Why wood stove installation works differently in Hamilton
Hamilton sits in a freeze-thaw belt, and freeze-thaw is what quietly takes apart masonry, flashing and venting.
Air-sealing and window upgrades have made Hamilton homes far tighter than they were designed to be, and a tight house starves a natural-draft appliance of the make-up air it needs.
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 Hamilton home and nowhere else.
Across Strathcona, Meadowlands, Flamborough, Glanbrook and Twenty Place, 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.
If you live anywhere near the Bruce Trail, the practical takeaway is that a wood stove installation 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.