Working with a pro for dock designs?
Not sure you are asking your dock designer the right questions?
If
you’ve decided to turn to the pros for expertise in dock designs for
your new boat dock, you’ve made a smart choice.
You want to put the
project into experienced hands, but you don’t want to be left out of the
process. Consider these questions before you hire a designer, or decide to go with a DIY dock:
- Experience - It should always be a priority to ask your dock designer or any type of contract worker you hire or plan to hire about their experience with similar jobs. You can ask how long they have been doing this work, how many similar projects, and even ask for some personal references.
- Contact - A reliable dock designer will be one who is easily contacted; you don’t want it to take a week or two for someone to get back to you! Ask the designer for multiple ways to contact them and test out the responsiveness to both phone and email contact.
- Warranty - Ask your designer about warranties offered on their work. If this is part of their business it should also be part of their contract, another topic of conversation to consider. A warranty might cover service visits required in the first 6 months or more after installation.
- Materials - You can’t have a quality dock without quality materials. That means asking your designer about their preferred materials will tell you a lot about them. If the designer tends to use a certain manufacturer, you can look up information about the company and decide if you think it’s a good fit.
- Timeline - When it’s time to really get serious about your project, one of the key questions you must ask is your designer’s timeline. Try to zero-in on a specific schedule and have some aspect of timeline expectations in your contract.
Asking questions and making sure you have all the information at the start will set you up for an extremely successful relationship with your dock designer. You’re much less likely to face setbacks or disappointments if you set up a good foundation of understanding from the beginning.
If you’re looking for expertise in dock designs, give us a call today. We’re ready to help you design the dock of your dreams! Check out our dock design tool!