In 2015, Lou Rubino inspected one home in Bergen Beach — one job, one written report, and the photographs below come from it. The report describes a town home, about 53 years old.
Rated 4.9 on Google as of November 2026 · U.S. Army veteran owned · NY licence #16000039568 · 516-330-3870
The report, as Lou wrote it up.
2015, a town home, about 53 years old, a two-family house: 3 items flagged: 3 exterior. As recorded: flat roof, rubber membrane, seen from: walked roof, framed with 3"x10"; attic: no storage, r-19 insulation, soffit vents and passive ventilation; brick and clapboard vinyl and full brick siding, chimney: metal flue pipe; poured concrete foundation, 3"x 10" floor framing; 75 gallon gas (quick recovery) water heater (basement and utility room); 70-amp x 2 circuit breakers (Cutler Hammer and Federal Pacific), BX wiring, copper supply pipes, public water, window AC; double-hung and thermal/insulated windows, hardwood t&g and wood floors, wood cabinets, laminate and corian counters. Flagged, in Lou’s words: “Second floor entrance door handle is loose”; “Sidewalk to first floor entrance cracked and spalled from salt damage”; “Water damage on ceiling in front of sink”; “Vinyl tiles loose and moving”; “Pantry cabinet missing shelves”; “Caution: Gas smell when turning on stove”; “Corian counter small chip to left of sink”; “Sink cabinet door won't stay closed hits draws”; “First floor right rear bedroom window locks broken”; “Shower door handle is loose”; “Filter dirty and light out”. Also noted: “Insulation between ceiling joists”; “Lock Federal Pacific panels”; “Caution: Outlet box in closet next to boiler room is loose wires and receptacle hanging out”; “Not checked temperature too cold to operate without damage”. On the day: 30°F, clear, frozen ground, rain in the three days before; the house faces west. Not inspected that day: cooling and air handler equipment; plumbing water faucets. Not present in this house: gas/lp firelogs and fireplaces; presence of installed cooling source in each room; solid fuel heating devices; ventilation fans and thermostatic controls; windows.
“Flagged” is HomeGauge’s Repair or Replace mark, not a verdict on the house. See a complete report.
Related: The Brooklyn page · What an inspection costs · Schedule an inspection.
All three photographs are from Lou's own Bergen Beach inspection reports, chosen because they show a building component and nothing that identifies a property or an owner.
Median year built in zip 11234: 1953 (Brooklyn: 1943). Of 35,167 units, 31% predates 1940; 4% is from 2000 on. Next come the 1960s at 21% and the 1950s at 18%. An older house is not a worse house, but its wiring, plumbing and roof were installed under different rules and replaced piecemeal, which is what the inspection looks for. Lou’s reports here: 53 years old. (ACS)
89% utility gas, 3% fuel oil or kerosene; fuel oil 3% against 7% county-wide. NYSDEC logs Brooklyn home oil spills under the borough, not Bergen Beach. A tank is unlikely. An abandoned tank is most likely in a house that was converted from oil. Buried tanks are outside the standards New York sets for a home inspection, so the seller’s answer matters. (ACS, NYSDEC)
32% two-unit buildings, 30% attached single-family houses, 16% detached houses; 67% owner-occupied (Brooklyn: 30%). Two- to four-unit buildings are 42%; a multi-family house means shared systems, separate meters and what each unit controls. Lou’s jobs here included a two-family house. (ACS)
Brooklyn (reported by borough): 528 basement tests, average 2.07 pCi/L, 54 at 4 or above (10%). First-floor tests there: 116, average 0.88. The highest basement reading was 41.2 pCi/L. EPA’s action level is 4 pCi/L, and it advises testing every home whatever the area’s results. Radon testing is optional. (NYSDOH)
486 flood-insurance claims from zip 11234 since 1978, most in 2012 (205): 37th of the 189 zips on these pages. A claim count describes the zip, not the house; 2012 was the year of Hurricane Sandy. Flood zones follow the address. Check the address on FEMA’s map. (OpenFEMA)
The NYC Department of Buildings. Look the address up on BIS or DOB NOW. Your attorney usually runs the search. The inspection reports the condition of what is there and flags work that typically needs a permit, such as a finished basement, a dormer or a moved panel, so you know what to ask about.
By median year built, fuel-oil share and owner-occupancy: Bergen Beach (zip 11234) 1953, 3%, 67%; Canarsie (zip 11236): built 1957, oil 4%, 50% owner-occupied; Flatbush (zip 11210): built 1941, oil 7%, 42% owner-occupied; Sheepshead Bay (zip 11235): built 1955, oil 6%, 37% owner-occupied. (ACS)
The New York City Construction Codes, the NYC Department of Buildings records and NYC water and sewer: county-wide, written once. They are the same for every town in Brooklyn, so they are set out there with their sources instead of on each page.
Lou quotes the actual property, not a flat rate — what drives the price is size, age and what is included. The written report arrives the same day as a rule; a large or complex house can run to the next morning. Call or text 516-330-3870.
Lou covers Long Island, the five boroughs and Westchester from his base in Wantagh, and the archive behind these pages shows where that work has actually concentrated.
Nearby towns Lou has inspected: Flatlands · Canarsie · Flatbush · East Flatbush · Sheepshead Bay · Parkville · all 250 towns.
His Bergen Beach file goes back to 2015. Yours would not be the first.
Not sure yet? Read what New York requires of your inspector or see a real report.