Covered Boat Lifts: piling height above water?

[Brendon]

For those of you that have covered boat lifts, how tall are your pilings (above the water)?

We’re looking at getting a boat lift installed and trying to figure out how long of pilings we need. The installer is suggesting going to the next size up height wise but it’s a huge price jump. Curious what heights everyone else is using

 

[captras]

For mine, my height above the water is about 16'. The boat is about 9.5' tall, then you have to consider the height of the lift, and finally decide how much above the water you want it to sit. One other condsideration for me is varying lake levels. Our lake normal pool is 131' but can range from 127' to 133'. Also, though most use 6x6 beams, I chose 8x8 beams for additional strength and support.

 

[Judge]

Depends on where you live. If you are in a hurricane / storm surge area, I would go at least as high as the highest storm surge levels ever reported for that area at the least. If you don't get hurricanes then I would use flood data. If the water gets too high and the boat floats off the lift, you don't want it slamming into the cover / roof.

The marina at our place saw water go over the pilings with Hurricane Ian last year. A lot of boats properly tied off broke free (on and off lifts) when ropes slid off the tops of pilings and were damaged or sunk as a result. I think the marina had pilings 10' - 12' over the water.... and that wasn't enough.

You may not be in an area where you need to worry about it.... but its something to think about.