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

Wind takes a Port Jefferson roof apart from the edges — the eaves, the ridge, the gable ends, the flashing — and takes siding off the face that took the gusts, and then the rain that follows goes into the sheathing and the wall behind. Alec's Construction tarps and boards the same day where we can reach you, finds the wet sheathing that a cosmetic patch would cover up, and rebuilds the roof, the siding and the gutters on one scope with the interior, working out of the yard on Barton Avenue in East Patchogue.

What a Storm Does in Port Jefferson

Port Jefferson floods from the harbour. The Village's downtown sits at the bottom of a bowl at the head of Port Jefferson Harbor, and a northeast wind on a high tide pushes Sound water up the harbour and into the streets around the ferry dock and Main Street — the downtown has had water in it in ordinary storms, let alone a hurricane. Above the village core the hills are steep, and the houses up on them face the other half of the problem: the wind off the Sound hits the north-facing roofs and gable ends directly, and the large oaks and locusts on the slopes come down across houses and the narrow streets. The older houses in the village are wood-framed with wide eaves and porches, and the eave is where the wind gets under the roof.

North-Facing Roofs Off the Sound

Up the hill the wind comes off the Sound onto the north-facing roofs and gable ends, and it takes shingles from the ridge down and siding from the corners out. Flashing at chimneys on those older colonials pulls loose. The village building departments here look closely at exterior repairs on the older houses, and we file accordingly.

What Wind Does to a Roof Here

Shingles lift at the eaves and the ridge first, where the wind gets under them. Once a course goes, the ones above it follow, and the rain that comes after the wind goes through the exposed underlayment into the sheathing, the attic insulation and the ceilings below. Flashing at chimneys and sidewalls pulls loose. Gutters and fascia peel off the eaves and take the drip edge with them. A roof that "just lost a few shingles" is usually wet under a wider area than the missing shingles show.

What Wind Does to Siding

Vinyl unlocks and sails off in panels from the windward face and from the corners. The housewrap behind it tears, and the sheathing behind that takes rain until the panels are back. Cedar and clapboard split at the fasteners. The repair is not the panels; it is the wrap and the sheathing behind them, dried and checked before anything goes back on.

The Order of Work

Photographs as found. Tarp and board the same day where we can reach you. Wet insulation and sheetrock out from under the leak. Sheathing opened where it is wet and replaced where it has to be. Then the roof, the flashing, the siding, the gutters and the interior on one scope, the cause corrected so the new work stays dry.

Roofing crew repairing a Long Island roof after storm damage

The Claim

Wind damage to a roof or siding is a homeowners claim. Storm damage is separated from wear on the scope — the carrier pays for what the wind did, not for a roof that was at the end of its life — and where a roof is more storm than wear, the scope says so with the photographs to show it. We meet the adjuster at the house. Many coastal New York policies carry a separate deductible for named storms; the figure is on your declarations page.

Building Department in Port Jefferson

The Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson runs its own building department; Port Jefferson Station files with the Town of Brookhaven. They are two different processes. 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 Port Jefferson. 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

The Village of Port Jefferson — do storm repairs need Village approval?

The permanent repair does. The Village runs its own building department, and exterior work in the village core can get a closer look than a Town permit would give it. Emergency work — tarping, boarding, drying, shoring — is done to make the house safe and does not wait. We settle first whether the address is inside the Village or in the Town of Brookhaven around it, because Port Jefferson Station and the surrounding hamlets file with the Town.

Will insurance pay to replace the whole roof or just the missing shingles?

It depends on what the wind did and what the adjuster sees. Where the damage is scattered across the roof, or the shingles that are left cannot be matched or will not seal, a full replacement is often the right scope and often the approved one. Where the damage is one section, it is a section. We write the scope from the photographs and meet the adjuster at the house.

The siding is gone on one side. Can you match it?

Sometimes, and when we can we do. Vinyl profiles and colours go out of production, and a house that lost a full face often gets that face re-sided in the closest match rather than patched with panels that do not match. What is behind the panels matters more: the wrap and the sheathing get dried and checked before anything goes back on.

Do I need a permit for storm roof repairs?

Not for the emergency work — tarping, boarding, shoring. A full re-roof or structural repair is permitted work like any other job, and we file it with your town or village once the scope is agreed.

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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.

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