Restoration crew at a storm-damaged Long Island house

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

West Islip's canal streets are the reason a winter storm here is a South Shore event and not just a weather event. A nor'easter at high tide pushes water up the canals into the yards and the garages, and the wind that comes with it takes shingles and siding off the exposed sides of the post-war capes. North of Montauk Highway the story is the same as the rest of the older housing — ice dams and frozen pipes.

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 West Islip

West Islip 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 West Islip, and if it is an emergency, call rather than fill in the form.

Frequently Asked Questions

My West Islip garage flooded in a nor'easter. Is that a homeowners claim?

Flooding from tidal surge is generally a flood policy claim, not a homeowners one, and the two are separate policies with separate adjusters. Wind damage to the roof and siding in the same storm is the homeowners claim. We document both separately because they are going to be handled separately, and we help you keep the two scopes clear so neither carrier can point at the other. That distinction is where West Islip claims most often go wrong.

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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