Door County, Wisconsin · Service-area business
Docks, lifts, and shore stations for Door County waterfront
Seasonal dock install and removal, repairs, boat lifts, and shore stations in Sturgeon Bay and the peninsula towns. We look at your actual shoreline — ice, rock, muck, and fetch — and send a written quote. Not a marina storefront.
Local 920 number goes here once the tenant is on the phone.
Local Door County route. Written quote after a shoreline visit. We work on the docks and lifts you already own, and we install new when that is the honest job.
If you own waterfront in Door County and live somewhere else, the dock is the part of the place that actually meets the lake. Ice lifts it. A seiche drops the water out from under a crib. A November blow on the Lake Michigan side racks a pier that looked fine after Labor Day. In spring, the peninsula books up, and a dock still on the lawn is a season you do not get back.
Door County Dock & Lift is a marine contractor service for seasonal piers, dock repair, boat lifts, and shore stations in Sturgeon Bay and up the peninsula — Sister Bay, Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Ephraim, Baileys Harbor, and Washington Island by ferry arrangement. We are not a home-watch company, a landscaper, or a full-service marina. We put docks and lifts in, take them out, and fix what ice and weather broke.
What we do on this water
Seasonal install and removal
Spring set and fall pull for residential piers, dock sections, boat lifts, and shore stations. Booked as a route, not as a Saturday surprise. Peninsula slots fill; say so early.
Dock and pier repair
Decking, hardware, cribs, posts, wheels, hinges, and storm-bent frames. We will tell you if the honest job is repair, a section swap, or a new pier. We do not sell a patch that will fail the next ice-out.
Boat lifts and shore stations
Install, remove, level, and repair. Shore stations, vertical lifts, and PWC lifts. Bring the brand and capacity if you know them; we will still measure the site. We are not claiming a dealer franchise on this page until the tenant is a real dealer.
Storm and ice salvage
After a blow or an ice shove, we can pull a racked dock or a downed lift so it does not spend the winter beating itself to scrap. Salvage is quoted on what we find, not on a menu price.
New docks and lifts
When repair is the wrong answer, we quote a new seasonal pier or lift that fits the bottom and the fetch. Permanent work and some shoreline changes can need permits. We will not sell a job we cannot legally place.
What we do not do
We do not watch empty houses. We do not paint cottages. We are not a dredging company or a seawall contractor. Rip-rap and major shoreline restoration are a different trade; we can tell you when that is what you actually need.
This shoreline is not one lake
Door County is a peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan, cut through at Sturgeon Bay by the ship canal. That is not marketing language. It is why a Fish Creek pier and a Baileys Harbor pier are different jobs.
The bay side (Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Ephraim, Sister Bay, Ellison Bay) sits on Green Bay. Ice still comes. Seiches still drop the water. It is generally the more sheltered shore, which is why the summer harbors are here.
The lake side (Baileys Harbor, Jacksonport, the canal’s Lake Michigan mouth) takes open-water wave and ice. Hardware that lasts a decade in a cove can fail in two seasons on the lake.
Sturgeon Bay is both: a working shipyard town, a canal, two waters, and a lot of residential docks that are not in the tourist photos. Washington Island is a ferry ride across Death’s Door from Northport. Ice, wind, and the boat schedule are part of the quote. We do not sell a same-week peninsula pull and an island pull as if they were the same drive.
We cannot stop the weather. We can be honest about which shore you are on.
Request a quoteHow it works
1. Shoreline visit (or a tight photo set)
We look at the bottom, the ice line, how the existing pier sits, and how you actually use the boat. If you are not up, a dated photo and video set of the shore, the current dock, and the lift is the start — then we still confirm on site before we put steel in the water.
2. Written quote
You get a written quote for install/remove, repair, or new work. There is no published per-foot price on this site because rock, muck, exposure, and an existing brand of lift change the number. Final pricing follows the visit.
3. We run it on a peninsula route
Spring goes in on a schedule. Fall comes out before ice makes the job stupid. In-season repairs and storm salvage fit around that route. Washington Island is scheduled around the ferry, not a mainland calendar.
Who does the work
Local Door County dock and lift work. Sturgeon Bay and the peninsula.
We are not listing a named operator on this page yet. When the on-the-ground tenant is in place, this block will carry a real name, a real town, a short bio, and a real photo of the actual crew or barge. Until then, the honest line is the one above.
Reviews
Reviews coming as we complete the first season.
We will not publish placeholder names or stock quotes. If you have used the service and want to leave a real note, the quote form is the right place to say so.
How we price
Quoted after a shoreline visit. No long-term contract for a one-time repair. Seasonal install/remove can be a standing spring-and-fall route once we have done the first year and you want us back.
We do not publish starting-at dollars on this page. Dock and lift work varies too much by shore, bottom, and existing equipment. If a later operator wants a “from” number on a specific package, it goes here only after they have actually sold that package.
Request a quoteServing Door County
Based on the peninsula. Full pages for the hubs. The rest are served from those hubs.
The canal and the city
Sturgeon Bay (hub)
Bay side, north on 42
Egg Harbor · Fish Creek · Ephraim · Sister Bay
Lake Michigan side
Across Death’s Door
Washington Island (ferry from Northport; not a standard same-week mainland route)
Ellison Bay, Gills Rock, Northport, Jacksonport, and Little Sturgeon are named on the matching pages. If your place is on the island, on the lake side, or barge-only, say so on the form.
Questions we get asked
- Do you put docks in and take them out every season?
- Yes. That is the core route: spring install, fall removal, for piers, sections, boat lifts, and shore stations. Book early. The peninsula does not have infinite May weekends.
- Can you repair what I already have?
- Usually. We work on existing docks and lifts, including storm and ice damage. Send the brand if you know it. We will still look at the site. If it is scrap, we will say so.
- Do you sell new lifts and piers?
- Yes, when that is the honest job. Dealer lines go on this page only after the tenant is actually a dealer for them. Until then we quote the work, not a catalog.
- Do you go to Washington Island?
- By arrangement, on the ferry schedule, weather permitting. It is not the same quote as a Sister Bay pull. Tell us Detroit Harbor vs the lake side of the island.
- What about permits?
- Seasonal residential piers and lifts are a different class of work from permanent structures and shoreline fill. If your job needs a permit, we will say so before we start. We will not sell a permanent crib we cannot legally place.
- Do you watch the cottage in winter?
- No. This is docks and lifts. Empty-house checks are a different trade.
- How fast do you reply?
- Use the quote form, or email hello@doorcountydockandlift.com. We aim to send a written quote within a day of a complete request, longer if we still need a site visit. Local 920 number goes here once the tenant is on the phone.