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

Water inside a Sayville 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 Sayville

Sayville fronts the Great South Bay with Brown's River and the ferry basins on its west side, and in a surge the water comes up Brown's River, over the low ground around the ferry terminals, and across the streets south of Montauk Highway toward Foster Avenue. It is a hamlet of the Town of Islip with a village-style main street of older two-storey frame houses, and those houses have the failure points a hurricane looks for: original wood double-hungs on the windward side, wide eaves, and porches with roofs that lift as a unit. The capes on the south end have crawl spaces at grade that fill in a surge. After a bay storm the Sayville job is wet crawl spaces and wet first-floor walls, and the interior drying is the part people underestimate.

Bay Water in the House

On this part of the South Shore the water is the storm. Surge comes up every creek and over every bulkhead at once on a south or southeast wind and into crawl spaces, slab additions and first floors south of Montauk Highway. It is salt water, and salt water changes the rules: electrical that went under is replaced, not dried, and the framing is washed down before it is dried.

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.

Long Island waterfront street after a coastal storm

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 Sayville

Sayville files with the Town of Islip. 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 Sayville. 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 Sayville crawl space filled with bay water. What comes out and what stays?

Everything that was wet and cannot dry comes out — the insulation under the floor, any stored material, the wet vapour barrier — and the framing that stays gets dried and checked. Salt water is the complication in a bay flood: it leaves salt in the wood and on the electrical, and wiring and connections that sat in bay water are replaced rather than dried. We open it, photograph it as found for the flood claim, and dry it with real equipment rather than a fan in the hatch.

How long before mould starts after storm water gets in?

A day or two on wet building material, faster in a warm closed house. That is why the wet material comes out and the drying starts immediately rather than after the adjuster's visit. Photographs of what was removed protect the claim; leaving it in place grows mould and makes the claim worse.

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.

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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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