Fallen tree on a Long Island cape with the roof being tarped after a storm

After a storm a Mount Sinai property is covered in three kinds of debris and they go three different places: the tree, which the town may eventually take from the curb; the pieces of the house, which nobody takes; and the wet material from inside, which has a clock on it. Alec's Construction cuts, hauls and clears all three as part of the repair rather than leaving you to find a dumpster in the week every dumpster on Long Island is spoken for, working out of the yard on Barton Avenue in East Patchogue.

What a Storm Does in Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai has the harbour at the bottom and the bluffs above it, and a nor'easter works on both. The harbour opens north onto the Sound through a narrow inlet and stacks water on a northeast wind, and the low streets around the marina and along Shore Road take it at high tide. Above the harbour the hamlet is 1970s to 90s colonials and contemporaries on wooded lots — the newest housing on this part of the North Shore — under oak and tulip trees that stand over the roofs, and the north-facing slopes take the full wind off the Sound. The bluff-top houses along the Sound get the wind first and the erosion after, and Cedar Beach takes the surf.

Downtown Debris, Hillside Trees

Along the harbour the debris is what the tide brought into the downtown and the waterfront blocks. Up the hill it is trees: big crowns across driveways, limbs across garages, root plates in the lawns. Hauling out of the steep lots and the narrow village streets is half the job.

Trees and Limbs

A tree on the ground is a chainsaw job and a matter of time. A tree on a structure is a different job with an order to it, and it comes off before anything else on the property is touched. We cut and haul what the town will not take, and we tell you what your town is doing that week for curbside brush.

Roofing, Siding and Building Debris

Shingles, vinyl siding, aluminum gutters, fence sections, broken glass, the pieces of whatever the wind took apart. It is sharp, it has nails in it and it hides under wet leaves. Photographed where it lies before it is moved, because it is evidence of what the wind did to the house.

Wet Material From Inside

This is the debris with a clock on it: wet carpet and pad, wet insulation, sheetrock that has lost its strength, soaked furniture. Mould can begin on any of it within a day or two. It comes out, it is photographed as it comes out, and it is kept where the adjuster can see it.

Emergency tarp over a damaged roof section on a Long Island house

Hazards We Work Around

Downed lines and anything touching them — the utility first, always. Gas. Trees under tension. Nails and glass under mud. Wet floors over electrical. Cleanup is what gets the crew to the house; the scope and the rebuild are the job that follows.

Building Department in Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai files with the Town of Brookhaven at Independence Hill in Farmingville; the streets around Mount Sinai Harbor and Cedar Beach 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 Mount Sinai. 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 Mount Sinai house is on the bluff. What does a nor'easter do to it?

The wind first — the north-facing roof edges, the ridge, the siding on the Sound side, anything glass. Then the erosion: a northeast storm with a high tide eats the toe of the bluff and the top follows over the following weeks, so photograph the bluff edge from the same spot after every storm. Water in a bluff house is wind-driven rain through what the wind opened, a homeowners claim.

Will the town pick up storm debris?

After a major storm most Suffolk towns and villages run curbside brush and storm-debris collection for a period, with rules about how it is cut, bundled and placed. They take what is at the curb; they do not take a tree off a roof or building material out of the house. We tell you what your town is doing that week and take what they will not.

Do you haul the debris or do I need a dumpster?

We bring the hauling as part of the job. After a storm every dumpster on Long Island is committed for weeks, and leaving homeowners to find a container is how cleanup stalls.

Can I throw out the wet carpet and drywall before the adjuster comes?

Yes, and you should. Leaving it in place grows mould and makes the claim worse, and emergency mitigation is expected under the policy. Photograph it in place first, photograph it as it comes out, and keep it where the adjuster can see it if there is room.

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Also Serving Mount Sinai

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.