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Yonkers Water Damage: Cleanup, Drying and the Rebuild
About 81% of Yonkers homes were built before 1980, and the county hazard plan finds dense housing in flood hazard areas across many older sections. We come from Harrison to clean up and rebuild.
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Yonkers, NY
Who restores water and fire damage in Yonkers?
Strongwater Restoration does, from our base at 111 Calvert Street in Harrison, about 13.4 road miles from Yonkers City Hall on South Broadway. We take on flooded basements, sewer backups and fire-damaged rooms in houses and apartment buildings on both sides of the Saw Mill River, carrying each job from cleanup and drying through demolition and the rebuild.
Yonkers housing is old and dense. Census estimates count 85,006 homes with a median build year of 1958; 81% went up before 1980, only about a quarter are detached single-family houses, and 38% are in buildings of 20 or more units. Northwest Yonkers in particular has many Victorian-era homes. In buildings that age, a water or fire job can turn up asbestos or lead paint that has to be dealt with before the rebuild.
Housing: U.S. Census ACS 5-year estimates. Distance is approximate.
About Yonkers
Where does Yonkers flood?
Its river valleys top the list. The county hazard plan names persistent flooding in the Nepperhan Valley along the Saw Mill River, the Bronx River Valley, along the Hudson, at Tibbetts Brook and Troublesome Brook, and on Clunie Avenue, Nepperhan Avenue, Scarsdale Road and Harrison Avenue. It also flags undersized culverts, including McLean Avenue and Donnybrook Place.
The Saw Mill River enters Yonkers from the north and empties into the Hudson at Getty Square. Its USGS gauge in Yonkers, with a record from 1945 to 2025, logged its highest annual peak of 1,840 cubic feet per second on April 16, 2007, during the April nor’easter. Irene came close with 1,740 in 2011, and in 2021 the river reached 1,490 during Ida and 1,580 on October 26.
Downtown, the river ran underground for generations. According to Groundwork Hudson Valley, water flowed above ground in downtown Yonkers in November 2011 for the first time in 90 years, Larkin Plaza became Van der Donck Park, and the old underground flume now serves as an overflow channel that protects the park and downtown from floods. Later phases were finished in 2016 and 2018, and a fourth, at Chicken Island, is planned.
During Ida, flooding closed Ashburton Avenue near the Saw Mill River Parkway and every lane of the Cross County Parkway in both directions (NWS storm reports). Earlier that summer, Central Park Avenue was impassable with water up to car doors, and Tropical Storm Henri flooded the Crestwood Lake Apartments on Beaumont Circle. As of July 2021, FEMA counted 447 flood insurance policies and 801 claims in the city, with about $12.4 million in total loss payments.
Permits & rebuilding
Is there a separate permit for fire cleanup in Yonkers?
Yes. The Department of Housing and Buildings has an Application for Fire Cleanup for work with no structural modifications. The fee is $125 for residential or $300 for commercial, plus $15 per $1,000 of estimated cost. No electrical or plumbing work is allowed under it, and like every Yonkers permit application, it is filed online through City Squared.
Yonkers paperwork after a fire or flood
- File with the Yonkers Department of Housing and Buildings at 20 South Broadway, 3rd Floor, 914-377-6500, through City Squared online.
- Plan to replace water-exposed electrical equipment: state Property Maintenance Code section 604.3.1, posted by the department, requires it unless a manufacturer’s inspection report clears the listed items.
- In a flood hazard area, the City Engineer handles floodplain development permits under Chapter 56, and restoration costing 50% or more of market value counts as substantial damage.
- Settle any City or County property tax delinquency, since Local Law 1-2013 lets the city refuse a building permit to a delinquent owner, and get Engineering approval for a dumpster in the right-of-way.
- Demolishing part of the building? The city requires an asbestos inspection before it issues the demolition permit, and structures 75 years or older are referred to the Landmarks Board.
Services in Yonkers
What do Yonkers owners and managers hire us for?
Fire and smoke damage cleanup, water damage drying after floods and burst pipes, and sewage backups from the city’s old combined sewers. For the many large apartment buildings, we handle commercial fire and water losses alongside managing agents and see each one through the rebuild.
- Water Damage Restoration
- Fire Damage Restoration
- Smoke Damage Restoration
- Storm & Flood Damage Restoration
- Mold Remediation
- Sewage Cleanup
- Asbestos Abatement
- Lead Paint Removal
- Reconstruction After Damage
- Commercial Water Damage Restoration
- Commercial Fire Damage Restoration
- Restoration for Property Managers
- Estimating, Appraisal & Expert Witness
- Remodeling
FAQ
Yonkers Questions
Why do Yonkers basements get sewage in heavy rain?
Yonkers’ city sewers are a combined system, with sanitary and storm flows sharing the same pipes. The Sewer Bureau maintains 400 miles of them, plus 11,500 catch basins, and says much of the system was built in the early 1900s. When storm runoff overloads old combined lines, a basement backup is sewage, so it needs disinfection, not just drying.
Who owns the water and sewer lines at a Yonkers house?
Often the owner. The city’s Water Bureau says many homeowners are responsible for the water and sewer service lines on their property. The Bureau itself runs over 400 miles of water lines and sees about 60 main breaks a year. If water is rising in the street, call the city; if it is coming in through your own line, call a plumber, then us.
My Yonkers building is vacant after a fire. Is there a registry fee?
Possibly. Chapter 58 sets up a Vacant Building Registry, with residential fees of $1,000 for the first unit in year one and $2,000 in later years. The fee must be paid before the city issues building permits, so check with Housing and Buildings at 914-377-6500 early to keep the rebuild from stalling.
How many road miles is Yonkers from your Harrison office?
About 13.4 road miles, or roughly 25 minutes without traffic, from our Harrison office at 111 Calvert Street to Yonkers City Hall at 40 South Broadway. The straight-line distance is about 9.7 miles. We work in every part of the city, including ZIP codes 10701, 10703, 10704, 10705 and 10710.
Nearby
Where else around Yonkers do we work?
The Bronx River forms Yonkers’ eastern border at Bronxville, and we work there and in Mount Vernon, Scarsdale, Tarrytown, White Plains and New Rochelle. Our base is in Harrison, and we cover the rest of Westchester County plus Greenwich and Stamford in Connecticut. Each town’s page is linked below.
Talk to Strongwater
Fire or flood damage in Yonkers?
Call (718) 357-9191. Our crews come from Harrison, about 13 road miles away.