Boat Dock Stain Paint
 

I am preparing a proposal for a dock to be stained. What protection for the waterway must be observed? Should a environment friendly products only be used? Or drop clothes suspended underneath the dock required regardless?
This is a large dock boathouse which makes suspending drop clothes a real challenge. The job is in Florida on a lake with St Johns River Water Management jurisdiction.
Any thoughts.

why not contact the water mgmt. agency? FL has some pristine (karst) springs, and they may have some special rules in place

you'd be in big trouble if you got caught...

once you have that info, contact the customer, explain the rules (or lack of them) and ask if they want you to be MORE protective than that - after all, they bought a high value property for the amenities

you can then ask them if they want to pay the extra cost for extra protection - just the discussion, and fact you went past the slap it on mentality - ought to earn you some good word of mouth

and... kkinzli - in 911 tech of save the rat thread fame, just so happens to be a professor of water mgmt. in FL

Your going to have to check with somebody, perhaps the River Water Management Jurisdiction,
maybe the Dock owner, property management for the lake or docks? Definitely find out first.
I know some of these lake people are very crazy about stuff in the water and you do not want a fine. It will be hefty!

You can leak gasoline and oil into the lake all day, but don't dare get any sanding dust or drops of paint in it.
It's crazy.

Thanks for your thoughts and yes there are big fines in place for pollution.

A coworkers father consulted for them for many years, and currently works for the Suwanee water management folks

I'll drop him the URL for this thread and let you know.

Hey Larry, which lake? I used to do quite a bit of bass fishing in the lower St. Johns (and area lakes), Lake George, Little LG, Crescent, Rodman, Orange & Lochloosa, Oklawaha River, etc. Good times :)

I don't think the drop cloth prep will be as bad as you think. I have been using Penofin Verde for a while. No, its doesn't last as long, but its easy to strip, very easy to apply, and it doesn't stink. Very low VOC.

Lake Butler in Windemere FL.

Off topic, but the gallons we get around here is the low VOC stuff, but the qts. have a higher voc and are better in performance.

From my contact at the Suwanee mgmnt district -

"I greatly appreciate your concern for doing your maintenance in an environmentally responsible manner. Lake Butler in Union County is within the Suwannee River Water Management District, but we have no direct jurisdiction over this type of activity. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection handles a lot of the water quality issues in the state. You can find information on their program at: Water Programs - FDEP. I gave their site a quick look and other than a permit exemption form for dock reconstruction, I didn’t see anything that applied to your situation. My next suggestion would be to talk to the county code enforcement officer or building inspector. The number I found is (386) 496-2676.

My guess is that your ultimate responsibility is to follow the label instructions for the product you are using. Manufacturers must produce a material safety data sheet (MSDS) for any potentially hazardous product. I’ve enclosed an example. "