Not everyone has the luxury of living in a waterfront home and being able to avail the opportunities a waterfront lifestyle presents. Some are still saving to reach their waterfront living goal; others are already there.
For those of you lucky enough to be living your best life on the waterfront, then you need to keep in mind your marine maintenance requirements. You want to retain your waterfront dream; you don’t wish your waterfront dream to become your waterfront nightmare.
At Micks Marine Maintenance, as our name suggests, we are marine maintenance experts. Thus, we have the knowledge and experience to guide you on the right path to avoid common marine maintenance issues.
Continue reading as I share with you the top two marine maintenance issues you will want to avoid at all costs.
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General Wear and Tear
Although you may think it’s just a little wear and tear, all these little things add up, and unless you take care of them as they arise, the result may be beyond the scope of repair and more in line with a replacement.
In the case of a pontoon dock, common marine maintenance issues that arise from wear and tear include; worn marine carpet, barnacle buildup, saltwater buildup causing corrosion, and worn brackets and rollers, to name but a few. These issues are all easy to take care of with regular maintenance. Failure to maintain a pontoon will require more substantial repairs, which, in turn, leads to higher maintenance costs.
To reduce marine maintenance costs, inspect your assets regularly and action any notable maintenance that may be required before it reaches a point beyond repair.
This is where Micks Marine Maintenance can help! We are marine maintenance experts, and our name is synonymous with pontoon repairs on the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Tweed Coast. If you would rather leave your maintenance duties to someone else, we are the team to call.
Corrosion and Rot
The other common marine maintenance issues you want to get on top of to avoid catastrophic repercussions is marine corrosion and rot. Both issues are unpreventable in a marine environment, but that doesn’t mean you should let nature run its course.
There are preventative measures you can take to prolong the life of aluminium structures, such as a pontoon, to reduce corrosion. Corrosion can occur due to contact with dissimilar metals without proper insulation, chemicals dumped into the water to control weeds or to clean marine fouling from pontoons, etc. To avoid corrosion, one should pertain from using chemicals and action regularly cleaning to dislodge any buildup that can encourage decay.
Timber rot, which is standard with jetties, is not so easy to prevent or control. As stated by the Oregon State University Extension Marine Advisory Program, “it essentially calls for removing or changing the conditions that support the growth of rot fungi.” Obviously, such conditions are out of one’s control. Thus, the only way to manage timber rot is to stay abreast of it. This means; replacing rotten deck planks, rafters, beams, and piles as required. Performing regular maintenance as needed will ensure the jetty remains safe and functional, and will also prevent a total replacement from being needed.
The team at Micks Marine Maintenance are expert jetty repairers and have the skills, experience and ability to rejuvenate a jetty of any condition. Give us a call for any jetty maintenance requirements on the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast or Tweed region.
Conclusion
Living on the waterfront and availing the waterfront lifestyle comes with some maintenance drawbacks, which if overlooked, can have catastrophic impacts on your marine assets and in time your back pocket.
The top two marine maintenance issues you want to avoid are neglecting general wear and tear and overcoming corrosion and timber rot. While both are unavoidable, they can be minimised and managed to provide better longevity to your assets.
For aluminium pontoons, it’s vital to perform regular maintenance to stay on top of small issues before they evolve into larger issues. With timber jetties, likewise, it’s important to replace decaying timber before it becomes unsafe and unusable.
For all your marine maintenance needs, call Micks Marine Maintenance. Phone 0431 778 468 today.