Permanent Dock Steps

[stilespb]

My set is just 24 inches wide; just a tad less than half out finger pier; 48 inches tall. A water overhang would not really work for me. Good thing I do not need one. If you hang out 18 inches you may need to bolt down or brace or both to keep from tilting over and smashing you boat.

[TopHattandTails]

Rethought the overhang- not gonna work. With my angle of entry into my slip, it will just be a question of when and not if I hit 'em and/or the steps go swimming. What a pain that would be to dock on top of... No overhang. But we will have 54" wide steps and low voltage lighting in them.

[Vincentc]

Regarding overhang,
I wonder if you missed my comment regarding the fact that the walkways are hinged. When not in use they swing back on on to the steps, and nothing extends past the edge of the dock.

I may have misled you, posting only phots with the walkways extended out toward the boat.
Regards,
Vincent

[Phildm]

Vincent,

I really like your design. I have a similar problem I am trying to find a solution to. I have a floating swim dock next to a pole mounted fixed dock that has the slip my boat is in. I currently use a vertical ladder to get down to the swim dock. Sometimes the swim dock can be 6 to 8 feet lower than the fixed dock. I would like to implement your design for stairs mounted on top of the swim dock running parallel with the swim dock and fixed dock finger - swim dock is 6ft wide and 20ft long. Can you tell me what the width, depth and length are of your steps? What did you use inderneath for bracing? What do you estimate the weight is of your complete setup?

Regards,
Phil

[Boatnut]

Home Depot has precut stringers of pressure treated pine and gavlanized carriage bolts to use to hold things together well. Picture of my set attached. Be careful of the water overhang you mentioned. My set is VERY heavy but I can still drag it around on our wooden docks.

Very nice set of steps, I'll bet if anyone ever occupies the slip next to you, they will surely appreciate them.

A guy in our marines pulled that same step idea, he also hogged up the dock, when the marina asked him to remove them, he got pretty snotty with them, they tossed him out, and now he lives in another marina, without the stairs, as he attached them to the dock, and had some kind of problem removing them.

[Vincentc]

Phil,
I do not recall the measurements, but can get them.



The only bracing is the 1/2 inch plywood. It is stiffened by its shape and held together with 2 part epoxy and fiberglass cloth. I used 18 ga stainless brads to hold it together until the glue set up.





I would guess the weight to be about 70 lbs.

[mdshore]

wow thats some crazy looking steps .function over form to say the least

[SportFishCruising]

I've seen Home Depot & Lowes mentioned in previous posts; I have those brand stores locally and it's competitors. I forget which one I actually used but - I went to them with the measurements and a penciled out idea. They put it on their computer, printed out a finished design with instructions to build, and a list of materials of what I needed AND delivered it to my site when I built my home decks.

It was amazingly easy and was a first time project for me; 20 years later, still standing

[Vincentc]

wow thats some crazy looking steps .function over form to say the least

Designs from scratch result in add on's. the primary purpose was to provide safe access for our elderly parents. The steps had too much rise without the additions. The vertical tabs, a bad idea but don't hurt anything but aesthetics.

The steps have not only provided safe assess but allowed me to carry stuff on and off the boat easily. A second build would be prettier but no more functional. It has worked for me, and if the post helps someone find a solution, that pleases me more.

Regards

[zigzag930]

I know this is an old thread, but any "new" original ideas? Our 58LRC is between 48 and 82 inches off the dock (in height) to the boarding door. I do have a 7 step Marquipt, but it is too short at high tide and I don't like keeping it permanently attached.

Thought about a setup like that dual step platform, but adding steps that rise up from the below platform. Been fooling around with steps that are a box inside a box design that are flush with deck when down, but raise up on pulleys. Might work, but seems a bit complicated and haven't worked to all the details.