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

Alec's Construction handles storm damage and insurance restoration in Bay Shore, Suffolk County — emergency tarping, drying, the documentation, and the rebuild — working out of the yard in East Patchogue. Winter is when most of it happens here: nor'easters from November, ice dams from January, and burst pipes any night the temperature drops after a power cut.

Winter Damage in Bay Shore

Bay Shore takes the winter weather from two sides. Nor'easters come up the South Shore with wind off the Great South Bay, which is what strips shingles and sends water under the siding on the exposed elevations south of Montauk Highway. Then the January cold does its own damage on the older housing north of Montauk — ice dams on the capes, and burst pipes in the walls of houses where the plumbing runs through an exterior wall or an unheated space.

Capes, Nor'easters and the Knee-Wall Ice Dam

A cape takes the winter from two directions. The steep roof and the dormers catch the wind in a nor'easter, and the dormer-cheek flashing is where the water gets in. Then the cold does the second job: the knee-wall attic behind the upstairs rooms is warm on one side and vented on the other, and it makes ice dams at the eave every January on any cape whose knee walls were never air-sealed.

Both are claims when they are documented properly — wind-driven water intrusion and the ice-dam water damage are sudden and accidental in the carrier's language. Neither stays fixed unless the flashing and the knee wall are corrected, and we scope those alongside the restoration.

How a Winter Claim Goes

1. Stop the water. Tarp the roof, cover the opening, shut the supply, pull the wet material that will grow mould if it stays. Same day where we can. 2. Document as found. Photographs of everything before it is disturbed — the damage, the cause, the water path. This is what the claim rests on. 3. Write the scope. Line by line, the way the adjuster reads one, with the photographs attached. Storm damage and pre-existing wear kept separate, so the claim is for what the storm did. 4. Meet the adjuster at the house if it helps, and answer the questions with the photographs. 5. Rebuild to the agreed scope, and correct the cause — the flashing, the attic, the pipe run — so the same claim does not come back next winter.

Ice dam and icicles along the eave of a Long Island house in winter

What Is Usually Covered and What Is Not

Wind damage and the water it drives in, ice-dam water damage, a tree on the house and the tree's removal up to a limit, and burst-pipe water damage in a heated house are the usual winter claims under a standard homeowners policy. Tidal flooding is a flood-policy claim on a separate policy. The age of a roof is not a claim, and the attic that caused the ice dam is not a claim — those are the fixes, and we tell you which is which before you file.

Building Department in Bay Shore

Bay Shore files with the Town of Islip. Emergency repairs to make a house safe do not wait for a permit, but the rebuild that follows is permitted work like any other — structural repairs, roofing, electrical — and we file it.

Free walkthrough in Bay Shore, and if it is an emergency, call rather than fill in the form.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does bay wind damage in Bay Shore count as a storm claim?

Wind damage from a named or unnamed storm is the most straightforward claim there is, provided it is documented before anything is cleaned up. On the south side of Bay Shore the wind comes across open water with nothing to slow it, and a nor'easter will lift shingles, peel siding and drive rain into the wall. We photograph everything as we find it, tarp what needs tarping, and write the scope so it matches what the adjuster is going to see when they come.

What should I do first after storm damage?

Stop the water and document everything before anything is cleaned up. Photograph the damage as you found it — the roof, the ceiling, the wall, the floor, the yard — and then call. We tarp and dry what needs it the same day where we can, and we photograph as we go so the claim file shows the damage the way the adjuster is going to see it.

Is ice dam damage covered by homeowners insurance?

The water damage usually is — the ceiling, the wall, the wet insulation — because it is sudden and accidental water intrusion. What is not covered is the cause, which is the attic, and the carrier will expect it to be corrected so the claim does not repeat. We restore the damage as the claim and correct the attic as the fix.

Are burst pipes a claim?

The water damage from a burst pipe is generally covered under a standard policy, provided the house was heated — carriers exclude freeze damage in a house left unheated without the water shut off. The pipe repair itself is usually the plumber's small job; the damage it did to the floor, the wall and the ceiling is the restoration and the claim.

Related Guides

Also Serving Bay Shore

Work With Alec's Construction

This guide is written by the crew that does the work. See Alec's Storm Damage & Insurance Restoration service — emergency tarping, documentation and the claim itself. 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 Siding.

Get a Free Estimate from Alec's Construction

Working across Suffolk County since 2018, one crew from start to finish. 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.