Richmond Hill stretches from Forest Park in the north, where large old frame houses with porches line the streets, down past Jamaica Avenue and Atlantic Avenue to Liberty Avenue, where the blocks fill with two-family and attached houses, many with basements and many with a tenant on one floor. Lefferts Boulevard runs through the middle. Water damage restoration in Richmond Hill is often basement work, and with so many two-family houses it often involves an owner and a tenant at once.
Queens Water Damage Restoration is an independent referral service, not a restoration company. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local restoration provider serving Queens, who can contact you, inspect and quote any work directly. You decide whether to hire them.
Rain floods, far from the water
Richmond Hill is inland, away from the bay and the ocean, and its basements can still flood. In September 2021, the rain from Hurricane Ida fell at up to 3.5 inches an hour in some parts of the city, against a sewer capacity of 1.75 inches an hour. The NYC Health Department reports that fourteen people died from causes related to Ida, ten of them by drowning in unregulated basement apartments, and that rainfall flooding can happen anywhere in the city, with low-lying areas and basement apartments at higher risk.
DEP’s four kinds of flooding explain the routes: street flooding when catch basins clog, groundwater through cracks and floor drains, sewer backups through basement connections, and, nearer the bay, coastal flooding. If water came up through a drain or toilet, treat it as sewage and read sewage cleanup in Queens.
If someone lives in the basement
If the basement is lived in, the first priority in a storm is that the people in it get out and stay out until the water is gone and the power is safe. Do not go down while water is near outlets or the panel, switch power off only from a dry place, and never touch switches while standing in water.
After the water, owners should know the rules. DOB can issue vacate orders for conditions posing imminent danger, and for illegal apartments it says property owners can be fined up to $25,000. Repairs to a basement are a good moment to check what the building’s records say the space is. FloodHelpNY notes that filling a basement needs an engineer and a DOB permit.
Owner and tenant in a two-family house
When water damages both floors of a two-family house, record both. Photograph the source, each room and each damaged item, the owner’s and the tenant’s, before anything is moved. FloodSmart notes that a landlord’s policy covers the structure and the landlord’s belongings, not a renter’s, and FloodHelpNY says flood damage to a renter’s belongings is not likely to be covered by renter’s insurance. FloodSmart says most homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage. Check your own policy or ask your agent.
If mold follows, NYC’s Health Department says owners of buildings with three or more apartments, or of any building where a tenant has been diagnosed with moderate or severe persistent asthma, must keep homes free of mold, including fixing the leaks that cause it.
Repairs after the drying
Water damage repair in a Richmond Hill basement can mean wet carpet and pad out, drywall cut back, insulation replaced, the structure dried and checked for mold, then the rebuild. The EPA says to dry water-damaged areas and items within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth, so the drying should start before anyone talks about paint. The full order of work is on water damage repair in Queens, and the flood side on flood cleanup in Queens.
Keeping water out
Disconnect downspouts from the sewer, which DEP says is mandatory for homeowners, and ask a plumber or engineer about a backwater valve. Report clogged catch basins to 311 before a storm. See basement waterproofing.
Near Richmond Hill
Nearby: Jamaica to the east, Forest Hills across the park and Howard Beach to the south. Ozone Park and Kew Gardens are on the Queens neighborhoods page.
Water damage in a Richmond Hill house? Send the form, pick Richmond Hill, and an independent local restoration provider can contact you.
Questions people ask
Does flood cleanup in Richmond Hill differ from the shoreline?
The cleanup is similar, but the cause is more likely rain and sewer backups than surge. The NYC Health Department says rainfall flooding can happen anywhere in the city.
Who pays for a tenant’s damaged belongings?
FloodSmart notes that a landlord’s policy does not cover a renter’s belongings, and FloodHelpNY says flood damage to them is not likely to be covered by renter’s insurance. Check your own policy or ask your agent.
Is this site a restoration company in Richmond Hill?
No. Queens Water Damage Restoration is an independent referral service, not a restoration company. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local restoration provider serving Queens, who can contact you, inspect and quote any work directly. You decide whether to hire them.
Water damage in Queens? Tell us your neighborhood and what happened.