Why emergency roof tarp works differently in Cobourg
Cobourg sits in a freeze-thaw belt, and freeze-thaw is what quietly takes apart masonry, flashing and venting.
Salt spray and road grit carried by winter wind accelerate corrosion on exterior metal components far faster in Durham than the manufacturer's rating assumes.
Wind loading off Lake Ontario pushes driving rain against the south and west faces of a house, which is why water entry so often shows up on one side of a Cobourg home and nowhere else.
Across Division Street, Elgin Park, Legion Village, Burnham Street and Terry Fox, the housing stock changes street by street, and the correct method changes with it. A century home with a soft-brick stack does not get the same treatment as a 2010 build with a factory-built vent — using one method on both is how systems get damaged.
the practical takeaway is that a emergency roof tarp visit should start with an assessment, not a tool. Any crew that begins work before telling you what they found is guessing on your behalf.

