Sagtikos Manor, 1697.
Wikipedia says Sagtikos Manor, one of the oldest structures in the Town of Islip, was built in 1697 by Stephanus Van Cortlandt, New York City's first native-born mayor. During the Revolution it served as local headquarters for British forces under General Sir Henry Clinton, George Washington stopped there on his 1790 tour of Long Island, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. More than half of the Census area is open water on the Great South Bay, so the shares below are figured on the hamlet's land.
The Census Bureau's latest five-year survey counts about 1,600 homes, with a median year built of 1962. 31% went up in the 1950s, 9% before 1940, and 24% after 1980. 72% are single-family detached houses, and 95% are owner-occupied.
So a typical house here has drain and water lines around 64 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.
Oil to gas means new gas piping.
The ACS shows 64% of homes heat with utility gas and 24% 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.
On the sewer.
Laying Suffolk County's sewer-district map over the Census boundary (land only) puts about 97% of the hamlet's land in the county's Southwest Sewer District (Sewer District 3). Your tax bill shows a sewer district charge if you're connected. A backup that stops at your house is usually in your own line to the street; we clear it and repair or replace the line. If neighbors are backed up too, call Suffolk County DPW (Sewer District 3 / Southwest).
Flood risk.
Laying FEMA's current flood map over the Census boundary and counting land only, about 28% of West Bay Shore's land is in the high-risk (1% annual chance) flood zone (zones AE and VE along the bay). On a sewered street, a backwater (sewer check) valve on your house sewer line can keep a street-sewer backup from coming in through basement floor drains. We install them. If your water heater or gas appliances ever sat in flood water, have them checked before relighting.
Water: Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA).
EPA's service-area map puts essentially all residents on the Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA); your bill is the final word. The main supplier's most recent 90th-percentile lead result was 1.3 ppb, 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's highest single PFOA/PFOS result was 17 parts per trillion. EPA's 4 ppt limits apply as a running annual average starting in 2029, so one high sample is not a violation, but it's the kind of number a carbon filter is sized against. For a leak at the curb or in the street, call your water supplier (SCWA: (631) 698-9500). For anything on your side of the meter, call us.
Permits.
West Bay Shore is an unincorporated hamlet, so plumbing permits go through the Town of Islip Building Division.
