Seawall Inspection & Repair in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, FL

Bel Air and Terra Mar Island walls face canals off the Intracoastal, so they take tide twice a day.

A crack shows up on land as a sinking lawn or a hollow behind the cap, because sediment is washing out through it. We recommend cleaning and inspecting a canal wall every 1–2 years.

The entire town is a narrow barrier island with one drawbridge, at Commercial Boulevard, between it and the mainland, and the canal walls on the Intracoastal side are what keep the annexed neighborhoods dry. Broward's standard allows a 4.0-foot tidal flood barrier for applications before 2035 if it is designed to reach 5.0 feet by 2050, and we have not found a town-specific rule beyond the county's. A Bel Air or Terra Mar wall built before the 2001 annexation has had every tide since then run past it; cleaning and inspecting it every 1–2 years is how the owner stays ahead of that.

Bel Air and Terra Mar walls came into the town with the 2001 annexation and many predate it by decades, and Broward's 5.0-foot NAVD88 standard (with its 4.0-foot interim before 2035) is the rule that applies to anything rebuilt. The wall you have is judged on condition: the $250 inspection cleans it, checks it and documents it, which is what a lender asks for on a sale in 33308 or 33062. A crack found under the oysters is quoted free in person and filled with cement tubes; a canal wall that has never been looked at bare is the one most likely to have one.

Terra Mar Island lots often have wall on more than one side, and all of it is inspected in one visit.

Lauderdale-By-The-Sea seawalls face the Intracoastal Waterway. Bel Air, Terra Mar Island and the rest of ZIP codes 33308 and 33062: cleaned first, then inspected and documented.

The written report covers the wall's condition, which is what buyers, agents and many lenders want before closing on a waterfront home.

• Overall condition once the growth is off.
• Cracks letting sediment out from behind the wall: the cause of a sinking yard, deck or patio.
• Growth that was eating the wall or hiding damage.
• The recommended repair, with a free in-person quote.

How often a seawall should be looked at. Every 1–2 years, cleaned and inspected together, and after any named storm; seawalls get installed and forgotten until the yard loses sediment, and thick growth covers the crack that started it.

Full seawall inspection and repair guide