12.08.13 Frozen Pipes

We've been trying to get through this year with minimized rental expenses; it's been an expensive year. Nature, it seems, is conspiring against us.

We've had unusually cold weather in the Pacific Northwest. This afternoon my husband tried thawing a frozen pipe at our personal residence and it burst. When I called a plumber they said that it is happening all over the city and lots of luck getting any help today.

About that same time we got a call from a tenant. Our hearts sank, we knew why they were calling. Fire department responded to the duplex, major damage. There is a pipe in the attic that froze and burst and they weren't able to turn off the water. Lots of water damage all over the sheetrock, mostly into the garages.Their power is off too since the water saturated the power boxes. We offered the tenants hotel rooms but they seem to want to stay with friends.The downstairs tenants were in a hurry to vacate because if the baby woke up they couldn't make formula.

So I think we need to proactively insulate more pipes, even though this is highly unusual weather.