Toronto restaurants keep closing because of burst pipes
As crazy as it sounds, some Toronto restaurants actually want to be open during this cold weather; but they can’t be, due to a rash of burst pipe issues.
Newly opened businesses depend on their first few days, and arcade bar Pixels and Pints that just popped up near Broadview station is no exception. They stayed open the first time a pipe burst in their building, but had to close down the second time it happened.
It’s the result of both extreme weather fluctuations and structural issues: the pipes were pressed against cement and the building is not insulated, so bursts happened.
Another new business, Dog & Tiger Pub, has also suffered the effects of wacky weather on their pipes, necessitating working through the night to fix the issues and closing for an entire weekend: a major money-making time for restaurants and bars.
Salumi Bar in Little Italy also had to forgo service on the night of January 29, 2019 due to a burst pipe. Carlos Fernandes says their issue was also a combination of cold weather and old pipes. Fortunately, the closure was actually only due to the fact they had no running water, as they caught the problem and acted quickly.
It was a similar story over at Union on Ossington, where the water had to be turned off for the night due to a pipe bursting.
“If pipes are visible and can be reached, wrapping them or installing pipe warmers would help,” Fernandes wrote in an email. “Sometimes it happens in a wall where you can’t see it. That happened to us during Taste of Little Italy...that had much more damage as it was in the ceiling in the basement.”
In addition to wrapping pipes with warm towels or rags, the City of Toronto also recommends using a blow dryer to warm suspected frozen pipes.
Other tips to avoid frozen pipes include keeping a pencil-thin stream of water running 24 hours a day, as well as raising the temperature of your home a few degrees and opening kitchen, bathroom and cabinet doors, especially at night.
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