How is Lake Grove? (Islip, Smithtown: new home, transfer, neighborhoods)
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Stay out of Brookhaven. It's the worst run township on long island.
If it wasn't for Brookhaven I wouldn't have started buying up properties on Long Island. I can't justify paying 2x plus the property tax than what I currently pay in Brookhaven.
Just as extra clarification: it's the buried (underground) oil tanks that are a problem. If the tank is outside but above ground, not a problem, it can be left in place.
Also, some homeowners insurance companies will accept an underground tank if it's fiberglass rather than steel. Our last house had a 500 gallon fiberglass underground tank and never a problem with getting insurance. But if it had been steel it would have been a total nonstarter.
Fiberglass tanks look like a giant round Christmas tree ornament, lol. They are typically the larger sizes, i.e., 500 or 1100 gallon capacity.
Great clarification. I had a fiberglass 550 tank - still don’t like buried tanks of any sort, as they accumulate water over time.
Village of the Branch is a very desirable part of Smithtown and not the problem area you are making it out to be. If it was as terrible as you say there would be for sale signs all over. Work has been done to remedy the groundwater issue.
I agree, it's a great location and area. But to a first time homeowner like we were back in 2007, taking on a house that had possible flooding issues was not something we were comfortable with. The article you posted is from 2018, quite a long ways from when BBCjunkie and I were searching that area.
Also, chronic flooding problems over all those years will take it's toll, so I'd probably be wary about houses there still.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BBCjunkie
If so, that is good news. I do know that when we were house hunting in the early 2000s it was still a major problem. And we were seeing houses around Terrace Lane and Branch Drive... not even the ones closer to Miller's Pond which even my local St. James realtor said would be just asking for trouble.
We looked at a house just a few down from Maureen's Kitchen which looked pretty great from the outside. In the basement though, everything was raised off the floor because there were puddles, actual puddles, all over the concrete floor. And that was after they had put in a sump pump. The realtor told me that french drains were cheap and that's all the house needed. We passed.
Yes, and the July 2018 article only said that the remedial work was "on the way" and "could start as soon as" autumn of that year, i.e., at least several months in the future.
Of course we all know that ALL government-funded projects ALWAYS begin on time, lol....
Anyway, Google can't seem to find any updates on the subject, so whether said work has even begun, let alone finished and effectiveness assessed, is not known. The article also cited officials saying "we are hoping" that it will be "a reasonably long term" [not a 'permanent'] fix" so obviously they are hoping for the best outcome but don't know for sure.
Structural damage via groundwater is insidious. I have seen firsthand what chronic subsurface water exposure does to a poured concrete footing: It goes from a mixture of cement and aggregate, to mostly aggregate barely held together by a minimal amount of cement, until finally the cement matrix dissolves to the point of failure and the footing disintegrates into nothing but a collection of small and medium size stones. And your entire house (basement slab, basement walls, and wood framing atop them) is supported by said footings. Even a slab on grade foundation has/should have some type of footing.
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