Pilings and posts
The section below the waterline is where rot, marine borers and rust actually do their work — and the part no owner has ever seen. We record every piling from multiple angles.
Underwater · Lewis Smith Lake
Nobody has looked under your dock.
Smith Lake has over 500 miles of shoreline and thousands of private docks, lifts and seawalls. Almost none of them have ever been inspected below the waterline. We do it with a remotely operated vehicle — no divers, no drawdown, and you watch it live on a screen.
Coverage
What we look at
Cribbing and footings
Whatever your dock is standing on. Settlement, scour, washed-out fill and shifted blocks all show up here first.
Boat lift structure
Cables, pulleys, guides and frame members below the surface. A lift cable failing with a boat on it is an expensive afternoon.
Seawall face and toe
The wall below water plus the ground at its base. Undermining is invisible from the bank right up until a section drops.
Bottom and debris
What is actually down there — old anchors, sunken hardware, storm debris, and how the bottom sits against your structure.
Dropped items
Phones, keys, tools, outboard parts. We can locate and document position and depth, which is what a recovery diver needs to know.
Why an ROV instead of a diver
Hiring a commercial diver involves a dive plan, a tender, dive insurance, and a day rate that covers all of it. For something as simple as inspecting a residential dock, it’s overkill — which is exactly why hardly anyone does it.
With the FIFISH V6, the process is straightforward. You remain on the dock with the controller and live video display while the ROV explores below on its tether. You can direct us to specific locations or request repeat passes as you watch the inspection unfold. Every minute of footage is captured, allowing year‑over‑year condition tracking.
No divers
No dive operation means no safety plan and no dive-team day rate.
No drawdown
You do not wait for winter pool to find out what is down there.
Live view
Watch the survey as it happens and redirect it on the spot.
Recorded
Full video plus stills, kept as a baseline for next time.
Also on the lake
While we are there
Lake houses have roofs that are often difficult to walk on. If you schedule underwater work, combining it with an aerial roof and exterior survey during the same visit will cost less than making two separate trips — and it covers the two areas of the property you can’t inspect on your own.
Common questions
How deep can you inspect on Smith Lake?
Well past the depth of any private dock, boat lift or seawall on the lake. Depth is rarely the limiting factor — visibility and current matter more.
Do you need to be on my property?
We launch the ROV from your dock, bank or a small boat. Someone should be present for access, but you do not need to stay for the whole survey.
How long does a dock survey take?
Most private docks are done inside an hour on site. Larger structures, seawalls and multi-slip docks take longer.
What do I get afterwards?
The full underwater video, still images pulled at each area of interest, and plain-language notes on anything that looks like a problem. Files are yours to forward to a contractor or insurer.
Can you do this before I buy a lake house?
That is one of the best times to do it. A home inspector will not go in the water, so the dock, lift and seawall are usually the one major structure nobody has assessed.
Is winter or summer better?
Winter drawdown exposes more structure and often gives clearer water. Summer is fine too. We will tell you if conditions are poor rather than deliver footage that does not show anything.
Find out what is under there.
Tell us where on the lake you are and what you want checked. Call (205) 567-0548 or send the form.