Seawall Inspection & Repair in Pompano Beach, FL

The code says a wall below 5 feet must be raised if water flows through or over it, if it is not in good repair, or if it undergoes substantial repair (more than half its length, or dock and lift work worth more than half the wall). After a citation the owner has 60 days to show progress and 365 to finish. Good repair is what the inspection establishes: the diver cleans the oysters and barnacles off, inspects the wall, and documents its condition for you, a lender or the city.

Harbor Village and Pompano Isles walls sit in still canal water with heavy growth; walls on Lake Santa Barbara take the Pompano Canal's drainage; Intracoastal walls near Sands Harbor take tide and wake. A crack in any of them lets sediment out from under a lawn or a pool deck.

Pompano's code sets the barrier height between 5 feet and 5 feet 10 inches NAVD88, so there is a ceiling as well as a floor. A dock or lift job on a wall below 5 feet triggers a cost analysis for raising the wall, and a substantial repair, meaning more than half the wall's length or dock and lift work worth more than half the wall, triggers the raise itself. That is why we tell Pompano owners what a repair is before starting it: filling a crack with cement tubes keeps a wall in good repair without crossing the substantial-repair line, and the inspection documents that the wall is in good repair, which is the code's own test.

The most useful thing a Pompano owner can know is where the line is: a filled crack is a repair that keeps the wall in good repair; a substantial repair (more than half the wall's length) or a wall letting water through triggers the raise to between 5 feet and 5 feet 10 inches. The $250 inspection tells you which side of that line your wall is on after the growth is off, and it produces the documentation a lender wants for a sale in 33062, 33060 or 33064. Cited owners have 60 days to show progress and 365 to finish; an inspection in the first week is the fastest way to find out whether the fix is a quote for cement tubes or a permit application.

Pompano Beach seawalls face the Intracoastal Waterway, Lake Santa Barbara, the Pompano Canal and the Cypress Creek Canal. Harbor Village, Pompano Isles, Santa Barbara Shores and the rest of ZIP codes 33060, 33062 and 33064: 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