NYS and NYC M/WBE Certified Contractor
If your home sits south of Merrick Road in Amityville near the canals that feed directly into the Great South Bay you already know that flooding here doesn’t just come from above. When a storm pushes water northward through the bay and into those canal systems, it rises from below. That’s a different problem than a roof leak, and it needs a team that understands the difference.
After a proper restoration, your home isn’t just dried out it’s confirmed dry. That means thermal imaging has checked every wall cavity, every subfloor, and every place water likes to hide in an older Amityville home before anyone calls the job done. Mold can start growing within 24 to 48 hours in homes with minimal vapor barriers, which is common in houses built in the 1950s and earlier. Getting ahead of that isn’t optional.
For homes built before 1978 and nearly a quarter of Amityville’s housing stock predates 1940 storm damage that cracks walls or disturbs old insulation can expose asbestos or lead. Most restoration companies aren’t licensed to handle that. We hold the NYS DOL Asbestos License and USEPA Lead Certification, which means you don’t have to bring in a second contractor mid-job and hope the handoff goes smoothly.
We’re headquartered in Bohemia, NY a straight shot east along the South Shore from Amityville. This isn’t a national franchise routing your call to whoever is available. Our CEO Jessica Dussan and VP Leo Torres are named individuals whose reputations are tied to every job we take on. Customers mention them by name in reviews, and that’s not by accident.
Over 12 years and more than 5,000 completed projects across Long Island including Nassau County, Suffolk County, and the coastal communities along the South Shore our team has seen what storms do to homes in this region. We’ve worked through the post-Sandy recovery period, through nor’easters that battered Riverside Avenue and the neighborhoods around the Triangle in Amityville, and through the kind of quiet water damage that doesn’t announce itself until mold shows up three months later.
Our license stack is real and verifiable: Suffolk County General Contractor, NYS DOL Mold, NYS DOL Asbestos, USEPA Lead, USEPA RRP, and IICRC-certified technicians. NYS and NYC M/WBE certified. These aren’t marketing claims they’re government-issued credentials you can look up.
The first step is stopping the damage from spreading. That means emergency board-up, roof tarping, and water extraction fast. In Amityville’s canal neighborhoods, where tidal surge can keep water elevated for hours after a storm passes, getting extraction equipment in quickly isn’t just about the visible water. It’s about what that water is doing inside your walls while you’re waiting.
Once the immediate threat is contained, the real assessment begins. Thermal imaging scans the structure for hidden moisture the kind that looks dry on the surface but is quietly migrating through wall cavities and subfloor systems in older homes. For any Amityville property built before 1978, that assessment also includes checking for asbestos and lead before any demolition or repair work begins. The Village of Amityville has its own Building Department with its own permit requirements, separate from the Town of Babylon and we handle that process, including the specific Workers’ Compensation documentation the village requires. ACCORD forms aren’t accepted there, and an unprepared contractor finds that out the hard way.
From there, the work moves through structural repair, mold prevention or remediation if needed, and full interior restoration. If the storm exposed vulnerabilities in your roofing or siding, this is also the point where impact-resistant materials and hurricane straps can be added so the next storm doesn’t start from the same place.
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Storm damage in Amityville rarely stops at one problem. A nor’easter that tears off flashing also drives water into the wall cavity. Canal flooding that soaks a basement also threatens the structural framing and, in a home built in the 1950s or 1960s, potentially the pipe insulation and floor tiles. Our full scope of services includes emergency securing and board-up, tree and debris removal, roof tarping and repair, wind damage repair, water extraction and drying, thermal imaging for hidden moisture, mold prevention and remediation, asbestos and lead abatement for older homes, structural stabilization, and complete interior restoration.
The reason that matters for Amityville specifically is the housing stock. Homes in this village are old. The median construction year is 1959, and a significant portion predate World War II. That age means hazardous materials are a real possibility when storm damage opens up walls and most local restoration companies aren’t licensed to deal with them. We are, which means the job doesn’t stall when something unexpected turns up behind the drywall.
For homeowners dealing with both a homeowner’s insurance claim and a separate flood insurance claim which is common in the canal zone south of Merrick Road we bill insurance directly and actively help navigate the documentation process. That alone has been called out specifically in customer reviews as one of the most valuable parts of working with our team.
This is one of the most common and frustrating questions for Amityville homeowners, especially those in the canal neighborhoods south of Merrick Road. The short answer is: it depends on the source of the water. Standard homeowner’s insurance policies typically cover sudden and accidental water damage like a roof breach from wind but they almost universally exclude flooding that originates from outside the home, including storm surge, rising canal water, and tidal overflow from the Great South Bay. That type of damage falls under flood insurance, which is a separate policy typically issued through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
Many homeowners in Amityville’s flood-prone zones carry both policies, but the claims process for each is different, the documentation requirements are different, and the adjusters are different. Getting the scope of damage properly attributed to the right policy matters misclassifying it can result in a denial or a significantly reduced payout. We have experience working within both claim types and can help you document the damage in a way that supports your claim accurately, regardless of which policy applies.
Mold can begin developing within 24 to 48 hours of water intrusion and in Amityville’s older housing stock, where homes built in the 1950s and earlier often have limited vapor barriers and older insulation, moisture moves through wall cavities faster than it does in newer construction. The surface of a wall can feel dry to the touch within hours while the framing and insulation behind it are still saturated. That’s the scenario where mold establishes itself before anyone realizes there’s still a problem.
This is exactly why thermal imaging matters. Visual inspection alone isn’t enough to confirm a home is dry after a storm. Thermal imaging identifies temperature differentials in walls and floors that indicate trapped moisture areas that look fine on the surface but are actively feeding mold growth. We don’t declare a restoration complete until the thermal scan confirms the structure is dry. For a home that sits near the bay or the canals, where humidity levels are already elevated, that step isn’t optional.
Yes, and it’s an important distinction. Homes built before 1978 which covers a large portion of Amityville’s housing stock may contain asbestos in insulation, floor tiles, roofing materials, and pipe wrapping, as well as lead paint on interior and exterior surfaces. When storm damage requires opening walls, replacing roofing, or disturbing old insulation, those materials can be exposed. Federal and state law requires that a licensed contractor handle the abatement you can’t simply demo and rebuild without addressing what’s inside.
Most restoration companies operating in the Amityville area are not licensed for asbestos or lead abatement. We hold the NYS DOL Asbestos License and the USEPA Lead Certification, which means if something is found during the restoration process, the job doesn’t stop. There’s no scramble to find a separate abatement contractor, no delay waiting for a third party to clear the site, and no gap in accountability between who found the problem and who fixed it. For a pre-1978 home on the South Shore, that continuity matters more than most homeowners realize until they’re in the middle of a job.
In most cases, yes and this is an area where the Village of Amityville works differently than the surrounding unincorporated hamlets. Because Amityville is an incorporated village, it has its own Building Department, separate from the Town of Babylon. Structural repairs, roofing work, and any bulkhead restoration on waterfront canal properties require permits pulled directly from the Amityville Village Building Department, not from a county or town office.
The village also has specific insurance documentation requirements for contractors. Workers’ Compensation certificates must be submitted on specific approved forms ACCORD forms, which many contractors default to, are explicitly not accepted by the Amityville Building Department. A contractor who doesn’t know this will either stall your job or ask you to figure it out. We have navigated local permit requirements across dozens of Long Island municipalities, including the Village of Amityville, and handle the permit process as part of the job not as an afterthought.
Post-storm contractor fraud is a well-documented problem on Long Island, and Amityville residents who lived through Superstorm Sandy have heard the stories firsthand contractors who took deposits, did partial work, and disappeared. The most reliable way to protect yourself is to verify credentials before anyone starts work. That means checking for a valid Suffolk County or Nassau County General Contractor license, IICRC certification for water damage and restoration work, and any specialty licenses required for the scope of the job including NYS DOL Mold and Asbestos licenses if your home is older.
Beyond licensing, look for a company with a verifiable track record on Long Island specifically not a national brand that franchises its name to local operators. Ask who will actually be on-site and whether the company’s leadership is personally accountable for the work. Our CEO and VP are named publicly, appear in customer reviews by name, and are directly involved in the work we take on. That level of personal accountability is harder to fake than a logo.
Most homeowner’s insurance policies cover storm damage caused by wind, falling trees, and rain intrusion through a breach in the structure things like a damaged roof that allows water inside, or a window blown in during a nor’easter. What they don’t cover, as noted above, is flooding that originates outside the home. For Amityville homeowners in the canal zone, that distinction is critical because a single storm event can cause both types of damage simultaneously.
The claims process starts with documentation photos, written descriptions of damage, and a clear record of when the storm occurred and what it caused. Your policy will also require you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage after a storm, which means you generally can’t wait several days for an adjuster before starting mitigation. We work directly with insurance companies, handle the billing on your behalf, and help make sure the documentation submitted to your adjuster reflects the full scope of what the storm actually did to your home. Homeowners in Amityville’s older neighborhoods often find that the real damage hidden moisture, compromised framing, disturbed materials behind walls exceeds what’s visible on the surface, and having a contractor who can document that thoroughly makes a real difference in how a claim resolves.
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