Richmond Hill conditions that change how ice dam prevention is done
Most Richmond Hill homeowners book ice dam prevention for one reason and discover a second problem on the same visit.
Range hoods and basement bathroom fans routinely out-pull an older flue, so the house depressurises and the flue reverses — a Richmond Hill problem that looks like a chimney fault but starts elsewhere in the building.
Many Richmond Hill properties were re-roofed at least once without the flashing being re-detailed, leaving a cosmetic seal doing structural work.
Across Devonsleigh, North Richvale, Harding, Westbrook and Headford, 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.