Building A Party Platform

Building a party deck or dock platform on your dock can in effect add valuable lake frontage to your home.  From a small sitting area to space for 20 people this can be a very easy and painless process.  Many traditional dock platforms use long crossarms and multiple post that have to be driven in under the dock.  Although this may hold the dock up there are much easier and better looking ways to do this.

At Alumi-Span docks we use a dock truss systems that can be used to make almost any size platform you could want.  Standard platforms range in size, but anything from 6’X8’ to 20’X30’ is very easy to assemble!

Although some wood dock platforms are made up of a solid section of wood, the best way to assemble a platform, even if it is wood sections, is to sister several sections side by side to make the desired size you would want.  So for example, 3-10X4 sections would make up a 10’X12’ platform.  Doing this makes assembly very easy because you only lift one section at a time eliminating the need for heavy lifting.   

Having a truss is the easiest way to make a platform.  Alumi-Span trusses can be adjusted without disassembling the platform.  There is a side adjustment for the outside sections and a middle adjustment for the middle sections.  The adjustments are both made from the upper part of the post so you can do it without removing the sections.  The trusses are light weight aluminum and will stand up on their own allowing the deck to be easily and quickly installed.    

On very large platforms of 16’ and 20’ dimensions you will need another leg in the middle.  Alumi-Span has solved this problem by putting a telescoping dock post into the middle of their larger trusses.  This way it will still adjust without having to auger or cut a post off directly under the dock. 

In addition to making platform installation easier and cleaner looking, platform trusses also help stabilize the party platform.  Trusses have diagonal bracing built into them so they add considerable side to side stability to any dock platform.  Please see our video on installing a party platform for more information.