Long Island waterfront street after a coastal storm

Water inside a Oakdale house after a storm has a clock on it. Mould can start on wet sheetrock and insulation within a day or two, and a house that sits wet while it waits for an adjuster becomes a mould job on top of a storm job. Alec's Construction gets the wet material out, the drying equipment in and the moisture metered, then rebuilds to the agreed scope, working out of the yard on Barton Avenue in East Patchogue. If there is water in the house now, call rather than fill in the form.

What a Storm Does in Oakdale

Oakdale wraps the mouth of the Connetquot River where it opens into the Great South Bay, and the canal grids on both sides of the river — Idle Hour on the west, the Shore Drive streets on the east — are 1950s and 60s capes, ranches and splits built at grade on filled marsh a few feet above the water. A surge comes up the river and fills every canal and every crawl space at once. Idle Hour was laid out on the old Vanderbilt estate and still has the estate's big trees over small houses. The neighbourhood was one of the hardest hit in 2012 and a lot of it was rebuilt quickly; a second wetting finds the walls that were closed wet. Up by Montauk Highway and the college the ground rises and the damage is wind and trees.

Canal Houses After a Surge

A surge fills every canal and every crawl space, den and garage on the grid at the same time, and a lot of these capes and ranches were rebuilt quickly after 2012 on studs that were never dried to a number. A second wetting brings all of that back. Salt water below, wind-driven rain from above where the roof opened, and the two claims kept separate.

Two Kinds of Water, Two Claims

Water that came down — through a roof the wind opened, around a window it broke, behind siding it peeled — is wind-driven rain and a homeowners claim. Water that came up — from the bay, a canal, a creek, the ground — is flood, excluded from the homeowners policy and covered only by a separate flood policy. Most storm-damaged houses have some of both, and the two have to be documented separately from the first visit or the claims fight each other. We keep them separate on the scope.

What Comes Out

Wet carpet and pad. Insulation that took water, all of it. Sheetrock cut back above the water line to the next joint. Laminate and engineered floors that swelled. Cabinet boxes that sat in water. Soaked contents that cannot be cleaned. Everything photographed in place, photographed as it comes out, and kept where the adjuster can see it. Emergency mitigation is expected of you under the policy; it does not wait for the adjuster.

Drying Is Measured, Not Guessed

Commercial dehumidifiers and air movers, moisture readings on the framing every day, and nothing closed up until the numbers say dry. Where the water was salt — surge from the bay or a canal — the rules change: electrical that went under is replaced, not dried, and the framing gets washed down before it is dried, because salt keeps pulling moisture out of the air for years.

Storm-damaged Long Island roof being tarped for an insurance claim

The Rebuild

Insulation, sheetrock, trim, floors, cabinets, paint, and the electrical or mechanical that had to be replaced, on one scope with the cleanup. Where the water came in through the roof or the siding, the cause is fixed first so the new work does not get wet again.

Building Department in Oakdale

Oakdale files with the Town of Islip on Main Street in Islip hamlet. The canal streets along the Connetquot River and the bay 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 Oakdale. 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

My Oakdale house is on a canal. What should I do before the water comes up?

Move what you can off the first floor and out of the crawl space, shut the power off at the panel if water is going to reach it, photograph the house as it stands, and leave if the street is going under. After the water goes down, photograph the water line before anything is cleaned, and call. Salt water below and wind-driven rain above are two claims, and the canal side of Oakdale usually has both.

Is the flooding covered by my homeowners policy?

Water that rose from the bay, a canal, a creek or the ground is flood damage, and a standard homeowners policy excludes it; it is covered only by a separate flood policy. Rain that came in through wind damage to the roof or siding is a homeowners claim. Where a house has both, they are documented separately from the first visit.

Can you pump out my basement today?

Where we can reach you, yes, once the water outside has gone down. Pumping a basement while the ground around it is still saturated can push the walls in. After that the wet material comes out and the drying starts the same visit.

Can wet drywall be dried instead of replaced?

Sometimes, if it was clean water, it was wet briefly and it has not lost its strength. Storm water is rarely clean, the insulation behind it holds water far longer than the board, and salt water is never dried. In practice sheetrock below the water line comes out, the insulation behind it comes out, and the framing is dried and metered before the wall is closed.

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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

No cost, no obligation. We reply the same day.