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Original poster

Differences between US and U.K. homes

642 replies

Youngatheart00 · 24/03/2021 10:17

Just a ponderous thread as it’s my day off and I’ve been thinking, mainly following the abundance of Netflix we’ve all watched over the past year, but also some of my travel experiences (not recently, obviously!)

Some of the differences I’ve noticed are;

  • many more of the US homes seem to be fully open plan downstairs. Some don’t even seem to have doors between the rooms?
  • the bathroom count / ratio to bedrooms is much higher! (Eg 3 bed / 3 bath or even 2 bed / 2.5 bath)
  • heating systems, I don’t recall seeing radiators, instead vents in the floor, are these used to flip between hot and cold air depending on the time of year? How effective / efficient are they compared to our big radiator bars here?
  • toilets - they seem smaller and the flushing mechanism is different
  • baths - they also seem smaller, short and strangely blocky
  • Space and size - all of the bathroom stuff is unusual when the overall size of homes, even cheaper ones, is so much larger. And some ‘back yards’ are absolutely huge! Obviously more land space in the US compared with the U.K. but still, notable but often not much privacy / fencing?
  • waste disposal units - what ARE these?
  • closets - I haven’t seen any free standing wardrobes. Are these just not used in the US?

Anyone got any others to add or any comments?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
11
UsedUpUsername · 28/03/2021 10:36

Big houses, small gardens which they call the 'backyard'

In fairness, if it’s in the front, it’s the ‘frontyard’ 😂

Spinach dip & tortilla chips you mean spinach artichoke right? Yeah, it’s pretty amazing all right 😛

Original poster
Youngatheart00 · 28/03/2021 10:54

Speaking of buying alcohol....in Florida I loved (in a slightly shocked way!) that you could be wine and other alcohol at CVS Pharmacy (and other pharmacies I presume!!)

Toothbrush, check. Tampons, check. Bottle of Sauvignon blanc, check!

OP posts:
Original poster
Youngatheart00 · 28/03/2021 10:55

buy wine not be wine!!

OP posts:
Olga83 · 28/03/2021 10:58

I think where I was (MO) we could buy alcohol in the supermarket but we always bought it from the gas station - not quite sure why.

yellowlorry123 · 28/03/2021 13:14

It's a vast country. Different depending
Where you go.

Living space in NYC is very cramped

SenecaFallsRedux · 28/03/2021 13:20

In Florida, you can buy wine and beer in a lot of places but hard liquor can only be purchased in a liquor store. So when we go to Publix (many people in Florida just say going to Publix rather than going to the grocery store), we buy groceries and wine and beer in the grocery store, walk out the door, and into a separate door for Publix Liquors.

As PP have said, laws vary from state to state, and often from county to county within a state. There used to be a law in Florida that you couldn't buy any alcoholic beverages before 1:00 pm on a Sunday.

woodhill · 28/03/2021 13:24

Oh to return to Florida again😞 great holidays and memories

ZZTopGuitarSolo · 28/03/2021 14:23

@SenecaFallsRedux

In Florida, you can buy wine and beer in a lot of places but hard liquor can only be purchased in a liquor store. So when we go to Publix (many people in Florida just say going to Publix rather than going to the grocery store), we buy groceries and wine and beer in the grocery store, walk out the door, and into a separate door for Publix Liquors.

As PP have said, laws vary from state to state, and often from county to county within a state. There used to be a law in Florida that you couldn't buy any alcoholic beverages before 1:00 pm on a Sunday.

We did exactly this a few weeks ago. It actually was a Publix :-)

People were also coming in for their Covid vaccines. I was amused that you could get a Covid vaccine in the supermarket but not a bottle of vodka.

ZZTopGuitarSolo · 28/03/2021 14:29

We have a frontyard, backyard, sideyards and a dooryard. An abundance of yards.

But no gutters.

MissConductUS · 28/03/2021 14:34

I have never heard of a dooryard.

Why no gutters?

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 28/03/2021 14:39

Re waste disposal units - you need them more in hot countries, because any food waste in the garbage will attract vermin. We lived in Virginia for a while when I was growing up, and the rats were the size of small badgers Shock. And you have racoons and, in some areas, bears to worry about as well.

SenecaFallsRedux · 28/03/2021 15:09

I think dooryard may be regional. Parts of New England maybe? There is a poem by Walt Whitman, "When Lilacs Last in the
Dooryard Bloomed."

SenecaFallsRedux · 28/03/2021 15:14

woodhill

It's lovely here today, sunny and warm. But we are in the height of pollen season. I have a nice screened-in back porch, but cleaning the pollen off is almost a full-time job this time of year.

Gottalife · 28/03/2021 15:14

Top loading washing machines in the basement/garage. And yes those warm air ducted heating systems are notoriously inefficient, which is why we abandoned installing them in the UK years ago. They were usually incorporated into new built flats.

Trinacham · 28/03/2021 15:22

@AngelsWithSilverWings

I'm in the UK and I've had a waste disposal fitted in my current house and my previous one. I wouldn't be without one. I didn't think they were unusual here.
My childhood home (UK) had one too. I guess they are probably more common in the US perhaps, but we do have them here for sure.
LostToucan · 28/03/2021 15:36

My in laws’ 1960s house still has blown air heating - although with the heating outlets being set in the floor there were several hamster related incidents whilst DH was growing up.

SenecaFallsRedux · 28/03/2021 15:43

In our AC/Heating system, all of the duct work and vents are in the ceilings. I have lived in houses where they were in the floor; that makes furniture placement a bit tricky.

UntamedWisteria · 28/03/2021 16:35

Ah yes. Top loading washing machines which only have 3 programmes: cold, warm and hot.

I have always wondered about that in the land which gave us the iPhone and Elon Musk.

Or are European washing machine just over engineered?

FromEden · 28/03/2021 18:34

Ah yes. Top loading washing machines which only have 3 programmes: cold, warm and hot.

I have a front loading washing machine with many different cycles. My previous top loader in the house I rented also had many cycles but they just destroy clothes. Don't see the point of them.

Ineedaneasteregg · 28/03/2021 21:57

We are in Illinois and it is a very wet state.
I enclose a picture of a local supermarket bar complete with piano.
Whole Foods also has bars in their supermarkets.

Differences between US and U.K. homes
IstandwithJackieWeaver · 28/03/2021 22:35

When you say it is a very wet state, do you mean the weather or opportunities to have a drink?

Ineedaneasteregg · 28/03/2021 22:40

Drink, although it is quite swampy in places!

ZZTopGuitarSolo · 29/03/2021 04:49

@MissConductUS

I have never heard of a dooryard.

Why no gutters?

Supposedly, it prevents some issues with heavy snow. But honestly I'm not really convinced. We have big overhangs, and a French drains around the house that it all flows into, then down to the sump pump pit in the basement, then it gets pumped out to the woods. Our house is built in a granite hollow, so those drains and the sump pump are a bit critical. (Reminds me that I should go and check the sump pump is working.)
mathanxiety · 29/03/2021 04:56

Illinois is indeed a wet state, but there are some suburbs of Chicago that still hang onto vestiges of their dry past.

UntamedWisteria · 29/03/2021 11:12

Indeed, Evanston was a dry suburb when I studied at Northwestern back in the mists of time. Maybe not any more?

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