Frequently Asked Questions

Florida Bulk Head is a resource for Florida bulkheads and seawalls, owned and operated by Barefoot Marine Construction of Jacksonville. It combines educational guides and planning tools with a way to reach the right contractor.

In Duval, St. Johns, Nassau, Clay, Flagler and Putnam counties, Barefoot Marine Construction works with you directly. Elsewhere in Florida, an independent participating contractor may handle your project if one is available for your area, and only with your consent.

No. Requesting an estimate or using the tools on this site is free.

Northeast Florida requests go to Barefoot Marine Construction. For other regions, we share your project with one participating contractor only if you check the consent box. We never sell your information. See the privacy policy and lead-sharing disclosure.

Search the name or license number on the Florida DBPR license portal at myfloridalicense.com (opens in a new tab). Ask for the license number in writing and for proof of insurance.

Photos of the full wall and any problem areas (low tide is best), approximate length, any surveys, plans or prior permits, and notes on when you first noticed changes. The Project Planner can organize it for you.

Usually, yes. Local building departments commonly ask for plans signed and sealed by a Florida-licensed professional engineer showing embedment, cap, reinforcing and anchoring; the Town of Jupiter's seawall checklist is one published example. The engineer also checks that the wall suits your soils and loads. Ask your building department what it requires before you commit to a design.

A recurring sinkhole usually means soil is still escaping through the wall, often through an open joint, torn filter fabric or a clogged weep system. Filling the hole replaces the soil but leaves the path open, so the next high tide or heavy rain carries more out. The lasting fix closes the path and restores drainage.

Often it can, within limits. Florida law exempts restoring a seawall within 18 inches waterward of its previous location from certain state permits, but local codes may restrict it further; the Town of Jupiter, for example, treats that as a one-time allowance. Property lines, state-owned submerged lands and federal review also matter, so confirm with the agencies through your contractor or engineer.

Not always. On many natural shorelines, a sloped revetment or a hybrid with plantings can manage waves, and Florida law encourages those approaches in estuaries and lagoons. A vertical wall makes more sense where boat access, limited space or existing adjacent walls call for it. An engineer can compare the options for your exposure.

It depends on what the crack means. A hairline crack with no movement may be minor, but cracking with rust staining, a cap that has rotated outward, or a widening gap between cap and panels can point to corroded tie-backs or reinforcing. Have it looked at, and see the Cracked Cap guide in the meantime.

Often it is worth considering, because water levels and local standards have changed since many walls were built. Some cities set minimum elevations, others set maximums, and Jacksonville's resilience strategy says the city will set height standards for private bulkheads. Raising also changes drainage and transitions to neighbors, so it needs to be designed.

Usually not by itself. Narrow, stable cracks without rust staining are often a maintenance item to monitor and seal. A cap that has rotated, dropped or separated from the wall, or cracking that appears alongside sinkholes in the yard, deserves prompt evaluation because it can indicate movement of the wall itself.

Sometimes a wall can be partly realigned while new anchors are installed and tensioned, but forcing a wall back can crack panels or the cap. Often the goal is to stop the movement and stabilize the wall where it stands. That decision belongs with an engineer who has evaluated the wall.

Not necessarily. A seawall is designed for a harsher set of loads, so on an exposed shore it typically needs more height, embedment and toe protection. A well-built bulkhead on a sheltered canal can be entirely adequate for its site. The right question is whether the wall was designed for the waves, wakes and surge it actually sees.

Anchored walls of reinforced concrete panels with a concrete cap and tie-backs are the traditional Florida canal wall, and many older subdivisions were built with them. Vinyl and composite sheet piling have become common choices for new and replacement walls on residential canals and lakes. Steel appears more on larger or more exposed projects.

The PVC sheets do not rust. The steel tie-back rods, wales, bolts and the reinforcing inside the concrete cap can corrode, so a vinyl wall still needs those parts protected and inspected. Rust staining on the cap of a vinyl wall usually points to the cap reinforcing or hardware.

Rust stains usually mean the reinforcing steel inside the panel or cap is corroding. Key Colony Beach's manual calls rust on the cap a major sign of potential future problems. Have the wall looked at, because corrosion tends to accelerate once it starts cracking the concrete.

Unprotected carbon steel in salt or brackish water will keep losing metal, fastest in the splash zone and just below low water, and can eventually perforate. Coatings, sacrificial thickness and cathodic protection slow or stop that process when they are designed for the site and maintained. Regular inspection of those zones catches problems before holes let soil escape.

Only if it is treated for the exposure. Lumber rated for above-ground or general ground contact is not the same as marine-rated material for salt or brackish water. Check the end tag for the use category and an accredited agency's mark, and follow the bulkhead designer's specification.

No. The 30-year figure comes from Key Colony Beach, which says most of its seawalls were designed for that life. It is a design assumption for walls in one city, not a statewide rule or a measured average. Your wall's service depends on its material, exposure, design and upkeep.

Yes, and it is common when damage is concentrated in one stretch. The key details are how the new section ties into the old one and whether the repaired section will last long enough to justify keeping it. Your designer should detail the transition so soil cannot escape at the joint.

Not necessarily. A small lean that has been stable for years may not be an immediate hazard, but it still means the wall has moved once. The concern is active movement, especially when the lean comes with fresh cracks, settling ground or a rotating cap. Photograph it regularly and have it measured so you know which kind you have.

Probably not in the geological sense. Florida's Geological Survey describes true sinkholes as collapses into dissolved limestone, and lists broken pipes, poorly compacted soil and buried debris as things that can mimic them. A hole within a few feet of a seawall is far more often soil escaping through or under the wall, but an evaluation should confirm the cause.

It is a kind of erosion. Erosion of an open bank happens at the surface where waves strike it. Washout behind a bulkhead happens inside and under the structure, through openings the wall was supposed to keep soil-tight, which is why it can go unnoticed until a hole appears.

Fine cracks are common in concrete and are not always a structural concern. What matters is whether they stain, widen, sound hollow or come with movement of the cap. Photograph them with a scale reference and compare over time, and mention them at your next inspection.

There is no reliable single number. It depends on the rod material and coating, the connection hardware, the salinity of the water and how wet the backfill stays. For context, Key Colony Beach's manual notes most of that city's seawalls were designed for a 30-year life, and many had reached or passed it. Inspection, not age alone, tells you where a wall stands.

Some seams are normal, because concrete panel walls are not built to be watertight. What should not happen is soil passing through them. A joint that stains the face, drops sediment on the bottom or lines up with a dip in the yard is no longer doing its job.

Usually not an emergency by itself, but it is a sign that corrosion is active and should be evaluated soon. It becomes urgent if large pieces are falling, cracks run through the panel, or the wall is leaning or moving. Keep people away from loose concrete in the meantime.

It depends entirely on your policies and the cause of damage, and only your insurer can answer it. A published FEMA flood insurance appeal decision states that the standard NFIP flood policy does not cover seawalls and bulkheads, and other policies vary. Ask your agent in writing, and keep dated photos and records either way.

There is no verified statewide per-foot price, and we do not publish an average. The Florida public projects we could document in primary sources (2017 onward) work out to about $2,600 to $7,200 per foot, but they are raised municipal and marina walls, and most of those figures have engineering or permitting built in. Your per-foot price depends on height, material, access, soils and the existing wall, and only a site-specific estimate can set it.

It depends more on the wall than the label. Vinyl sheet pile is light and installed in interlocking sections, but trade publications describe it as having lower load-bearing capacity than steel, so a taller or heavily loaded wall may need a heavier profile, more anchoring or a different material. Concrete panel and pile walls are heavy and generally need larger lifting equipment, which makes access matter more. Compare estimates for the same height, cap elevation and anchoring; we do not publish verified cost figures for either material. See vinyl seawalls and concrete seawalls.

It can be, because it avoids demolition and disposal and keeps the yard supported during construction. Fort Lauderdale's plan recommends building about 16 inches in front of the old wall for its own replacements. Whether it works for yours depends on how far waterward your jurisdiction allows, navigation in front of the wall and how the new wall ties into your neighbors'.

It depends on local rules. Fort Lauderdale's 2024 plan gives the city minimum as 5.00 ft NAVD, Miami Beach's 2021 ordinance requires 5.7 ft NAVD for new seawalls (or 4 ft designed to support 5.7), and Broward County sets a standard for tidally influenced communities. We have not verified a private-wall elevation rule in Northeast Florida, so confirm with your building department.

We have one public data point: Fort Lauderdale's 2024 plan estimates a cap repair on a 101-foot city wall at $49,500, about $490 per foot for labor and material only, and the plan itself warns that its repair prices are not an exact reflection of total repair cost. Your cost depends on the length of cap affected, whether the reinforcing is corroded, patching versus a new poured cap, any raising, and access.

Often, if the wall itself is stable. The Key Colony Beach Seawall Owner's Manual describes joint and sinkhole remedies such as filter fabric at the joints, weep hole filters, berm replenishment and French drain rock as relatively simple. If joints keep reopening because the toe or anchors are failing, sealing alone will not hold and the larger problem needs to be fixed.

It depends on the repair and the local building department. New walls, replacements, raised caps, anchor redesigns and walls that are moving or rotating typically call for a Florida-licensed professional engineer. Some building departments ask for signed and sealed engineering even for repairs. Ask your building department and your contractor early, because engineering affects both the permit path and the schedule.

Search the contractor on the DBPR licensee search at myfloridalicense.com and confirm the name, license type and status match your contract. DBPR explains that certified licenses (codes beginning with C) allow contracting in any jurisdiction in the state, while registered licenses (codes beginning with R) are limited to the jurisdictions where they are registered. You can check an engineer's license through the same search.

The 18-inch rule is an exemption from state Environmental Resource Permitting only, and it comes with conditions in Rule 62-330.051(12)(b), F.A.C., such as recent storm damage or only minimal backfilling. Federal authorization, state-lands consent, CCCL permits on the beach and local building permits can still apply. Confirm with DEP and your local building department before work starts.

Rule 62-330.051(12)(d), F.A.C. exempts batter piles, king piles or a seawall cap used exclusively to stabilize and repair a seawall, provided they do not impede navigation. That is a state ERP exemption, not a building permit exemption. Ask your city or county building department what it requires for cap work.

Usually not. DEP describes the CCCL as applying along sandy beaches that front the Gulf, the Atlantic and the Straits of Florida. Walls on canals, rivers and bays landward of the beach and dune system are normally outside it, but ask DEP or your county if you are near the beach.

SPGP VI's own terms list an expiration date of July 27, 2026, and we could not confirm a successor as of November 2, 2026. Federal authorization may instead come through a nationwide permit, such as NWP 3 or NWP 13, or an individual permit. Ask DEP or the Corps which applies to your project.

Operating agreements between DEP and the districts decide. DEP generally handles systems serving one single-family home that are not part of a larger plan of development, docks not part of a larger development and anything seaward of the CCCL, and the districts handle the rest. The agency will confirm when you apply.

Possibly, within the exemptions in section 403.9326, F.S., which set height limits and ban herbicides, or through a delegated local program where one exists. Removing or altering mangroves as part of seawall work is handled through the ERP process instead. Check with DEP or your local mangrove program first.