The local factors behind wood stove installation in Welland
The difference between a $200 service call and a $6,000 rebuild in Welland is usually about eighteen months of ignoring a small symptom.
Snow load and ice damming stress the roof-to-wall junction each winter; by spring the sealant that was doing the work has usually torn.
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 Welland home and nowhere else.
Across Empire, Fitch, Northgate, Dain City and Chippawa Park, 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 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.