Duncan Seawall Dock & Boatlift LLC

We first contacted Duncan Seawall in April of this year to build a boat lift at our dock. They told us it could be a couple of months before they received the necessary permits. Three months later, my husband checked with them on the progress of the permits, and found that the company hadn't even applied for them. Once they did apply, the county provided the permits within weeks. Because we needed 220 volt power at the dock, Duncan sent an electrician to install the necessary wiring. The electrician had to dig through the yard, and in one area, he cut through not only the piping for our irrigation system, but also the wiring, which is in a protected area below the pipes. The electrician admitted that when he hit something hard, instead of checking to see what he was hitting, he just slammed harder with the shovel until he broke through. My husband complained to Duncan, and was told that the contract we signed absolved them from any liability for destroying things while installing the lift. But they agreed to come out and fix the wiring. Unfortunately, the electrician who did the "fix" didn't do it in a way that it would be permanent, and he got caulk or something inside the pipes for the irrigation system, on top of that. Duncan was completely unresponsive to my husband, who ended up having to repair both the wiring and the pipes himself. Luckily he is an electrical engineer and skilled at a lot of home repair, but he has already spent 4 hours on the job and it isn't completely done. The only good thing I can say about Duncan is that so far, the lift seems to be properly installed and functional.

The project got started on time, but immediately we were asked for more money. An "Unforeseen Circumstances" clause was in the contract, and before work began, they wanted an additional $1000 due to rocky bedding. The company has installed many docks in this immediate area. We should have been advised ahead of time of the likelihood of rock being encountered during dock piling installation. The additional cost was cut in half, which was reasonable and we were grateful. However, the friendly relationship took a downhill turn. The Electric panel upgrade was next. The Company failed to effectively coordinate the permits and scheduling with the Sarasota County, leaving us without power for two days. Holes punched through the wall and soffits were not caulked or sealed. Electric panel did not come with a door, so circuit breakers are exposed. It took two weeks to get the door. Duncan promised to have someone out to adjust the boat lift once I received my boat. The boat delivery got delayed, so I cancelled the appointment. I made the adjustments to the bunk boards myself. The bunk boards were not resting completely on the cross beams. There was a gap between the beams and the bunk boards, which were held up by the carriage bolts. Once the weight of the boat was put on the bunk boards, the bunk boards bottomed out causing the bolts to bend. The bolt heads buried themselves into the wood, causing everything to loosen. We called Mark, the Company President, asking for a date on the electric panel door. He said it was back ordered. I then tried to tell him about the bunk board problem. I said that I wasn?t asking for anything, that I was just giving him feedback because it wasn't done right. He cut me off saying that his foreman had 24 years of experience and he never had a complaint. I countered saying that I had 40 years engineering experience and that is not how things are done. At this point, I just said get us the panel and you will be done with us, and we with you. Duncan wanted $40.00 for new bolts. Unbelievable! I'll now need to re-drill the holes and install new bolts to get it right. I developed a good rapport with the workers, but the management of this Company is very adversarial and unprofessional.

Duncan Seawall Dock and Boatlift built a dock and lift on our neighbor's property. The neighbor's water fromtage was 30 feet...only 30 feet of water frontage on a tidal canal. The Manatee County 'setback' requirements for this small frontage is 5' on each property line leaving 20 feet of usable space. Duncan placed the boatlift and dock 12' into our frontage. The 12 feet is based on two riparian surveys obtained by the neighbor and by us. The neighbor added a floating platform for a total structure width of 44+/- feet so the final structure was 12 feet into our frontage, in the 10 foot setback where no structure is allowed and several feet into the other neighbor's property.This problem should have never occured. The contractor should have advised the home owner that his chosen dock/boatlift were too large for the 30 foot frontage. The contractor should not have built part of the structure in our frontage. The contractor should have never proceeded without a riparian survey.The Contractor refused to move or modify the structure. The Homeowner had to move the structure at his own expense. This all occured at 6717 and 6719 3rd. Street Court West, Bradenton, FL 34207.