Flush Seawall Rub-Rail Splice Plates

A rub rail takes the hit when a boat or a fender meets the seawall. The splice, where two lengths of rail bolt together, is the piece that loosens first in salt air. Burying that bolt pattern under a paver walk means the next repair saw-cuts the field.

PaverForge Hardscapes sets a flush paver plate in the cap walk over the splice so the bolts can be checked without tearing the walk up. Call 727-490-9798 or book at paverforge.com/book-online.

What the plate is

It is a small, liftable bay of pavers, framed so the field around it stays locked. The plate sits in the same plane as the walk. It is not a hatch left proud of the surface, and it is not a loose board over the bolts.

• Frame the bay to the splice bolt pattern, not to a guess from the dock.

• Keep the plate flush so a cart and a bare foot do not catch it.

• Pitch the surrounding walk off the cap, not into the splice pocket.

• Leave the plate unmarked in a way the owner can still find: a soldier course or a one-shade border is enough.

When to add one

Add the plate when the cap walk is being paved or re-leveled and a rub-rail splice already sits under that line. On a canal lot in St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, or the St. Petersburg seawall streets, that splice is easier to plate now than to find after the joints are sanded.

PaverForge Hardscapes is based in St. Pete Beach and builds these plates with seawall cap walks across Pinellas.