Why ice dam prevention works differently in Fort Erie
Fort Erie sits in a freeze-thaw belt, and freeze-thaw is what quietly takes apart masonry, flashing and venting.
The swing between a January cold snap and a February thaw can move a masonry assembly enough to open joints that looked sound in the fall.
Range hoods and basement bathroom fans routinely out-pull an older flue, so the house depressurises and the flue reverses — a Fort Erie problem that looks like a chimney fault but starts elsewhere in the building.
Across Point Abino, Crystal Beach, Bridgeburg, Snyder and Sunset Bay, 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 ice dam prevention 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.