Emergency tarp over a damaged roof section on a Long Island house

A tree on a house in Brightwaters is not a tree job and it is not a roof job. It is one job with an order to it, and the order is what keeps a crushed roof from becoming a collapsed one. Alec's Construction coordinates the removal, does the structural repair, the roofing and the interior, and writes it as one scope for your adjuster, working out of the yard on Barton Avenue in East Patchogue. If a tree is on your house right now, stay out of the rooms under it, photograph it from the ground, and call.

What a Storm Does in Brightwaters

Brightwaters is a planned village from the early 1900s built around a chain of lakes that drain south through canals into the Great South Bay, and the water comes at it from both ends. A surge pushes up the canals from the bay into the streets south of Montauk Highway, and heavy rain fills the lakes and the streets around them. The housing is older and better built than most of the South Shore — stucco, shingle and brick colonials and Tudors from the 1910s to 30s with slate and tile roofs, plus 1950s ranches on the newer streets — under mature trees that were planted with the village. The village runs its own building department and takes a close look at exterior repairs on the older houses.

Trees on the Canal Streets

The canal grids do not have many big trees, so when one comes down here it is usually a street tree or a single old oak in a yard, and it lands on a cape or a ranch that is one storey and easy to crush. A one-storey roof under a full oak is a shoring job before it is a cutting job.

The Order the Tree Comes Off

A tree on a roof is under load in ways you cannot see from the driveway. Part of it may be holding the roof up as much as crushing it. Cut the wrong section first and the weight shifts onto framing that is already broken. The sequence is: structural check from inside and out, photographs of everything as it lies, the crown and limbs off in an order that unloads the roof evenly, the roof supported and covered as the weight comes off, then the trunk, then the tarp goes on properly.

What Comes Next

Once the tree is off and the roof is dry, the damage is usually rafters or trusses, sheathing, shingles, and whatever the water did inside in the hours before the tarp. Sometimes a ridge or a wall top plate. We shore what needs shoring the same day, and the permanent repair — framing, sheathing, roofing, ceilings — goes on one scope with the tree removal, photographed step by step.

The Claim

A tree that falls on a covered structure is the classic covered peril under a standard homeowners policy, and most policies also pay something toward removing that tree, up to a limit that varies. What the adjuster pays on is the photographs of the tree where it lay and the damage as found, before anyone cut anything. We take those first, every time. Wind damage is kept separate from wear on the scope, and we meet the adjuster at the house.

Fallen tree on a Long Island cape with the roof being tarped after a storm

What We Do Not Touch Until the Utility Clears It

Anything near a downed line, and any tree that is on or tangled with a service drop. PSEG Long Island clears the line first; then we go to work. Assume every wire on the ground is live.

Building Department in Brightwaters

The Village of Brightwaters runs its own building department at Village Hall on Orinoco Drive, and the permanent repair files there, not with the Town of Islip. The lakes and the bayfront canal streets are in the mapped flood zone. Emergency work to make the house safe and dry does not wait for a permit; the permanent repair is filed once the scope is agreed.

Free walkthrough in Brightwaters. Call or text (631) 312-7441. Tell us whether the roof is open, whether a tree is on the structure and whether there is water inside, and we bring the right equipment on the first trip.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Village of Brightwaters need a permit for storm repairs?

Not for the emergency work — tarping, boarding, shoring, pumping and drying make the house safe and do not wait. The permanent repair is filed with the village's own building department on Orinoco Drive, not with the Town of Islip, and the village looks closely at exterior work on the older houses. We file it once the scope is agreed and we tell you what they will want to see.

Is removing the tree covered by insurance?

When the tree fell on the house, the garage or another covered structure, most homeowners policies pay for the damage and pay something toward removing the tree, up to a limit that varies by policy. A tree that fell in the yard and hit nothing is usually not covered. Photograph it where it lies before anyone cuts it.

Can I stay in the house with a tree on the roof?

Not in the rooms under it, and often not at all until it is off and the structure has been checked. A roof that is holding a tree can move when the tree is cut, or in the next wind. We tell you honestly on the first visit whether the house is safe to sleep in.

My neighbour's tree fell on my house. Whose claim is it?

Generally yours. A tree that falls in a storm is an act of nature and the damage is claimed under the policy on the house it hit, unless the tree was visibly dead or dangerous and the neighbour had been told. Your carrier may pursue theirs afterwards; that is between the carriers. Your job is to photograph it and get it off.

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Work With Alec's Construction

This guide is written by the crew that does the work. See Alec's Hurricane & Storm Damage Repair service — fallen trees, flooding, roof and siding damage, cleanup and the rebuild. Licensed and insured on Long Island, one crew start to finish, free walkthrough and a written estimate inside 48 hours.

Booking the cold months now: we also handle Roofing and Storm Damage & Insurance Restoration.

Get a Free Estimate from Alec's Construction

Licensed and insured, working across Nassau and Suffolk County since 2018. We come out, look at the actual job, and put a written number in your hand — no pressure, no obligation.

Or call (631) 312-7441

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