Refoam when the structure is worth floating. Rebuild when you would be paying to hang new floats on a frame, roof, or walkway that has already failed. The dock does not come with a label that says which one it is. The request should give a builder enough to tell you.
A refoam is the right conversation when
- The dock lists, sits on the frame, or has white beads in the water.
- The steel or aluminum is still straight and the deck is safe to walk.
- You are not trying to add a well, stretch the dock, or add a roof in the same breath.
- You can live with the same footprint Ameren already permitted.
The floats that go back on have to be encapsulated and on Ameren’s list, at least 0.125 inches of shell, warranted at least eight years, and bolted the way section 7.5 describes. Drums are not a cheaper legal path. The flotation guide has the full spec. The refoaming service page is what the quote form is asking for.
A rebuild is the right conversation when
- Members are bent, the corners are soft, or the roof posts lean.
- You want the dock bigger, covered, or fitted with a lift the current wells cannot hold.
- The walkway is a patchwork that would still be a patchwork after new foam.
- The dock occupies a spot that would not be approved today. New work has to meet current placement rules, not the rules someone remembers from the year it was built.
A rebuild is a new dock or a large repair. Ameren prices a new dock or a modification at $550. That fee is not the build. If the finished dock, slips, lifts, and ramps together exceed 3,000 square feet, add an engineer and the annual $0.06 per square foot. See the large-dock rule.
Money, labeled honestly
lakeozarkboatdocks.com, a competing lead site, published these 2026 ranges:
- Refoaming: $6,000 to $18,000
- One-well docks: $22,000 to $48,000
Use them to see that foam and a new dock are different orders of magnitude. Do not add them, do not treat the top of the range as a worst case for your cove, and do not ask this website to “match” them. We do not build the dock. A channel lot, a roof, and a lift move a real bid in ways those ranges do not itemize. More context is on the cost page.
Time
The same competitor describes refoam permits as taking 30 to 60 days. Another quote site, ozarklakedock.com, describes Ameren review around 4 to 8 weeks and builds around 4 to 10 weeks. Ameren’s permitting page does not promise those speeds. Ameren does promise a consequence for starting early, and it does set a one-year clock once the permit is issued. If you want the boat in a slip by Memorial Day, the timing guide is the practical reading of those ranges.
What to photograph
The outer corner, so freeboard is visible. Any exposed foam. A full side of the frame. The roof connection if there is a roof. The lift if a lift shares the well. You do not need to dive. You do need to say whether the dock is low on one side only, which often means a failed float rather than a twisted frame.
Choose refoam or dock repair on the form, and say “please tell me if this is a rebuild” in the notes if you are on the fence. That is a better request than two competing guesses.