Best Screws and Bolts for Docks in 2026

Choosing the right dock screws isn't complicated once you understand what actually matters. It's not about buying the most expensive option—it's about matching the fastener to your specific dock

We've spent 28 years building and repairing docks—hundreds of them—and we've learned exactly what works and what doesn't to build the sturdiest floating and fixed docks.

We'll break every dock component down the way we do when we build or repair for our dock building clients. We’ll tell you what fastener to use, how to install it so it stays tight, and what happens when someone tries to “save a few bucks” and ends up with snapped screws, loose boards, and rust stains around every head.

TL;DR: Best Dock Screws by Use Case

• Best dock deck screws are Eagle Claw stainless steel deck screws (304 freshwater / 316 coastal). Pre-drill, countersink flush.
• Best dock cleat fasteners are 316 stainless through-bolts with backing plates and washers. Four-hole cleats preferred.
• Best dock bumper screws are Eagle Claw 316 stainless deck screws with stainless steel lock washers.
• Best dock ramp screws are Eagle Claw 316 stainless deck screws with 1/4" micro-gaps between boards. Plan for seasonal re-tightening.
• Best dock ladder fasteners are M8 stainless 316 bolts with backing plates OR structural lag screws (Simpson Strong-Drive® 316)—both code-compliant.
• Best bolts for docks are 316 stainless through-bolts for structural connections, cleats, and ladder mounting. Backing plates non-negotiable for all.
• Best stainless steel dock screws are Eagle Claw screws for decking and Simpson Strong-Tie SS structural screws.

Table of Contents

1. Freshwater vs Saltwater (304 vs 316 dock screws)
2. Screw vs Bolt Decision
3. Best Dock Deck Screws (Decking and Boards)
4. Best Dock Cleat Fasteners
5. Best Dock Bumper Screws and Edge Screws
6. Best Dock Ramps and Walkways Fasteners
7. Best Fasteners for Dock Ladders

What Type of Screws to Use on a Dock?

Choosing the right fastener comes down to four core decisions. Answer these, and you'll know exactly what to buy.

1. Freshwater vs Saltwater (304 vs 316 dock screws)

This decision is geographic, and it's binary. Choosing the right dock screws depends if you’re building a dock near the lake or near the ocean.

Freshwater docks (lakes, rivers, inland waterways): Use 304 stainless steel wood screws. 304 will outlast the wood around it. This is the BEST choice for inland docks.

Saltwater (coastal areas, within 5km of ocean): Use 316 stainless steel. This isn't negotiable. Salt spray accelerates corrosion on 304 so aggressively that you'll see rust staining within 2-3 years, even with a decent fastener. 316 gives you 3-4x longer lifespan in these conditions.

The 5km Rule: As pro deck builders, this has been our standard for decades. If you're within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the coast, salt spray is a factor. Buy 316. If you're on a lake 50 miles inland, you’re good with 304s.

Borderline? If you're 4-6km from coast and getting salt spray during storms, upgrade to 316. The extra cost is tiny compared to fastener replacement in 5 years.

Why coated screws should NEVER be used on a dock

Never use coated/composite screws for dock decking—lake or ocean. We’ve been in the dock building industry for decades, and we never understood why some people still use coated screws on their docks!

Is the price really that worth it… when those screws start bleeding rust streaks down brand-new boards and you’re stuck looking at orange stains around every head?

On a dock that gets real weekend use, everything is moving all the time: kids cannonballing, boats nudging the rub rail, ropes getting yanked tight, gear getting dragged across the boards, and boat wakes rocking the whole platform. That’s exactly how cheap fasteners loosen up and start staining the deck.

Do it once and do it right: stainless wood screws are the no-drama choice that keeps the deck tight, clean, and easy to maintain.

2. Screw vs Bolt for The Sturdiest Docks

This is where the type of dock you’re building matters—floating docks move, fixed docks don’t, and different components have very different structural demands.

We’ve built the most durable docks for hundreds of clients by knowing when and when not to use screws and bolts.

Best Dock Deck Screws (Decking and Boards)

When someone asks "what screws should I use on my dock?" they're almost always talking about the deck boards themselves.

This is where 80% of dock fastening happens, so let's get it right.

Pre-Drill Your Dock Decking Screws

We've watched DIYers skip this step, and every single time—every single time—they regret it.

Pressure-treated softwood splits near the edges. Hardwood (like Ipe, which shows up on some fancy docks) is so dense that driving a screw without a pilot hole creates massive torsion—and that's when your screw snaps off mid-drive.

Within 2" of a board's end? You're pre-drilling. Even if it takes five extra minutes per board, you're preventing splits that'll crack your entire deck down the line.

The pro move: Use a cordless drill set to 500-800 RPM (slow is good here), with a pilot bit slightly smaller than your screw shank. Go the full length of the screw.

Countersinking. Get the Depth Right

Screw heads sitting proud (sticking up) above your deck surface? They'll catch your boots, snag a sanding belt when you refinish, and create little puddles that pool water and accelerate corrosion.

But over-countersink—sink the head too deep—and you've created a water-collecting pocket where the fastener corrodes faster.

The target: Screw head flush with the wood surface (or barely below). Not sunken. Not protruding.

Use a dedicated countersink bit (82° angle matches most deck screws), set for 3/8" depth. Test on scrap first. Adjust until the heads sit perfect.

Best Stainless Steel Deck Screws for Dock Decking

Eagle Claw 304 Stainless (Freshwater): Available in #8 x 1 5/8", #10 x 2", #10 x 2 1/2", #10 x 3", #10 x 3 1/2", and #12 x 4". Use these for inland lakes and rivers.

Eagle Claw 316 Stainless (Coastal): Available in #10 x 2 1/2" and #10 x 3" for the most demanding saltwater environments. This is your best long-term investment.

What makes Eagle Claw the best stainless steel dock deck screws? Their Amazon reviews in 2025 have hit over 2,500. That's just Amazon—throw in Home Depot and eBay and we're talking thousands. And hundreds of those reviews? They're from dock owners and contractors just like you.

Here’s exactly what one dock owner said in his Amazon review on Eagle Claw stainless steel dock deck screws:

“I bought these with the intention of securing deck boards for my dock since the all weather coated deck screws I originally used were all rusting out. After two back to back hurricanes, including surge that put the dock under water, every board was accounted for. Saved my dock”

Best Dock Cleat Fasteners

This is where many DIY projects go wrong—and it's often dangerous.

A cleat on a dock isn't like a deck cleat on a boat. It's holding a mooring line under tension, and that tension spikes hard and fast when a boat rocks in a storm or someone yanks the line tight pulling a pontoon in.

A cleat experiences shock loads—sudden, violent forces that are sometimes 5x the static load. The force isn't just weight sitting there. It's dynamic impact, pulling sideways and down at the same time.

Here's what the testing shows: BoatUS tested 11 different dock cleats, all bolted. Two-hole cleats failed badly—bolts sheared off 19 times out of 20 when boats yanked the mooring line. Four-hole cleats held the bolts—instead, the cleat body itself failed first.

That's huge: you want the cleat to be the weak point, not the fasteners. More bolt holes = load spreads out = bolts stay intact.

The takeaway: Use a four-hole cleat with through-bolts and backing plates. More holes means the force gets distributed across more fasteners, so no single bolt bears the full shock load.

Bolts, Not Screws

Use bolts. Stainless steel 316, through-bolted from top deck to underside with backing plates and washers. Screws will fail faster than bolts under shock load because they don't distribute tension the same way a bolt-and-backing-plate system does.

After 28 years of building and repairing docks, we've seen what holds and what doesn't. Through-bolts with backing plates—that's the standard we use on every cleat we install. It's not optional. It's how it's done.

The Backing Plate System (It's Not Optional)

This is what separates a cleat that holds from one that fails on the first hard yank:

• Under-deck backing plate: 2x the cleat length, 0.5x the cleat width. This spreads the load underneath so fasteners aren't pulling through wood fiber—they're pulling against a solid plate.

• Top-deck pad: 25% longer and wider than the cleat itself. This distributes the shock forces and prevents the cleat from concentrating stress on a small area.

• Stainless steel washers under every nut. These prevent the bolt from deforming or crushing the wood as you tighten.

That's the system. It's not fancy or expensive. It's proven, and it's the difference between a cleat that holds your boat safe and a cleat that rips out and sends a boat drifting (or worse).

Best Dock Cleat Bolts:

316 stainless steel through-bolts (M8 or 5/16" diameter), paired with stainless steel backing plates, washers, and lock nuts. Do not use screws. Do not "save money" and use galvanized bolts—316 stainless won't leave you staring at green corrosion spots around your cleat bolts, or worse—stuck bolts you can't remove when you need to service the cleat.

Best Dock Bumper Screws and Dock Edge Screws

Bumpers and edge trim take a beating. Boats nudging in and out, waves slamming the edge, ice pushing in winter, rope cleats getting yanked—all that vibration and impact works ordinary screws loose fast. We've seen it a hundred times: bumper half-falling off, fasteners rattling around in the holes.

The sneaky part? The screws don't fail all at once. They work loose gradually, and you don't notice until there's a gap opening up or the bumper's hanging crooked. By then, the fasteners are half-out and ready to drop in the water.

Always Use Lock Washers for Dock Bumpers and Edges

Use lock washers. Period. These have teeth or ridges that bite into the wood and fight vibration-induced loosening. Without them, every wave impact is just slowly spinning your screws back out.

And use 316 stainless steel screws—not galvanized, not carbon steel. Stainless won't corrode sitting in the constant splash zone, and paired with lock washers, it stays tight season after season.

Best Screws for Docks Bumpers and Edge Trim

For residential docks (weekend use, a couple boats max): Eagle Claw 316 Stainless Steel Deck Screws (#10 x 2.5" or #10 x 3") with stainless steel lock washers. Fast to install, easy to replace if needed, and they'll hold for years. Throw some blue threadlocker on the bumper line for peace of mind.

For commercial docks or busy residential setups (boats in and out daily, or you're working with hard tropical hardwood bumpers): Strong-Drive® SDS Heavy Duty Hex Connector Screws (316 Grade). These are built for load-bearing work and hold way better than standard deck screws. The hex head doesn't strip under high torque, and they're rated for constant bumping and vibration.

The SDS are code-compliant as a structural alternative to lag bolts, so if your dock specs call for lag bolts in the bumper bracket connections, these will pass inspection and install faster.

Best Dock Ramps and Walkways Fasteners

Here's something we see constantly: someone buys a build-it-yourself ramp kit (or builds from scratch), gets it installed, and by the following spring they're calling with loose boards and separated sections. It catches people off guard because they built the deck the same way—pre-drilled, fastened it down, and expected it to stay. But ramps don't work that way.

Ramps move. They flex when you walk on them. And when the water level goes up or down, the whole thing shifts. All of this puts stress on fasteners in ways static decking never experiences.

We've been there. We've seen it fail. And we know exactly why: people treat ramps like permanent structures when they're actually engineered for dynamic movement.

How We Pros Fasten Ramps

If you're building from a kit or DIY plans, here's what actually works:

Pre-drill everything. Even softwood. We know it takes longer—five extra minutes per board if you're moving carefully. Ramps move more than static decking, so fasteners need maximum grip. 

Allow micro-gaps between boards. Leave a 1/4" gap between deck boards to accommodate seasonal movement. Wood expands and contracts. If your boards are touching edge-to-edge with no room to move, that expansion and contraction works fasteners loose like nobody's business.

Countersink properly (flush, not deep). Ramps collect water constantly. We see people countersink too deep, creating little pooling pockets around fastener heads where moisture concentrates and fasteners corrode faster. Shoot for flush with the wood surface. Test on scrap. Get it right.

Plan for seasonal maintenance (and stick to it). This is the one people skip, and then they're surprised when boards start separating. Re-check all fasteners in spring and fall. It takes 20 minutes.

Seasonal wood movement and freeze-thaw cycles will loosen fasteners reliably—it's not a question of if, it's when. Grab an impact driver set to low torque and go through every fastener. You'll catch loosening before it becomes a board separation problem.

Best Screws for Dock Ramp Boards

Eagle Claw 316 Stainless Steel Deck Screws are engineered for this exact environment.

Build-it-yourself ramp kits typically come with stainless hardware for the frame and hinges already installed, but the deck board fastening is on you.

That's where the stainless steel deck screws matter most—those boards take the beating, collect water, and experience constant flex. The frame can handle the movement, but loose deck boards will separate fast if you're not fastening them right.

Best Fasteners for Dock Ladders 

We've installed hundreds of ladders. We've seen installations done right, and we've repaired plenty done wrong. And we've learned something important: a dock ladder isn't just sitting on your dock.

It's taking the full weight of a person climbing, plus the shock load of someone yanking themselves up quickly, plus wind loads hammering it in storms, plus ice pressure in winter. That's a lot of stress on those fasteners.

How We Fastens Dock Ladders (Both Code-Compliant)

For a wood dock, you've got two legitimate options, and we've used both:

Through-bolts with backing plates. This is the traditional approach. Drill through the deck, through the frame, install a backing plate underneath to spread the load. Stainless 316, washers top and bottom, tighten to 20Nm. It works. We've pulled ladders out of 30-year-old docks fastened this way, and the bolts were still solid.

Structural lag screws (like Simpson Strong-Drive® 316 stainless). These are engineered fasteners—not your grandfather's lag bolts. They're designed for this exact job and meet the safety standards. Pre-drill, install with backing plates underneath (same as bolts), tighten per the fastener specs. Faster than drilling through your entire dock frame if that's not your comfort zone. We use these on time-sensitive installs.

Both work. Pick the one that fits your situation. We've seen failures from both, but only when someone skipped the backing plate or under-tightened. Do it right, and either approach lasts decades.

Metal Docks

Metal dock structures? Stainless steel bolts with nuts (not lags). Through-bolt, backing plates underneath, washers both sides. Same 20Nm torque spec. Same rules apply—we've seen metal docks pulled apart by missing backing plates just like wood docks.

Best Dock Ladders Fasteners

Most commercial dock ladder kits come with bolts, but they may not meet the professional safety standard. For code-compliant installation, specify:

Through-bolts: M8 stainless steel 316 hex bolts (cup-head style), appropriate length for your deck thickness, plus stainless washers and lock nuts. Tighten to 20Nm.

Lag screws: Strong-Drive® SDWH Timber-Hex Stainless Steel Screws (316 Grade) or equivalent code-approved structural lag screw, with stainless backing plates. Tighten per fastener specs.

If your kit comes with different bolts, upgrade to stainless 316 and backing plates. Install it right the first time, and you won't be thinking about your ladder fasteners for a decade.

Ready to Build Your Dock Right?

We've been doing this for 28 years. The fasteners you choose aren't just details—they're the difference between a dock that lasts a decade and one that's falling apart in five years.

That's why we're so particular about what we recommend. Whether you're ordering Eagle Claw fasteners for your entire deck or need a few Simpson Strong-Drive® lag screws for critical connections, you need fasteners you can trust. We don't mess around with cheap alternatives, and neither should you.

Whether it's a quick question about what screw gauge you need or you're sourcing for a full commercial dock build (we also offer contractor discounts!), we'll make sure you get exactly what you need—no upselling, just the right fasteners at the right price.