Creating wonders along the shoreline

Story by Paul South
Submitted and staff photos

One of the indescribable joys of lake life is beginning a day, or punctuating day’s end on the dock, boathouse or pier, sipping coffee, tea or something stronger as the sun slowly rises or sinks into a palate of colors, hues of red, orange or deep purple.

One of the indescribable joys of lake life is beginning a day, or punctuating day’s end on the dock, boathouse or pier, sipping coffee, tea or something stronger as the sun slowly rises or sinks into a palate of colors, hues of red, orange or deep purple.

On the lake, these structures are as much a part of a home as screened porches, crackling fireplaces and picture windows. Docks are spots for relaxation, contemplation, fishing, laughter and sometimes tears. And they are often as breathtaking as their accompanying homes, as if they belong together.

And nearby seawalls of riprap, stone, concrete, rock or wood protect precious property from being eaten away by erosion.

On Logan Martin and Neely Henry, there are companies that make magic – crafting piers, docks, seawalls, boatlifts and the like. Their tools are engineering, art, architecture and the environment, state-of-the-art composite materials, treated wood, stone and more than a bit of vision, conjured up year ‘round by the companies and their customers.

Here’s a look at four of the area’s builders and the water from their perspectives:

Mackey Docks: Experience and faith

For the Mackey family, their dock business is a “generational company,” says Eric Mackey. His father, Sonny, and uncles, Kenneth and Jerry, began working the industry in the 1980s.

“My Uncle Kenneth started working in 1983, and started building barges on Weiss Lake, and we just started expanding after that,” Mackey says.

The company specializes in turnkey work.

“We build the complete boathouse and boatlift and all the bells and whistles,” Mackey says. “Sometimes we just do the dock. Sometimes, we do seawalls. Sometimes we do just the boatlift if someone already has a dock, or we replace an older boat lift. We also do simple repairs and maintenance on structures over the water.”

He adds, “I try to focus not on land, but focus on water. It kind of makes it a specialty for me. We do seawalls, but typically prefer boathouses and docks. That’s what we’re really good at.”

What makes Mackey Docks good at its work?

“Experience and the crews we work with,” Mackey replies. “I’ve got some guys who have worked with us over 20 years.”

One of the hot trends in the industry is crafting structures from composite materials that in the long run are more durable, less expensive and require less maintenance than traditional treated lumber docks and boathouses.

“Typically, we used to do 80 percent wood as decking material back in the day,” Mackey says. “Nowadays, we’re a PVC and composite specialist. We’re probably installing 60 to 80 percent composite and PVC material. Long term, the cost is a little bit higher, but the low maintenance is worth it.”

Along with experience, Mackey says a commitment to quality and a strong religious faith drive the business.

“It’s not about me. It’s about people and the team we’ve built, and we’re all sticking together,” Mackey says. “For me, not all the guys in my company are Christians, but my Christian faith sets the standard for me and for my company … I think that sets us apart.”

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Unique Waterfronts: Capturing a customer’s vision

While Unique Waterfonts in the Pell City-Cropwell area focuses its work on Logan Martin, Neely Henry and Lay Lakes, the business will travel the length and breadth of Alabama to do its work.

Chelsea Isbell grew up in a family of homebuilders – her father, Greg, and uncles, Jeff and Mike Isbell, began its work 30 years ago. Following the housing crash 14 years ago, the Isbells began subcontracting for Tradesman Company. Unique Waterfronts opened its doors two years ago. The Isbells are now co-owners of Unique Waterfronts. They do work on land and water.

“We have our own barge and our own crew,” Isbell says. “That’s the good thing about us. We’re family owned. We handle everything ourselves.”

Chelsea began working in the construction industry while in college and was hooked. The company does everything – from houses to pool houses, docks and boathouses.

“I was intrigued by the different designs that you can do. The uniqueness that we can make your boathouse look like your house or your house look like your boathouse,” she says. “There are so many different things we can do. I can’t physically do it. But my dad and them can do it. I can have the vision for it and tell them, or the homeowners can have the vision, and we can make it happen.”

She pointed to a recent boathouse project in Alpine.

“We even went as far as to dull the metal roof so that the boathouse looked as old as the house,” she says. “I love that uniqueness. That’s what I love. You turn (customers’) vision into a product, and they love it.”

Unique Waterfronts is willing to tackle just about any job.

“We don’t care how big or small a job is, we’re willing to help get it done. We’ll do a 6-by-20 (square foot) boathouse, or a 2,500 square foot house. Whatever you want us to do, we can do it.”

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Advantage Plus: Building docks and building relationships

Advantage Plus began building docks in 2020, but the company’s umbrella opened in 2014 with excavating and construction.

The Turner family also operates Turner Family Farms, a popular Christmas and wedding venue as well as a Halloween pumpkin patch destination.

As far as its water-based business, Advantage Plus, the company does dock building and repair and only does riprap for seawalls. Riprap is a stone that protects lake banks against erosion. The company also builds concrete walls.

“These are services that we already offered elsewhere. But with us living on the lake and so many people needing it … we continued to offer the services,” Victor Turner says.

With lake properties being hot real estate, docks are hot. And in keeping with trends, composite decks are in high demand because of their longevity of 20 years or more.

“Building a dock is not a one-time investment. It’s a relationship,” Turner says.

Of the composite decks, Turner says, “You’re going to get a more comfortable use out of it. You’re not going to have to stain it, or sand it, or replace boards, or have splintering when you walk on it. It’s definitely a desired product.”

Maintaining seawalls has a positive environmental impact. Unprotected land erodes at a rate of six inches a year. But riprap is not a one and done proposition, Turner says, and it must be maintained.

Every job is unique. “It’s not a cookie-cutter business. You’ve definitely got to go out on site and come up with a good schedule to make that job make sense.”

The companies that do the type of work on the lake have “a great vision,” to work with the natural environment and help the customer satisfy their vision, Turner says.

“It’s definitely some art and some vision and hard work, for sure.”

At the heart of Advantage Plus: building relationships and living a deep faith, Turner says.

“In everything under our umbrella and what we do at the farm, our values are to build relationships for the honor of Christ and to help our community while doing so.”

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Shoreline Creations: Cutting edge building and consumer education

Shoreline Creations opened its doors in the spring of 2018, but Margaret Isom has been in the marine construction business for 16 years and has worked in commercial construction and in banking doing construction loans.

“I do have a lot of experience in the industry and understand the nuts and bolts about it,” Isom says.

She decided to open Shoreline Creations because “I wanted to take things further and do some of my own things with it,” she says. “I wanted to go in my own direction. It’s all been a giant learning experience.”

The firm offers a wide array of services and products and is the area’s exclusive dealer for SnapJacket.

“We pride ourselves on piers and boathouses and landings and boardwalks,” Isom says. “We’ve gotten into a lot of rock patios and firepits and dredging, seawalls of all types, stabilization of your bank, and boatlifts.”

The company carries Golden Boatlifts.

Lake residents are becoming more conscientious about maintenance, Isom says. The company also tries to bring its clients up to speed on cutting-edge construction methods and the options available to them on materials and maintenance.

“A large part of what we also do is education, because construction methods have changed,” Isom says. “It’s a wonderful time to explain to people the importance of maintenance for their future endeavors. We do pride ourselves on that. And because the economy is tight, cost is a concern.”

Meeting customer desires and safety are paramount, Isom says. Part of the company’s commitment is building Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant docks, walkways and the like for customers who want it.

“We want to provide what (customers) want, but we want them to be safe, and with good construction methods. Once you get that in place, you get that relationship in place to know what their needs and wants are and what they are anticipating.”

Weather and keeping crews are challenges.

At its heart, the business puts the customer first.

“We always do a site visit. We don’t just throw out numbers, or push generic boathouse plans, Isom says. “We do it with their specific needs in mind.”

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Tradesman Company: New owners carry on proud tradition 

For Tara and Danny Buchanan, the owners of Tradesman Dock Building Company, since buying it from founder Fred Casey in early 2022, the focus has been on carrying on the company’s commitment to excellence. 

For them it’s not just about docks, boat lifts, composite materials, and pilings. Tradesman had built four docks for the Buchanans over the years and the couple – veterans of the homebuilding industry – told Casey if he ever wanted to sell, they were interested. 

“It wasn’t a huge jump to go into the dock business,” Danny Buchanan says. “Although, it would be pretty intimidating if you didn’t have an extensive construction background as a licensed contractor.” 

When the Buchanans bought their first Lake Logan Martin home, they inherited a “terrible” existing dock.  

“We quickly realized the dock is your connection to the water,” Danny says. “We met with Tradesman, and it was a wonderful experience. Their longstanding reputation, dating back almost two decades, made choosing to work with them an easy decision.” 

He adds, “Our dock actually changed our relationship with the lake. If you’ve got visitors and family and friends and the dock is terrible, you don’t feel safe and can’t have fun.” 

Their new Tradesman dock transformed the lake experience, Tara says. 

“It went from everybody spending time inside and bypassing the dock to get to the water to the new (Tradesman) dock becoming the central part of our entertaining. It made a huge difference. Everything was focused on the dock, instead of just being the walkway to the boat, it becomes your outdoor living area. 

Tradesman does everything from minor dock repairs to full scale construction of docks and piers, demolition, boat lifts and seawalls. We are working toward building a team so everything can be completed in-house. 

“We want to be a one-stop shop,” Tara says. 

The company uses composite materials and PVC in its construction, providing a lower maintenance, environmentally friendlier option compared to traditional wood decking.  

“We just have a commitment to quality,” Tara Buchanan says. 

Danny agrees. “We weren’t looking to buy a dock company. But when Tradesman became available, it had such an excellent reputation as a market leader, it was like ‘Wow!’ Being a part of a company that had that history and reputation was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.” 

He adds, “There are other dock companies out there, but Tradesman has the reputation for being the best. We have a vision for growth and are excited to take the company to the next level.”