Quick answer
On Grand Island, NY, Dig Out WNY handles the digging, tear-down and ground prep for homes, garages and commercial sites: sewer laterals facing the Town's time-of-sale inspection, footings and basements for new houses on septic-side acreage, demolitions planned around the Town's utility disconnection rules, driveway stone bases, and drainage for flat, slow-draining clay. Homeowners, builders and businesses can call or text (716) 444-6613.
Grand Island is a town in Erie County that sits in the Niagara River, with the Tonawanda Channel along its east shore and the Chippewa Channel along its west. Most of the ground is flat, and a lot of it is clay that holds water. The town's 2018 comprehensive plan says floodplains turn up all over the island because of poorly draining clay and a lack of topographic relief. That shapes how a trench behaves, where a new driveway's runoff can go and how a house gets set on its lot.
The town also keeps its own rules for what goes underground. Sewer line permits go only to a master plumber holding a Grand Island license or a qualified homeowner, selling a sewered house triggers an inspection, and whether a lot drains to a public sewer or a septic system depends largely on which side of I-190 it sits. We serve homeowners, builders and businesses across the island, and we plan each dig around those rules before the first bucket of dirt comes out.
Clay, creeks and a Thruway that splits the sewer map
On this island the sewer map follows the Thruway. The town's comprehensive plan says most land east of I-190 falls inside three sewer districts, while the west side relies mainly on private septic systems, with Ferry Village and Grandyle Village as the exceptions. Roughly half the land area sends its sewage to the town treatment plant at the north end. The plan's rural residential category calls for lower density, about two to three acres a home, to account for private septic systems, so the first question on a west-side build is where the wastewater will go.
For the waterfront area, which rings the island and follows several creeks inland, the town's draft waterfront plan draws on the USDA soil survey and puts most of the ground in the Odessa-Schoharie-Rhinebeck complex: silt loams with clayey textures that turn sticky when wet, slow or very slow permeability, and a high seasonal water table, especially in the Odessa and Schoharie soils. A trench opened in early spring can take on water before the pipe is even in.
Surface water has plenty of places to go and little slope to get there. Mapped flood hazard areas run mainly along the south and east shore from Alt Boulevard to Woods Creek, and up stretches of Burnt Ship, Woods, Gun, Spicer, Turtle and Big Six Mile creeks. Storm water travels in its own network of closed pipes and open ditches, separate from the sanitary sewer. In Grandyle Village and south of Whitehaven, East River Road splits many home lots, leaving the river frontage across the road from the house.
The housing is mostly postwar. Census estimates put nearly half of the town's homes in the 1950 to 1979 window, and roughly 1,000 of today's homes were built between 2010 and 2019. The older road grid follows the island's farm layout, while newer subdivisions bring curving streets. Grand Island Boulevard serves as the main street; Baseline and Stony Point roads run north-south, and Whitehaven, Staley, Love and Fix roads cross east-west. Some roads belong to Erie County rather than the town, which matters for any culvert or right-of-way dig.
Services in Grand Island
What we do in Grand Island
Which of our services a lot needs usually starts with the sewer map. On the sewered east side, sewer lateral repair and replacement is the dig a pending sale can put on a deadline. On the rural west side, it's site work for new home construction: clearing the pad, digging footings, trenching utilities and setting the grades the town's drainage plan calls for. Older houses, sheds and garages come down through our demolition work, and because flat clay won't shed water by itself, plenty of lots also need storm water drainage sorted out.
Demolition & Removal
Excavation & Earthwork
Building & Foundations
Sewer, Water & Utilities
Driveways & Finish Work
Sewer laterals east of I-190 and the pre-sale inspection
If your house is on public sewer, the pipe running from your foundation to the main in the street belongs to you; the Town's plumbing permit sheet says laterals are owned by the property owner. Since June 1, 2022, a sewered property also needs a sanitary sewer inspection before the title transfers. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation requires the time-of-sale inspection to cut inflow and infiltration, so the Town looks for pipe defects and illegal connections, and repairs should be done before it issues a Certificate of Compliance for the closing.
When a lateral has to be dug up, the plumbing permit goes to a master plumber holding a Grand Island license, and the Town's specifications are precise:
- Plastic sewer pipe carries a continuous copper tracer wire, 18-gauge or heavier, ending 12 inches above ground at the building drain connection.
- Slope is a quarter inch per foot unless the Code Enforcement Officer grants special permission, and never less than an eighth.
- The pipe sits on at least four inches of compacted No. 1 or 1A broken stone brought up to the spring line, and slag is not allowed.
- The line is tested under the Town Engineer or Code Enforcement Officer before it is backfilled.
Footing drains, roof drains and sumps may not discharge into the sanitary line. If yours do, the rerouted lines (the Town calls them conductor lines) need their own permit, so they are best planned into the same dig.
Septic-side parcels and new houses west of the Thruway
West of I-190, outside Ferry Village and Grandyle Village, the sewer mains mostly give way to private septic systems. For a new house outside a sewer district, the Town's single-family permit package asks for an Erie County Health Department permit for the onsite wastewater system, and the septic area, driveway and house pad all have to fit on the same acreage. Staking all three before excavation starts saves moving dirt twice.
The Town also wants real grading detail up front. The drainage plan shows proposed finish grades around the house, existing elevations along the property lines, and any swales, yard drains or piping. At the front wall, the yard has to sit at least 24 inches above the top of curb, or a foot above the road centerline where no curb grade exists, unless the Town Engineer accepts a substitute gradient. On ground this flat, meeting that can mean bringing in fill to raise the house, and it means deciding early where each downspout will discharge.
Footings are inspected before concrete, and the Town's sheet sets them at a minimum of 42 inches deep and 12 inches wide. The Town may also require a geotechnical soils report on the ground's bearing capacity, and a wetland delineation by an environmental consultant when wetlands may be close by. We handle the footing and basement excavation, utility trenches and rough grade, then backfill once the damproofing and foundation drainage pass their inspection.
Tear-downs and riverfront lots along East River Road
Taking down a house, garage or boathouse on the island starts with a Town demolition permit, which covers any structure that would have needed a building permit to build. Each utility is disconnected under its own authority, and proof of every disconnection goes to the building department. The Town water department pulls the meter and the owner's plumber shuts the service off at the main, National Grid handles the electric and National Fuel the gas. The sewer lateral is cut back to the wye and capped by a plumber holding a Grand Island license, and the Code Enforcement Officer inspects that disconnection.
Once the structure is gone, the Town expects the lot filled to the surrounding grade with drainage restored, so water doesn't stand on the parcel or run onto the neighbors. We haul the debris, pull the footings and bring the site back to grade. For a smaller outbuilding, our garage tear-down work follows the same sequence at a smaller scale.
Riverfront lots add the flood map. Much of the south and east shoreline lies in FEMA's special flood hazard area, and construction there takes a Flood Plain Development Permit from the Town Engineering Department. The draft waterfront plan also notes some shoreline erosion on the east side, mostly between Whitehaven Road and the South Grand Island Bridge, and warns that early-spring ice and high water can damage structures at the water's edge.
The Town offices behind island permits and inspections
Building, demolition and plumbing permits run through the Town of Grand Island's Building / Code Enforcement / Zoning department, and its Code Enforcement Officer performs the inspections. The Town Engineering Department issues Flood Plain Development Permits and arranges dye testing when a time-of-sale inspection needs a closer look. You own the sewer lateral out to the main, sewer permits go to a master plumber with a Grand Island license or a qualified homeowner, and septic systems fall under the Erie County Health Department. A dig inside a road right-of-way also needs a permit from whoever owns the road: the Town, Erie County or the state.
The Town's plumbing sheet says to call 811 seven days before underground work so public utilities get marked. Private lines such as your lateral, a sump outlet or a feed out to a garage aren't marked by the utilities and have to be found another way. Town rules get revised, so before a date is set, confirm what applies to your parcel with the Grand Island Building Department.
Questions & answers
Questions from Grand Island homeowners
Do I need a sewer inspection before selling my house on Grand Island?
Yes, when the house is tied into the public sewer. Since June 1, 2022, the Town has required that inspection before title passes to the buyer, which normally happens at closing. A Code Enforcement Officer looks for pipe defects and illegal connections, and fixes should be made before a Certificate of Compliance can be issued; if they can't be, a waiver is needed. Homes on septic still need the certificate, but there's no fee and no site visit. If the inspection finds a broken lateral, sewer line excavation is often what gets the sale moving again.
How can I tell whether my Grand Island lot has public sewer or septic?
Start with which side of I-190 you're on, then confirm with the Town. The 2018 comprehensive plan says most land east of the Thruway lies inside one of three sewer districts, while the west side mostly relies on private septic systems, except in Ferry Village and Grandyle Village. About half of the island's land area is served by the Town treatment plant. A sewer cleanout near the foundation or a septic tank lid in the yard are practical clues, and the Town can tell you which district, if any, covers your parcel.
Can any plumber hook up a sewer line on the island?
No. Plumbing work in the town is limited to plumbers holding a Town of Grand Island license, and the plumbing permit is issued only to a master plumber with that license or to a qualified homeowner. A master or journeyman carrying the Town license has to be on site whenever the work is under way and during inspections and testing. The owner exception covers a single-family home the owner lives in, after passing the Town's homeowner plumbing exam. Whoever digs the trench, the pipe work runs under that permit, and the Code Enforcement Officer supervises the connection to the public sewer.
What does the Town check at the footing inspection for a new home?
It checks that footings are at least 42 inches deep and 12 inches wide and that the foundation sits where your survey shows it. That inspection happens with forms and rebar in place but before any concrete is poured. Later, the damproofing and foundation drainage are inspected before backfill, and the water and sewer lines are inspected in the open trench. On wet island clay the bottom of a footing trench softens quickly after rain, so digging, inspection and the pour should be booked close together.
Do I need a flood permit to build on a riverfront lot here?
Yes, if any part of the work falls in a FEMA special flood hazard area. The Town's single-family requirements call for a Flood Plain Development Permit, issued by the Town Engineering Department, for construction in those zones. The draft waterfront plan places most flood hazard areas along the south and east shoreline from Alt Boulevard to Woods Creek, plus creek corridors such as Spicer, Gun and Big Six Mile. Your survey must also show wetlands and the high water line, since they set setbacks, and the Town subtracts regulated wetlands, FEMA floodplain and land in the river when it figures a lot's buildable area.
Why does water sit in Grand Island yards for days after a storm?
Because the land is flat and much of it is clay that drains slowly. The draft waterfront plan describes the Odessa and Schoharie soils as having slow permeability and a high seasonal water table, and the comprehensive plan links floodplains across the island to that clay. Fixes give the water an exit: regrading, a French drain or a buried line to a ditch or storm sewer. The Town's plumbing sheet lists conductor lines and site drainage among the work it permits, and none of that water may enter the sanitary sewer. Proper yard grading is often the first step.
Service areas
Other towns we serve
The same crew and the same approach across Erie and Niagara counties.
Sources and further reading
- Town of Grand Island: Plumbing Permit Information Sheet (laterals, tracer wire, bedding, 811) (opens in a new tab)
- Town of Grand Island: Time of Sale Sanitary Sewer Inspections (opens in a new tab)
- Town of Grand Island: Single-Family Dwelling Permit Requirements (opens in a new tab)
- Town of Grand Island: Demolition Permit Requirements (opens in a new tab)
- Town of Grand Island 2018 Comprehensive Plan (sewer districts, clay soils, roads, hamlets) (opens in a new tab)
- NYS Department of State: Town of Grand Island draft Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (opens in a new tab)
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year: Year Structure Built, Grand Island town (opens in a new tab)
Tell us what's going on at your island lot
Text the address and a few photos to (716) 444-6613, or call. We'll come out, look at the ground and the permits it needs, then give you a price.