NYS and NYC M/WBE Certified Contractor
A storm that looks minor from the outside can be a different story inside a 95-year-old Tudor in University Gardens. When wind lifts shingles on a plaster-wall home, water doesn’t just sit on the surface — it moves into wall cavities, attic insulation, and floor systems that were never designed to drain. By the time you see a stain or smell something off, the damage has already been building for days.
University Gardens has roughly 2,000 trees documented by the UGPOA — and after a Nor’easter, those mature trees become one of the biggest threats to your roof. Saturated soil weakens root systems, high winds snap branches, and a single limb through an older roofline can open up a home to days of water intrusion before the adjuster even calls back. That’s not a roofing problem. That’s a cascade.
When the job is done right, you get a fully dried, fully documented home — with permitted repairs, proper mold clearance if needed, and no hidden moisture waiting to surface six months later. For a home worth what yours is worth in this neighborhood, that’s not an upgrade. That’s the baseline.
We’re a Nassau County-based restoration company that handles the full scope of storm damage — structural, water, mold, asbestos, and lead — under one roof, with one crew, and one contract. No subcontractors. No handoffs. No gaps in accountability.
What sets us apart in a market full of restoration options is the license stack. We hold a Nassau County General Contractor license, NYS DOL Mold Remediation and Asbestos Handler licenses, and USEPA Lead and RRP certifications. In University Gardens — where most homes predate 1978 and many predate 1940 — those credentials aren’t a bonus. They’re what makes it legal to complete the job correctly.
We’re also an NYS Office of General Services Approved Emergency Response Contractor. That’s a state-level vetting that storm chasers and out-of-area franchises simply don’t have. When you’re protecting a home on the North Shore, that distinction matters.
It starts with a 24/7 emergency response call. Whether a branch came through your roof at 2 AM or your basement flooded during a Nor’easter weekend, someone picks up and dispatches. The first priority is stopping the damage from growing — tarping, boarding, water extraction — whatever needs to happen to protect the structure while the assessment gets underway.
From there, we conduct a full inspection using industrial thermal imaging cameras. This step matters more in University Gardens than in most places. Plaster walls don’t give up moisture the way drywall does — they hold it, hide it, and release it slowly over weeks. Thermal imaging finds what the naked eye misses, so the drying plan is based on what’s actually happening inside the walls, not just what’s visible on the surface.
Once the scope is clear, we handle the Town of North Hempstead permit process for any structural repairs that require it. The UGPOA’s own covenants require Town Building Department approval before construction proceeds, and this is where unlicensed contractors create problems for homeowners after the fact. Permitted, documented, code-compliant work from the start — that’s what protects your home’s value and keeps the UGPOA off your back. Insurance documentation runs parallel to every phase, and billing goes directly to your insurer so you’re not fronting costs or chasing reimbursement.
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Storm damage restoration in University Gardens covers a wider scope than most homeowners expect when they first call. Wind and structural damage — roof repairs, siding, windows, and framing — is the starting point. But in a neighborhood where the housing stock is predominantly pre-1940 construction, what comes after the structural breach is often the more serious problem.
Water intrusion in a plaster-wall home requires commercial-grade drying equipment and a moisture mapping process that accounts for how older materials hold and transfer water. If mold is found — and in a home that’s been wet for more than 48 hours, the odds are real — our NYS DOL Mold Remediation license covers full remediation without bringing in a separate company. If storm damage disturbs roofing materials, insulation, or flooring in a pre-1980 home, asbestos testing and abatement may be required by New York State law. We hold the NYS DOL Asbestos Handler license to handle that legally and completely. Homes built before 1978 may also involve lead paint in any disturbed painted surfaces — covered under our USEPA RRP certification.
The result is a single-scope engagement that handles everything from the first emergency response call through final permitted repair — documented for your insurer, compliant with Town of North Hempstead permitting requirements, and built to hold up in a home that deserves more than a patch job.
Whether your insurance covers water damage and mold after a storm depends on how the damage is documented and what caused it. In most homeowners policies, water damage that enters through a storm-created opening — a wind-damaged roof, a broken window, a compromised wall — is covered. Mold that results directly from that covered water event is typically covered as well, as long as it’s documented as part of the original storm claim and not treated as a separate, pre-existing condition.
This is where documentation becomes everything. If the damage isn’t properly scoped, photographed, and reported as a connected sequence — storm breach, water intrusion, resulting mold — insurers will treat each phase as a separate claim, and coverage for the secondary damage can be denied. We document the full damage chain from the first inspection and communicate directly with your adjuster, which is how University Gardens homeowners avoid getting a partial payout on a claim that should have been fully covered.
Mold can begin growing within 24 to 48 hours of water intrusion — and in a plaster-wall home like most of the original University Gardens subdivision, that timeline is especially unforgiving. Plaster absorbs moisture and holds it in a way that modern drywall doesn’t. The surface can look and feel dry while the interior of the wall is still saturated, which means a visual check after a storm is not a reliable indicator of whether mold is developing.
The practical implication is that speed matters, but so does the right equipment. Consumer fans and dehumidifiers don’t dry plaster construction adequately — you need commercial-grade drying systems and thermal imaging to confirm that moisture levels are actually dropping behind the surface, not just on it. If a storm hit your home and more than 48 hours have passed without professional drying, mold assessment should be part of the initial inspection, not an afterthought.
It depends on the scope of the repair. Simple shingle replacement typically doesn’t require a permit. But structural roof repairs, full roof replacements, window or door modifications, and HVAC replacements all require permits from the Town of North Hempstead Building Department. University Gardens is unincorporated, which means all permitting flows through the Town — there’s no separate village government handling approvals here.
The UGPOA’s Declaration of Restrictions adds another layer: the covenants require Town Building Department approval before any construction proceeds, and exterior changes that affect the home’s appearance may be subject to community review. A contractor who skips the permit process — which storm chasers commonly do to move faster — creates a problem that lands on you when you sell, refinance, or file a future insurance claim. We hold a Nassau County General Contractor license and handle the Town of North Hempstead permit process as a standard part of every structural repair job.
Yes — and this is one of the most overlooked risks in University Gardens specifically. The original subdivision was built starting in 1927, and a significant portion of the homes predate 1940. Homes built before 1980 may contain asbestos in roofing materials, pipe insulation, floor tiles, and attic insulation. Homes built before 1978 may contain lead paint on any painted surface. When a storm damages these materials — whether through a fallen tree, wind-lifted roofing, or structural breach — the disturbance can release hazardous materials that require licensed remediation under New York State law.
A general contractor without a NYS DOL Asbestos Handler license cannot legally perform that remediation. A contractor without USEPA RRP certification cannot legally perform repair work that disturbs lead paint surfaces. We hold both. If your home is a pre-1978 structure and you’re dealing with storm damage that affected roofing, insulation, or older flooring, ask any contractor you speak with for proof of these specific licenses before allowing work to begin.
Storm damage repair costs vary significantly based on scope, but nationally the average falls around $12,000 to $13,000 — with complex jobs running $25,000 to $60,000 or more. In Nassau County, and particularly in University Gardens where homes are older and more architecturally complex, costs at the higher end of that range are not unusual once you factor in plaster repair, proper moisture remediation, permitted structural work, and any asbestos or lead assessment that older construction may require.
The more important number to understand is what delayed response costs. A $3,000 roof repair that gets postponed becomes a $15,000 mold remediation job if the home stays wet for two weeks. Insurance typically covers storm-caused damage when it’s properly documented and addressed promptly — but coverage for damage that was allowed to worsen through inaction is harder to argue. Getting a licensed contractor on-site quickly, with proper documentation, is the most cost-effective decision you can make after a storm event.
The honest answer is that a national franchise can’t do what’s actually required in University Gardens. Franchise operators work within a defined scope — typically water extraction, drying, and basic structural repair. When storm damage in a pre-1940 home involves potential asbestos, mold, and lead paint alongside structural repairs that require Nassau County permits and UGPOA covenant compliance, a franchise model hits its limits fast. Those secondary scopes get referred out, and the homeowner ends up coordinating multiple contractors, multiple timelines, and multiple insurance line items.
We operate as a single-scope contractor for the full damage chain. Nassau County General Contractor license, NYS DOL Mold and Asbestos licenses, USEPA Lead and RRP certifications, and NYS OGS Emergency Response Contractor approval — all under one company. For University Gardens homeowners managing long commutes and protecting homes worth well into seven figures, the value of one call that covers everything isn’t a convenience. It’s the difference between a clean recovery and a months-long coordination problem.
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