Norwood, then Malverne (with an "e").
Wikipedia says Ocean Avenue began as a Rockaway Indian path, that the Abrams, Bedell and Pearsall families farmed here from the 1700s, and that the area, then called Norwood, voted to incorporate as a village in the early 1920s. The name was first spelled Malvern, after the English town; no one is sure why the "e" was added. The village covers 1.0 square mile, all land.
The Census Bureau's latest five-year survey counts about 3,200 homes, with a median year built of 1941. 15% went up in the 1950s, 49% before 1940, and 2% after 1980. 95% are single-family detached houses, and 96% are owner-occupied.
So a typical house here has drain and water lines around 85 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 81% of homes heat with utility gas and 16% 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.
Nassau County's health department lists Malverne's sewers under the Nassau County Department of Public Works (516-571-6841). 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 the county at 516-571-6841.
Little mapped flood risk.
FEMA's current flood map puts under 2% of Malverne in the high-risk flood zone. A backwater (sewer check) valve is still worth considering for a finished basement on a sewered street: it closes if the street sewer backs up. We install them.
Water: Liberty Utilities New York's Lynbrook system.
EPA's service-area map puts essentially all residents on Liberty Utilities New York's Lynbrook system; your bill is the final word. Liberty's 2026 report on 2025 water for its Lynbrook Operations District says caustic soda or lime raises the pH to cut corrosion of household plumbing and iron is filtered out at 13 of its 20 well sites; total hardness ran 4.2 to 58.6 mg/L, which is soft. Across the whole district, Liberty's state-filed inventory counts 3,700 lead service lines and 15,239 of unknown material, so if your house predates 1940 it's worth knowing what your service line is. In EPA's UCMR 5 testing, the main supplier's highest single PFOA/PFOS result was 5.1 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. For anything on your side of the meter, call us.
Permits.
Malverne is an incorporated village, so plumbing permits go through the Village of Malverne's building department, not the town.
