Seawall work is largely invisible once it is finished. The injection either filled the void or it did not. The tiebacks were either replaced to specification or they were not. You will find out in four years, not four weeks.
That asymmetry is why choosing the contractor matters more here than on almost any other home project — and why the usual signals (a nice truck, a fast quote, a confident manner) tell you very little.
Here are the seven questions that do.
1. “What is your licence number, and what class is it?”
Marine construction in Florida requires specific licensing. Ask for the number, then verify it yourself on the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation licence lookup. It takes ninety seconds.
What you are checking: that the licence exists, that it is active, that it covers marine or general construction rather than something adjacent, and that the name on it matches the company quoting you.
A contractor who is slow to give you a number, or who gives you a number belonging to a different entity, has answered the question.
2. “Are you pulling the permit, or am I?”
Every seawall repair in Brevard County requires a permit. The correct answer is that the contractor pulls it, under their licence, as part of the scope.
Watch for two bad answers. “You can pull it as a homeowner” shifts liability to you and often signals a licensing problem. “This work does not need one” is simply false for structural seawall work, and unpermitted marine construction becomes a disclosure item when you sell — sometimes an expensive one.
Also confirm they know about the survey requirement. Properties on the Indian River Lagoon, the St. Johns River or Lake Washington need a survey showing the surface water protection buffer line, plus stormwater retention of one inch of runoff. A contractor who has done Brevard lagoon work knows this without being prompted.
3. “Show me where the soil is going”
This is the diagnostic question, and it separates inspectors from salespeople.
A sinking lawn means soil is leaving through the wall. The only useful inspection identifies where. If the answer is a general gesture at the wall and a proposal to seal the visible crack, you are being sold a symptom fix.
Good answers sound specific: a particular joint, a failed weep hole, a penetration where a previous owner ran irrigation through the wall, scour at the toe of a specific section. Good contractors photograph it.
If the void comes back in eighteen months, it is because this question was never actually answered.
4. “What is your linear footage, and what is your unit price?”
Any estimate that is a single lump sum with no measurements cannot be compared to any other estimate.
Ask for: total linear feet treated, which sections, the method for each, and the price per linear foot. Now you can put three quotes side by side and see that one of them is treating 40 feet while another is treating 70.
This is also where you discover scope differences that explain apparent price gaps. A $12,000 quote and a $19,000 quote on the same wall are often both honest — one includes restoring the paver patio, the other does not.
5. “What happens to my landscaping, deck and irrigation?”
Seawall work is heavy work close to the house. Equipment tracks across lawn. Injection ports go through hardscape. Irrigation lines that run parallel to the wall get cut.
Get in writing: what will be disturbed, what will be restored, to what standard, and what is explicitly excluded. “We will do our best to minimise damage” is not a scope of work.
6. “What is the warranty, and what voids it?”
Reasonable warranties in this trade run five to ten years on structural work, shorter on sealing and cosmetic repair. But the number matters less than the exclusions.
Ask directly: does the warranty survive if the company is sold? Does it transfer to a new property owner? What maintenance do I have to perform to keep it valid? Is it backed by anything, or is it the company’s word?
A ten-year warranty from a company that has existed for eight months is worth roughly what you would expect.
7. “Can I speak to someone whose wall you did four years ago?”
Not last month. Four years ago.
Recent customers can tell you the crew was polite and cleaned up. Only a customer from several years back can tell you whether the repair held. Ask specifically whether the sinking ever came back, and whether they had to call the contractor again.
Any established local contractor can produce this. The inability to produce it is itself the answer.
Two things that are not signals
A very fast quote. Some contractors quote from a photograph or a drive-by. Seawall pricing depends on panel condition, which cannot be assessed from the road. A fast number is a guess, and guesses get revised upward once work starts.
The lowest price. In this trade the cheapest quote is usually cheapest because it excludes permitting, excludes restoration, or treats a shorter run. Compare scopes, not totals.
The disclosure that matters when you sell
Brevard waterfront changes hands regularly, and seawall condition has become a standard inspection item. Buyers’ inspectors look for it, and insurers increasingly review seawall condition when writing or renewing coastal policies.
Keep the file: inspection report, permit, contractor invoice, warranty document, photographs. A documented, permitted repair is an asset at closing. An undocumented one is a negotiating lever for the buyer.
Where we stand on this
We are aware that a guide like this, published by a contractor, is partly a sales document. So here is the falsifiable part: every item above is something you can verify independently, about us or about anyone else — the licence lookup, the permit record, the four-year reference.
Our inspection is free and produces the written documentation described in question four: linear footage, per-section method, unit pricing, and photographs of where the soil is going. Ask the same of everyone you get a quote from.