Palm Beach County
Half of the homes in Lake Worth Beach were built before 1970, and the city's east side faces the Lake Worth Lagoon. Aging plumbing, leaks between units in small apartment buildings and hurricane water are the usual problems here.
ZIP codes in the area
Some of these ZIP codes also include neighboring communities.
Lake Worth Beach stretches west from the Lake Worth Lagoon past I-95, with West Palm Beach to the north, Lantana to the south, and Palm Springs and Lake Clarke Shores along its western side. It was simply Lake Worth until a close vote in March 2019. The city packs a lot into under six square miles of land, and most of it was built decades before the rest of the county filled in.
About 18 percent of the city’s homes were built in 1949 or earlier, and roughly half went up before 1970. The city protects six local historic districts, among them College Park, Old Lucerne and South Palm Park. Countywide, the median build year is 1986. Here it is 1969.
Age alone does not mean a house leaks. Plenty of these homes have been repiped or remodeled. The harder part is that nobody can see from the outside which ones have. A corroded fitting inside a wall or a drain line patched more than once can wet subfloor and framing for weeks before a stain or soft spot appears. In an older home, finding the true source comes before any drying plan; the water damage restoration page explains how that work is sequenced.
Renters make up a little over half of households, and nearly half of all units are in buildings with two or more homes. A failed toilet supply line in one apartment often means a wet ceiling in another.
The east side of the city sits on the Lake Worth Lagoon. The city’s Comprehensive Plan maps a Coastal High Hazard Area, land below the Category 1 storm surge line, and calls out flooding at the west ramp of the Lake Worth bridge during hurricanes. Frances and Jeanne in 2004 and Wilma in 2005 all did significant damage in the city.
Surge and street water carry silt, salt and whatever they picked up on the way in. Soaked carpet, pad and the lower part of drywall generally come out, and cleaning happens before drying. That process is covered under flood cleanup.
The same plan still sets a goal of moving customers in the city’s sewer service area off septic systems. When a septic tank backs up into a bathroom or laundry room, the water is treated as sewage. See sewage cleanup for what that involves.
All four ZIP codes carry a Lake Worth mailing address, but only one is mostly inside the city:
Homes in every one of these ZIP codes can call the same 24/7 line.
The median home in Lake Worth Beach was built in 1969, compared with 1986 for Palm Beach County overall, and about three in four homes predate 1980. Supply lines, drain lines and valves in houses that age can fail slowly inside walls and under floors.
Close to half of the city's housing units are in duplexes, small multiplexes or larger apartment buildings, and a slight majority of households rent. Water from one unit's bathroom or kitchen can soak the shared wall or ceiling of the unit beside or below it.
The city's Comprehensive Plan maps a Coastal High Hazard Area along the water and notes flooding at the west ramp of the Lake Worth bridge during hurricanes. Frances, Jeanne and Wilma all caused significant damage in the city in 2004 and 2005.
The Comprehensive Plan still lists moving customers off septic systems and onto city sewer as an objective. A septic backup inside a home is contaminated water and needs sewage cleanup, not just drying.
Services
FAQ
Not for service. Voters renamed the city Lake Worth Beach in March 2019, but the postal name for all four ZIP codes on this page is still Lake Worth. Many Lake Worth addresses are also outside the city entirely, in Palm Springs, Lantana, Atlantis or unincorporated county land. The 24/7 line covers every listed ZIP code.
Yes. ZIP code 33462 has no land inside Lake Worth Beach at all. It takes in Lantana, Atlantis, Hypoluxo, part of Manalapan and unincorporated areas. 33463 is also outside the city, split between unincorporated county land and Greenacres.
Both sides. Technicians use moisture meters on the shared wall, the flooring along it and the baseboards in each unit, because water inside a wall cavity spreads farther than the visible stain. Drying one unit while the other stays wet usually lets moisture move back.
Inside the home, extraction and drying work the same way. Exterior repairs in a historic district can need city review, so check with the city before replacing storm-damaged windows, doors or siding.
Call now
Shut off the water if you can reach the valve safely, then call. Describe where it came from and which rooms are wet.
When you call, have ready