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

Alec's Construction handles storm damage and insurance restoration in Farmingville, 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 Farmingville

Farmingville is inland hi-ranch and split-level stock, and the winter claim here is the ice dam almost every time. Splits ice-dam because the low-slope section of the attic over the lower wing has never been insulated; hi-ranches ice-dam at the eaves where the soffit vents were blocked by whoever last added insulation. The water comes in over the top plate and runs down inside the wall, so the damage is often found in a bedroom below rather than at the eave.

Ice Dams Are the Inland Winter Claim

Away from the water the winter damage is ice rather than tide, and on split-level and hi-ranch stock it is the ice dam almost every time. Heat gets into the attic — through an uninsulated hatch, a bath fan venting into the attic, the never-insulated low-slope section over the lower wing — melts the snow from underneath, and the meltwater refreezes at the cold eave into a dam. The water behind it has nowhere to go but under the shingles and over the top plate into the wall.

The interior damage is the claim: the ceiling, the wall, the wet insulation, the floor below. The attic is the cause, and if it is not corrected the claim repeats, which carriers notice. We restore the interior and correct the attic in the same project.

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 Farmingville

The Brookhaven Building Division is in Farmingville itself, at One Independence Hill, (631) 451-6333 — which makes it the easiest place in the town to settle a permit question in person. 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 Farmingville, and if it is an emergency, call rather than fill in the form.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my Farmingville hi-ranch get ice dams every winter?

Because heat is getting into the attic and melting the snow from underneath, and the meltwater refreezes at the cold eave. On a hi-ranch the usual reasons are blocked soffit vents, an uninsulated attic hatch, and bath fans venting into the attic. The interior water damage is the claim. The attic is the fix, and if it is not fixed the claim repeats — which carriers notice. We restore the interior and correct the attic in the same project.

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.

Do you work with the adjuster?

Yes. We write the scope the way the adjuster reads one, line by line with the photographs attached, and we meet them at the house if it helps. We do not adjust the claim — that is your carrier's job or a public adjuster's — but a scope that matches what the adjuster sees is what gets a claim settled without a second visit.

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.

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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

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