The sand town on the Cow Neck Peninsula.
Wikipedia says Port Washington, first home to the Matinecock, became an important sand-mining town in the 1870s with the largest sandbank east of the Mississippi; some 140 million cubic yards of its sand went into concrete for New York City buildings, including the Empire State and Chrysler buildings, and the subway. The old mines became the Harbor Links golf course in 1998. The CDP has Manhasset Bay on its west and Hempstead Harbor on its east; about a quarter of its 5.6 square miles is water.
The Census Bureau's latest five-year survey counts about 6,500 homes, with a median year built of 1953. 29% went up in the 1950s, 33% before 1940, and 18% after 1980. 72% are single-family detached houses, 5% are two-family, 17% are in buildings of five or more units, and 77% are owner-occupied.
So a typical house here has drain and water lines around 73 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 64% of homes heat with utility gas and 20% 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 Port Washington's sewers under the Port Washington Water Pollution Control District (70 Harbor Rd., 516-944-6100), not the county, and the same district serves Baxter Estates and eastern Flower Hill. 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 Port Washington Water Pollution Control District at 516-944-6100.
Flood risk.
Laying FEMA's current flood map over the Census boundary, about 12% of Port Washington is in the high-risk (1% annual chance) flood zone (9.5% in zone VE, 2.3% in zone AE; shares of the Census area, water included). 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: Port Washington Water District.
EPA's service-area map puts essentially all residents on the Port Washington Water District; your bill is the final word. In EPA's UCMR 5 testing, the main supplier's highest single PFOA/PFOS result was 5.3 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.
Port Washington is an unincorporated hamlet, so plumbing permits go through the Town of North Hempstead Building Department.
