Buckram, renamed for locust trees.
Wikipedia says Captain John Underhill bought land from the Matinecock in 1667 for a settlement called Buckram; it became Locust Valley in 1856, for its many locust trees. The LIRR reached it on April 19, 1869, and it was the end of the Glen Cove Branch until 1889, so a commercial center grew around the station and Forest Avenue, later serving the Gold Coast estates. The Olmsted Brothers designed the Locust Valley Cemetery (1917). The CDP covers 0.9 square miles, about 2% water.
The Census Bureau's latest five-year survey counts about 1,300 homes, with a median year built of 1945. 14% went up in the 1950s, 43% before 1940, and 17% after 1980. 93% are single-family detached houses, and 86% are owner-occupied.
So a typical house here has drain and water lines around 81 years old unless they've been replaced. Slow drains in several fixtures, a gurgling floor drain or rusty water from one tap are signs to have the main line and supply piping checked. With so many pre-1940 homes, some still have galvanized or older supply piping in the walls; we plan repairs around what's actually there.
Oil to gas means new gas piping.
The ACS shows 71% of homes heat with utility gas and 23% with fuel oil. Switching means properly sized gas piping to the new equipment, and often to the water heater, range and dryer. We do the gas line work. We don't sell or deliver oil.
Cesspools and septic, mostly.
Nassau County's health department list of sewer collection districts shows Locust Valley as not publicly sewered, so expect a cesspool or septic system. We clear the line from the house, but a full or failing cesspool is a job for a cesspool or septic contractor; we don't do cesspool work, and we don't install septic systems.
Flood risk.
Laying FEMA's current flood map over the Census boundary, about 4% of Locust Valley is in the high-risk (1% annual chance) flood zone (4.2% in zone AE; shares of the Census area, water included). If your water heater or gas appliances ever sat in flood water, have them checked before relighting.
Water: Locust Valley Water District.
EPA's service-area map puts essentially all residents on the Locust Valley Water District; your bill is the final word. The main supplier's most recent 90th-percentile lead result was 0 ppb (none measured), under the 15 ppb action level; lead usually comes from a home's own pipes and fixtures, so results vary house to house. In EPA's UCMR 5 testing, the main supplier reported no PFOA or PFOS. For a leak at the curb or in the street, call your water supplier. For anything on your side of the meter, call us.
Permits.
Locust Valley is an unincorporated hamlet, so plumbing permits go through the Town of Oyster Bay Department of Planning and Development.
