Quebec apartment turns into ‘ice castle’ after tenant turns off heat

An apartment in Trois-Rivières, Que. has been nicknamed the "ice castle" after a tenant left the property and turned off the heat.

An apartment in Trois-Rivières, Que. about two hours east of Montreal, has been nicknamed the “ice castle” after a tenant left the property and turned off the heat.

The frigid winter weather caused the pipes to burst, sending water and ice pouring into the home.

“There is water in the ceilings, in the walls, everywhere. Mould will grow,” Jacques Nault of Logispro Mauricie, which owns the building, told Noovo Info. “We are going to strip, dry and rebuild according to what is covered by insurance.”

He says he’s never heard of such an extreme situation occurring before.

Nault laments that due to the rising cost of living, some tenants are trying to save electricity by turning off the heat when they’re not home, such as when they go on vacation.

He points out that people must heat their homes properly to avoid freezing pipes in the winter.

“Everything is expensive. The cost of living is getting higher and higher,” he said. “People want to save money. For them, heating doesn’t make much difference. If they’re not in the home, they say to themselves, ‘Let’s lower the electricity costs.’ I don’t think that’s a good way to save money.”

The former tenant of the ice castle had not been living in the home for several months and was no longer paying rent.

He was officially evicted on Monday, Jan. 5.

Nault explains that the home is part of a triplex, and the icy situation was discovered during a visit to a neighbouring unit.

The two other homes completing the triplex were not affected.