The plumbing under a raised Ocean County house

This section is for people whose house sits up on piers, pilings or new block, whether in Waretown, Brick, Barnegat, Toms River, Lacey, Stafford or on Long Beach Island. Lifted or built high, these houses share a set of questions about what runs underneath: how the lines cross open air, what federal flood rules allow below the lowest floor, and what to do when water has been through.

Sandy made landfall near Brigantine on Oct. 29, 2012, and the National Hurricane Center put the storm tide in Ocean County at 3 to 5 feet above ground. Much of what is written here starts from that kind of water. This site sets out what FEMA, the EPA and New Jersey's rules say, and marks anything it could not confirm. Gas, service lines and electrical stay with licensed people on every page.

Sources checked Nov. 3, 2026.

• StoryLifting a house moves the plumbing into the weather and the flood

  Plumbing under a raised house runs through open air, and federal flood rules limit what can stay down there.

• StoryThose holes in the foundation wall are required, and must stay open

  Flood openings let water pass through an enclosure so the walls are not pushed in.

• StoryA raised house puts its water lines out in the cold

  Freezing pipes under a raised house are a matter of exposure: water lines in open air have less around them than lines inside a wall.

• StoryWhere the water heater goes once the house goes up

  The water heater location on a raised house belongs above the flood level unless your town says otherwise.

• StoryAfter the water drops, leave the switches and pilot lights alone

  After a flood, do not relight, restart or switch on anything that sat in water.

• In briefSalt air works on the metal holding your pipes up

  Salt air corrosion on pipes and hangers is worth checking on any raised house near the bay or ocean, from Long Beach Island to Brick and Toms River.

• In briefHow a house goes up, and what happens to its pipes

  How a house gets lifted comes down to steel, jacks and patience: beams go under it, jacks raise it a little at a time, and a new foundation goes in below.