next two years toward cleaning beaches of preservative-treated wood.
The Bainbridge effort marks the expansion of DNRs removal program beyond public tidelands. With landowner consent, DNR will remove treated pilings and driftwood free of charge from private island beaches this fall.
"It's a nasty chemical," said city shorelines planner Peter Namtvedt Best, who is leading efforts to measure and catalog all the treated pilings and logs along the island's east side. "Creosote is not used anymore, but its mix of herbicides, fungicides and other compounds persist."
"A whole lot of young people and folks who came here from Mississippi, Kansas, Nebraska or wherever have no connection to the history here," he said. "Every one of those pilings connects them. The pilings are a touchstone for so many stories."
"The basic structure of these pilings is deteriorating," he said. "Once they roll up on to the beach, the whole length is exposed to sunlight and air, releasing toxins into the beach sediment. There, it becomes a problem for forage fish in Puget Sound."
Elfendahl volunteered to help catalog the wood but doubts the science that says creosote causes significant damage to human health or the environmental. Rather, Elfendahl believes derelict pilings foster marine life.
"Every kid who grew up on Puget Sound knows that going out to a dock and dropping your hook between the pilings will get you a lot of splinters on your belly, but it'll also get you a lot of fish," he said.
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