Burst Pipe Tracker: Île Flottante is the Latest Victim

Frozen and burst pipes are a given in Montreal’s brutal winter, and bars and restaurants are no exception to torrents of water cascading through their premises. Here’s where we’ll gather temporary closures and miscellaneous winter catastrophes — if you hear of a burst pipe, tell us about it here.

January 10

Mile End’s Île Flottante (the former Les Deux Singes de Montarvie) is the latest victim of the winter: cold weather burst a pipe in the newly-renovated restaurant, flooding it and knocking it out of business until January 16.

January 4

The unpleasant New Year’s cold snap might be over, but it’s too late for the underground wine cellar at Little Burgundy icon Joe Beef — as Le Devoir reports, a burst pipe in the restaurant on Sunday night caused substantial damage, mostly to that cellar.

A rare Instagram story on McMillan’s Joe Beef account during the long weekend showed a significant amount of water pouring out into some part of the building.

While the damage wasn’t only to the cellar, McMillan told Le Devoir that’s where the biggest problem was, and that they have “lost their wine cellar” — while there might be some insurance coverage, McMillan said it would likely be a costly incident.

With all three of the Joe Beef team’s neighbouring restaurants (Joe Beef, Liverpool House, Le Vin Papillon) set to reopen January 4 (Thursday), McMillan reportedly already forked out $15,000 for emergency repairs to ensure that the establishments would be ready for customers in time.

Ever zen, McMillan still told Le Devoir that “life goes on”.

For those unfamiliar with the unpleasant experience of frozen or burst pipes, extreme cold can cause the water in pipes to freeze. The increased pressure from frozen water (which takes up more space than liquid water) sometimes causes partially-frozen pipes to burst. Frozen pipes are more likely when there’s no water flowing, for example, when an apartment is left empty, or a restaurant is closed — and Joe Beef, Liverpool House, and Le Vin Papillon had all been closed for the holidays for over a week before the accident.

• All Joe Beef coverage [EMTL]
• Les dégâts du grand froid [Le Devoir]