Tips for looking after your Waterlodge during spring and summer

Throughout the spring and summer months, there are a few things that you could be checking out onboard your Waterlodge. We share some good housekeeping tips for you to help with the maintenance of your Waterlodge, such as checking water tanks and water pumps, waste tank checks and underfloor heating advice. Plus, we expand on our canopies, as you might like to treat yourself with a new canopy, to shelter from the sun on our beautiful sunny days or from the cool breeze on cloudier days. We hope you find these tips useful and enjoy making the most out of your life on the water!

General cleaning and maintenance

For our Waterlodgers living in coastal marina environments, such as Brighton, we advise regular external wash downs and buffing of the railings to remove the salt, and to avoid discolouration and rust build up. Salt water is hugely corrosive, and keeping things clean is key to ensuring that your Waterlodge stays looking its best.

Remember to focus on areas such as the windows, stainless rails and the decks. If you need help, there are companies that can offer a general or deep cleaning of your Waterlodge and wooden decks, and treatments designed to bring up the natural colour and provide protection.

Looking after your fresh water tank and water pumps

Ensuring your fresh water tank is topped up means avoiding it running dry, which can cause issues with air getting into the pipes.  If you ever have water pump issues, please switch off the pump and raise a service request.

Waste tank maintenance 

It’s important to ensure regular use of bacteria tablets to be used in the main holding tank and the head maintainer to be flushed weekly down the toilet. The tablets help to maintain a healthy balance of aerobic bacteria in your tank, which are the ones you want to break down solid waste and minimise smells. You will find there are several options to purchase various bacteria tablets or solutions, which you can find in our online shop.

Keep electrical cables out of the water

Your mains power supply cables should be kept out of the water. Cables can be secured using decent cable ties and using good general cable management on the dock. If you ever need to unplug your mains power cable from the shore power, it is a good idea to spray WD40 onto the plug before reconnecting to disperse any water droplets getting into the power supply.

All Waterlodges are delivered with cables which are often longer than required to reach a pontoon socket, which can result in them looking untidy and at risk of falling in the water. It is a simple matter for any electrician to shorten them as required to tidy them up and to ensure safety.

Preventing water ingress in outside doors and locks

A clever tip is to apply WD40 regularly to any outside door locks with keys to prevent salt damage and sticking. The WD in WD40 means Water Displacement, meaning it’s designed to get rid of water where it should not be.

Underfloor heating care

If you have underfloor heating, it’s advisable not to use decorative rugs on the floor where the heating mats are installed as this can make the floor panels shrink due to the trapped heat. This can be especially pronounced with doormats as they also get heated by the sun through the doors, and the black rubber backing can get quite hot. It would be better to place your doormats outside the doors on the deck (although remember to secure it down with staples or tacks to prevent it blowing away!).

Also, if you have an ottoman bed, please try not to overfill it as the underfloor heating requires plenty of air space to avoid overheating the system.

Enhance your outdoor space with all-weather deck canopies!

We have been fitting deck canopies to a few of the boats in Brighton, including our demonstrator on Pontoon 4. These are great for creating all-weather areas outside your patio doors and make a perfect conservatory for entertaining and storage. The sides roll up in good weather too, as well as providing shade on those hot summer days.

Do drop us a line for a quote if you want one fitting to your boat or to pop along to see them in action on our demonstrator boat.

Light up the marina with Underwater Lights!

If you have walked along the promenade past our demo Waterlodge Eden 14 by the restaurants during the evening, you won’t have failed to notice the stunning underwater lights we have fitted to her. These are supplied by the market leader in this technology, Ocean LED, and can be retrofitted to any Waterlodge in a day. They really help to make your boat stand out, and at night they really attract the fish, creating your own Sealife Centre to view from the terrace. Again, these can be found on www.waterlodge.shop

We hope you find these tips useful and enjoy making the most out of life on the water. Head to our online shop to find all the products you need to keep your Waterlodge looking tip top!

We are always here to help so if you do have any service requests or warranty related requests, please use the Service Request Form – with an added option to add photos – as this comes directly into the team. For any other queries please do contact us as we would love to help.