Home · Process
How it works, from first call to warranty
Five steps. Where we promise a time, it is written next to the step.
1Steps
The five steps
A promised time is marked in green.
2 hours
You call or write
We call back within 2 hours on business days (usually sooner).
7 days
Free site visit
For one lake, within 7 days (usually sooner). The method is settled on site.
2 days
Written proposal
With a price range, within 2 days of the visit.
Filed by us permit paperwork
Permits and build
We prepare and file the paperwork, then build.
5 years
Warranty
Five years on workmanship.
2Contact
You call or write
We call back within 2 hours on business days (usually sooner).
Call (954) 284-0812, write to info@shoreworks.com, or send the short form. A phone number or an email address is enough.
If you want a number first
Ask for an online estimate. Within 24 hours you get a price range. It is a range, not a quote, and it never names a method: the site visit decides the method.
3Site visit
The free site visit: what we look at
For one lake, within 7 days (usually sooner). Before we quote anything, we walk your shoreline and answer five questions.
How big is the drop-off?
One foot or four? It sets the size of the repair and, for a geotube, how many tubes it takes.
Is there a shelf?
A ledge under the water where a tube can sit. We look for about five feet of width about six inches down, and we check it with a grade rod, not a guess. No shelf changes the method, not just the price.
Does the lake have a water control structure?
A structure that holds the level steady is what makes a geotube safe to recommend. If the level swings two feet or more between seasons, we look at other options.
What is the slope?
In the South Florida Water Management District, stormwater lakes are designed with side slopes no steeper than 4:1, and we look at yours against that. Other districts have their own criteria.
Where is the water coming from?
A sunken spot on the bank has a cause: runoff from a downspout or a drain pipe, or a deep section with no shelf. We find the cause before we fix the symptom.
And one question for you: what is your budget cycle? We write the proposal to match. The free visit covers one lake; for a community with several lakes we quote a paid shoreline survey instead.
4Proposal
The written proposal
With a price range, within 2 days of the site visit.
The proposal says which permit your lake needs and how long it should take. The schedule for your bank is in the proposal too.
Most jobs fall between $50,000 and $500,000. The realistic minimum is about $10,000.
A walk along the bank does not check the lake every ten feet. So a proposal can count one tube where the water turns out to need two. That is a change order, and nobody enjoys those.
For long or deep shorelines, or several lakes, we offer a paid drone and sonar survey, above and below the waterline, before we price.
What moves the price
- Equipment access
- Permits
- Depth and condition of the lake bottom
- Length of shoreline
5Permits
Permits
We prepare and file the paperwork.
Stormwater lakes in the South Florida Water Management District are designed with side slopes no steeper than 4:1, from the top of the bank to at least two feet below the control elevation (SFWMD Applicant’s Handbook Vol. II, section 5.3.2(e)). A bank that has eroded steeper than that is no longer the profile the district designs to, and restoring it is maintenance of a permitted structure.
Some drainage districts add rules of their own. The South Broward Drainage District requires a district permit for any erosion restoration work, and lists geotubes among the methods used successfully in the district.
We prepare and file the paperwork, and the proposal says which permit your lake needs and how long it should take. In other parts of South and Central Florida a different water management district applies, with its own criteria.
The permit sets the sediment controls.
6Build
On site: the seven steps of a geotube job
A geotube job rebuilds the bank under sod. This is its sequence.
Pre-construction review
We confirm the sections to be restored, agree access with you and stage the material.
Drainage and runoff
Downspouts and drain lines are led past the section being restored.
Shoreline preparation
Unsuitable material comes out and the bank is shaped.
Tubes
The tubes are set to level and filled with clean sand, and the edge of the bank is rebuilt.
Surface protection
The slope is covered with the coconut erosion blanket.
Sod
Sod is laid from the water’s edge up to your lawn.
Final walk-through
We walk the shoreline with you and your landscaping crew and hand over the care guide. Handover comes once the sod has rooted.
The other methods we install are on the technology pages. What a geotube is, and when we would not recommend one, is on the geotube page.
7Handover
Handover and warranty
We do not hand over until the sod has rooted. That takes about two weeks in summer and two to three in winter.
- No handover until the sod has rooted. We water it until then, and we check it before you sign off.
- A walk-through with your landscaping crew at handover. On a geotube bank they get a one-page guide: mow on top, never edge at the waterline.
- After handover, watering and mowing are your landscaping contractor’s job.
Five-year workmanship warranty
The warranty is on what we build. What it covers, and what it does not cover, is on the standards page.
8Estimate
Get your free online estimate
Takes about 20 seconds. Your price range arrives by email within 24 hours.
Rather talk? Call (954) 284-0812.
What happens after you write
We call back
Within 2 hours on business days (usually sooner).
Free site visit
For one lake, within 7 days (usually sooner). The method is settled on site.
Written proposal
With a price range, within 2 days of the site visit.
If you ask for an online estimate instead, you get a price range within 24 hours. It is a range, not a quote, and it never names a method.
9Answers
Questions about the process
What is free, and what is paid?
The site visit for one lake is free, and we come within 7 days (usually sooner). The drone and sonar shoreline survey is a paid service, sold on its own. You keep the survey either way.
We have several lakes. Is the visit still free?
The free visit covers one lake. For a community with several lakes we quote a paid shoreline survey instead.
Who handles the permit?
We do. We prepare the permit paperwork and we file it. The proposal says which permit your lake needs and how long it should take.
Can you tell us the method from photos?
No. Photos help us prepare, but the site visit decides the method. We do not recommend a method from a photo or from a calculator.