A Landlord Story: Warm Inside and Out

Jill, Andrew, and Jack

It's been cold. We all know it's been cold. It dropped well below zero in Syracuse over the weekend with a wind-chill as low as -15.

I'm proud of every home we've put in the ground. But that does not mean they are without fault. And when temperatures are as extreme as we've seen this winter, those faults can become painfully exposed. Let me explain...

We build in floodplains; a lot. The nature of building in a floodplain means that the finished first floor of a home must be built above a certain elevation. In the case of our homes, that elevation could be anywhere from 2 feet above grade to 6 feet above grade. Building a home that is that high out of the ground can be accomplished in a number of ways - a block foundation wall, a poured concrete foundation wall, or what we opt to do, building on piers. It's affordable and it keeps the foundation from overwhelming what are ultimately small structures.

One big, glaring problem though. If you look under a house built on piers, you can see clear under the home to daylight on the other side. There is no magic way for the water to enter the home without traveling that open space from the ground to the home. We add pretty skirting and lattice to hide the piers, but -15 wind chill will freeze those pipes in a matter of minutes. So we box in the water and sewer lines, install small baseboard heaters to keep those boxes just above freezing temps, and hope for the best.

This past weekend mother nature had other plans. Several of our homes built on piers suffered from frozen pipes as small baseboards just could not complete with the subzero temperatures. The main water line entering the homes froze as did some branch lines heading to other fixtures. But, as landlords that care, we got to it.

I was tasked with taking care of Jill's unit. With frozen pipes sometimes identifying exactly where to focus your attention can be a problem. Absent a large heating element that can heat up a big space quickly, the solution is often taking a heat gun along the frozen pipe, slowly thawing the pipe until the water flows freely. It's a time consuming job, always cold, never comfortable. The problem at Jill's home was mercifully simple. The poor baseboard in the insulated box under the house tapped all the way out. Instead of a toasty spot for the water to enter and the waste to exit, the box was simply the same temperature as the surrounding air. A new baseboard with a larger breaker was needed. The fix required back and forth trips from under the house, to welcome reprieves inside Jill's unit, to back under the house. Each time I went inside, Jill had a cup of coffee topped off for me. On my final trip inside the house to flip the breaker and return power to the new and improved baseboard, I was met with the distinctive sizzle and mouth watering scent of a fried egg. Jill made it very clear I was leaving with a breakfast sandwich. So while I hung out with Jack, Jill put the final touches on what may have been the best sandwich I've ever had in my life - bar none. And soon after, the water was running again at Jill's unit.

Each Monday at our team meeting we quickly go around the table and share a highlight from the past week. Frozen pipes rarely make an appearance at this segment of the meeting. But I have to tell you, fulfilling our duties as a landlord, permanently fixing an issue for a tenant, and spending time with Jack and Jill far and away provided my highlight for the week. But above all, Jill's warmth and hospitality made it clear to me that what we're doing is working. More often than not my maintenance team describes similar stories of warmth, understanding, and hospitality displayed by our tenants while conducting maintenance tasks. It shows me that  even despite a major inconvenience like frozen pipes, Jill and our tenants continue to trust that we are landlords who are present and care.

Stay warm everyone.