How We Work

Henderson County is home base. We work across the surrounding East Texas counties and their lake systems. Active build locations include:

• Cedar Creek Lake — Henderson + Kaufman counties
• Lake Athens — Henderson County
• Lake Palestine — Anderson / Cherokee / Henderson / Smith
• Lake Tyler — Smith County
• Richland-Chambers Reservoir — Navarro County
• Athens, Gun Barrel City, Mabank — Henderson County hubs
• Tyler, Palestine, Corsicana, Canton — surrounding county seats

Not sure if we cover your spot? Just call — we travel for the right project across East Texas.

Three ways:

1. Call us at (903) 603-0528
2. Submit the contact form — we respond within one business day
3. Use the homepage estimator to get a rough range before you call

From there we schedule a free on-site visit, assess the scope, and give you a firm number — no surprises.

James Marine has been building waterfront and outdoor construction across Henderson County and East Texas since 2012 — and the owner has been on every job since day one.

We are fully licensed and insured. License and certificates of insurance available on request before contract — we expect serious clients (HOA boards, commercial owners, investors) to ask, and we volunteer the paperwork to anyone who wants it.

Track record: over 100 completed waterfront projects — docks, lifts, ramps, retaining walls, seawalls, dredging, and outdoor kitchens. References available from past clients in your area.

The owner runs every job — same person quoting, supervising, and finishing the work.

That means no subcontractor handoffs, no dispatcher between you and the crew, and no "the foreman should be there tomorrow" calls. If you have a question on a Tuesday afternoon, you call the person who walked your site.

Availability varies by season — Texas waterfront construction peaks March through October, with winter dredging windows we like to fill. We'll give you an honest timeline at the estimate, including any permit-clearance wait.

We don't overbook, and we show up when we say we will. If a weather event pushes the schedule, you hear it from us directly.

We discuss payment terms during your estimate. The shape we use most often:

• Deposit at contract signing (covers materials and permit fees)
• Progress payment at substantial completion of major phases
• Final payment after the homeowner walkthrough

No hidden fees, no change-order surprises that weren't discussed first, and we don't get paid the final until the work is done right.

Yes — we install lifts on new and existing docks regularly. The site-visit question we answer is whether your existing dock's framing and pilings can take the added load.

On wood-framed docks 10+ years old, we often need to sister-up framing or add a piling on the slip side. On metal-framed or newer wood docks, retrofit is usually straightforward.