How long and what temperature before my pipes freeze

[mtblujeans]

What a relief for you to not have to deal with attorneys, courts, etc. I hope you find there has been no damage to the house as you begin the cleaning process.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

Glad to hear. I've been waiting for an update.

 

[SandrA9810]

That's pretty funny, well in the grand scheme of things that you've had to go through this battle with him, and he willingly walks right on out. He probably didn't want to be in the cold.

I guess the next in order is renting a dumpster. Good luck. And at least with the cold, it should help minimize the smell.

 

[angwill]

Glad to hear all the frustration is over for you besides the cleaning. Maybe it would be worth paying someone to go in and clear it out and clean for you?

Good luck with future renters with the way the economy is in most areas I think it will be more common to end up with renters who lose their jobs and have no money to pay for rent and nowhere to go.

 

[tlh0726]

congratulations op!!

All my friends think DH and I have it made because we have 3 rental units.
When we have to evict 3 tenants last year within a 5 month period and they heard stories behind each, thier opinions changed very quickly.

Good luck with the cleanup

 

[seashoreCM]

We had our pipes burst while on vacation one year when our oil company forgot to fill our oil tank. It ended up being a pipe on an inside wall from our upper floor that burst and did a lot of damage. From what the plumber told us there should be no problem if it warms up slowly. Ours burst when we got the heat going and it warmed the pipe up too quickly. .

I disagree that warming up the pipe slowly will keep it from bursting. In your case the pipe had already burst, when you warmed it up quickly the water started gushing more quickly.

Befor I go on vacation in winter, I drain the regular plumbing (fresh water) pipes as best as I can and put antifreeze in drains and toilets.

Do you have a relative or friend who can check on the house? You can buy a device with a temperature sensor that you call (requires a telephone land line in your house) and it reports the current temperature. Then if you conclude there is a problem, then you call your relative or friend to go over.

To the OP: Visit the house frequently, at least twice a week. You don't want the former tenant or one of his relatives to try to move back in, or at least if he tries it would look more like a home invasion as opposed to a new squatting let alone new tenancy.