We decided to make things easier for this build by buying some aluminum dock kits and plastic decking from the hardware store. Our plan was essentially to build an upside-down dock: submerging the decking onto the lake bed, with the support posts acting instead as uprights that would support our bar-top, side table and sign.

The plan was moving along smoothly until we discovered later that “someone” had bought the wrong sized plastic decking panels. Luckily (or unluckily perhaps), we’re accustomed to things not going as planned and were able to devise a solution by utlizing wood deck boards to serve as attachment points for the ill-fitting plastic panels.