Differences between US and U.K. homes

[Youngatheart00]

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?

@FinallyHere

We also have washing m/c in bathroom and fly screens at the windows.

We have both lived in different countries and don't want to do without the accustomed luxuries.

Agree, I'll never live without screens again no matter what country I'm in.

I've lived in the SF Bay Area for 40 years now - and still get quite excited by the differences across the country. There are so many variances depending on where you are in the country. For example, I worked on the East Coast (Virginia, Washington DC, Baltimore areas) and my staff - people I know who made far less than me - had the most enormous fabulous homes, with huge grassy lots and property. Enormous and fancy! They'd cost 1/3 or less than a small 3 bed in my area.

Our prices are comparable to London for the most part, I think. I sold and bought (had so much support from lovely MN'ers through both periods, thank goodness!) and bought 'down' to a cheaper neighborhood with more house/less space.

I still LOVE my disposal, my storage room in the garage, and my huge range. I do miss doors in the living space, as well as overhead lights. I do have an indoor cat, and a wood kitchen.

I love a bit of RightMove browsing. Also quite addicted to Zillow. I think it is a nosier's dream.

It depends where you are, I lived in San Fran for a while, lots of apartments didn’t have closets in bedrooms as they were small, so there would typically be room for a chest of drawers and a communal closet near the bedrooms or they would have a fitted wardrobe with sliding doors.

One thing I noticed is that kitchens were very old fashioned and would often fit in with a 1980’s kitchen in the UK.

I miss the US housing standards of my childhood! We seem to pay a lot for so little in the UK.

Here’s what I miss:

Giant laundry machines, particularly the tumble dryer. Those suckers get your clothes dry fast, no ironing. I never understood why everyone was always fucking ironing things until recently ...

Also, either the laundry machines are in the basement or in a specific laundry room. Never ever ever in the kitchen. Unhygienic and totally bizarre to me.

Don’t even talk to me about the double tap. WTF are those things even? Why would you have separate taps when you can adjust to the correct temperature instantly with a single one?

And doors. Why do British homes have so many doors? In my childhood home, the only doors were found in bedrooms and bathrooms, nowhere else.

American housing is really based on mid century design (Eichler homes are especially coveted) which is open plan, one-storey with floor to ceiling windows and exposed ceilings. Having dedicated laundry rooms, utility rooms, big garages, basements ... no wonder I feel so claustrophobic. Rooms feel so cluttered here, now I know it’s partly because the built-in closet isn’t a standard.

And yeah, the local thing of opening up the front door into a hallway is another oddity, usually right into a set of stairs?! So weird.

I will say the electric kettle is nice

The thing that always surprised me when i was there was how even relatively modestly priced homes would have a living room and a den - so two living rooms really!

the bathroom count / ratio to bedrooms is much higher! (Eg 3 bed / 3 bath or even 2 bed / 2.5 bath)

Yes, master bedroom almost always has attached bathroom, usually a shared kids bathroom and a guest bathroom. Minimum.

Bathtubs are an afterthought, because only kids
use them. Adults take showers.

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?

We had a heat pump which would direct warm air through floor vents. Same system but different machine did the air conditioning. These were in the basement utility room.

toilets - they seem smaller and the flushing mechanism is different

You’re right, iirc US toilets have more water in the bowl to reduce smell and stains but the downside is they clog way more.

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?

A lot of people aren’t sure of their exact property lines and will catch hell if they get it wrong. Anyway, detached housing is the norm so fencing isn’t as necessary. Brings down the tone of the block imo

waste disposal units - what ARE these?

Amazing

Why do all the kitchens look old fashioned? All the dark marble worktops.
And no kettles WTF 🤔

@Cookerhood

We had warm air central heating in the UK when I was growing up (my parents had it until their house was sold a few years ago). It was great for wall space but terrible for blowing dust, food smells & cigarette smoke around (I dread to think how much passive smoking I did in the 70s).

I moved into a 1960s bungalow (UK) which still had the original warm air heating. Didn’t stop sneezing for about six months.

We stay in rental properties a lot in the USA and I have relatives there. I’m not fond of the warm air heating as I think it makes the air very dry and if it kicks in in the middle of the night it can be very noisy.

Agree about the kitchens - the cookers are amazing function wise but even new ones seem to look really dated.

Finding a kettle sets the tone for the whole holiday! (though if it’s an electric one you do need to go and find another job to do while it’s boiling). On the other hand, the weak electricity means you can have plug sockets in the bathrooms. Not keen on US plug sockets either - the plugs always seem really ill-fitting.

Re the voltage does that mean that our appliances all use twice the electricity that American ones do when used in the US?

It depends on how sophisticated it is. A laptop power supply will draw more current in the USA to supply the required power. Something simple like a kettle would draw less power and take over four times as long to boil. A kettle designed for American homes would only be twice as slow. I guess that's why they don't drink tea.

Loved this thread this afternoon! Thanks to those who have lived in the US for sharing their experiences. Absolutely aware that the regional differences must be vast. I find it amusing that our British ways must also seem strange or unusual, although I do think we are becoming more homogeneous in a way.

Does anyone know where I can watch that retirement community documentary that was mentioned upthread?

Oh and yes re the ill fitting plug sockets though! I’ve always found that too, using a hotel hair dryer and the plug constantly coming loose!

I hate the fact most seem to have doors opening straight into lounges

I'm from the West coast. Where my parents live, homeowners are responsible for paying for sidewalks and Street lights. It's very common to have sidewalk, no sidewalk, sidewalk, etc all down a road.

Vaulted ceilings are also very common because you are mostly not trying to keep the house warm as much as in the UK. My parents have no central heating at all, just a fireplace and small electric heaters they use sometimes and single glazing.
Again, no carpets because they are not the fashion but also because people wear their shoes inside the houses so it gets dirty and feet aren't as cold.

My parents house is 8000 sq feet which includes a pool house and garage/ workshop. That is more than 4 times the size of my UK house. That makes them sounds like millionaires but really they are average middle class in a medium price area.

I have family who live in the SF bay area and property is very expensive. A lot of them live in small 3 bed, 1 bath houses or even just rent apartments. Some family have houses there they've owned for decades and are huge. It's a real mix, not all big though.

@Youngatheart00 you might like to look at the links in my thread(s) in property. Lots of links to homes (lovely and not so lovely) to see, although it is 3 years ago so prices are not quite as astronimical as they are now.

Selling

I live in Florida, very near the Gulf of Mexico, and almost everyone in our LARGE county has fencing. If you have a swimming pool, it’s mandatory, and most people fence anyway. Cats are kept indoors and mine aren’t even interested in going out. We domesticated them, so we have an obligation to keep them safe! And away from coyotes and other dangers. I have a line in my yard and hang towels, masks, lingerie. I’d hang more, but DH likes the dryer and since he does almost all of the laundry, that’s fine by me. And, I have several garden areas. My vegetable garden is bearing green beans, onions, carrots and tomatoes now, the mango and macadamia trees are in bloom and I have at least a dozen pineapples forming. We also have many flowers and orchids, but most people don’t want to spend time gardening. It’s not forbidden, and neither are lines for drying. My co workers think it’s very funny that I would line dry anything, but I prefer it and everything dries fast. Also, we couldn’t live without AC. Ours comes from above, and the AC unit is outside.

My son lives in Pennsylvania, on 12 acres. Lots of gardening there! He also has electric heat and air, but it is a super efficient multi zone thing. He and his wife are too young to even want to hang clothes out, but it’s wetter there, too. Their cats stay inside, even with hundreds of acres around. His wife works for a veterinary practice and has seen injured animals, and for us, we don’t want animals bringing bugs, mice, dirt into the house.

There are so few two story homes in Florida. Our homes are concrete block and very sturdy in storms. We don’t have basements, due to our water table being too close to the surface, but they are so nice. We just have a laundry area in the back of the garage, like almost everyone we know.

I do love that your Right Move shows floor plans! I wish Zillow did!

I would like to point out that many Americans live in smaller houses. Mine was built in the mid-1960s and is around 975 square feet. It still manages to fit in 3 bedrooms, dining room and 1 bath, though the rooms are pretty small. Houses have gotten much bigger in the past 40 years and nowadays, it's hard to even find a builder if you want a new, small house.

Air conditioning is often needed in the north as well as the south--the Midwest in particular can have brutal summers.

Also, I constantly see the whole tea kettle thing mentioned on British websites. I grew up with both--stovetop kettles aren't exactly rare over here. Walmart and Target sell both, so obviously there's a market for each.

I also LOVE american beds- bigger more cushions and more bedding. It’s all so sumptuous.

@UsedUpUsername

I miss the US housing standards of my childhood! We seem to pay a lot for so little in the UK.

Here’s what I miss:

Giant laundry machines, particularly the tumble dryer. Those suckers get your clothes dry fast, no ironing. I never understood why everyone was always fucking ironing things until recently ...

Also, either the laundry machines are in the basement or in a specific laundry room. Never ever ever in the kitchen. Unhygienic and totally bizarre to me.

Don’t even talk to me about the double tap. WTF are those things even? Why would you have separate taps when you can adjust to the correct temperature instantly with a single one?

And doors. Why do British homes have so many doors? In my childhood home, the only doors were found in bedrooms and bathrooms, nowhere else.

American housing is really based on mid century design (Eichler homes are especially coveted) which is open plan, one-storey with floor to ceiling windows and exposed ceilings. Having dedicated laundry rooms, utility rooms, big garages, basements ... no wonder I feel so claustrophobic. Rooms feel so cluttered here, now I know it’s partly because the built-in closet isn’t a standard.

And yeah, the local thing of opening up the front door into a hallway is another oddity, usually right into a set of stairs?! So weird.

I will say the electric kettle is nice

Keeps the heat in and I like a hall

Again, no carpets because they are not the fashion but also because people wear their shoes inside the houses so it gets dirty and feet aren't as cold

Think this varies by household as we took our shoes off and do did some of our friends. But you’d never ask guests to do this.

But yeah, carpets are really old fashioned now

Nothing to add but what an interesting thread

I never see brick built houses in America, and almost never see carpet.

Lots of brick houses in the Southern US where I live.

Bedrooms have to have built-in closets to qualify as bedrooms. Just a weird tidbit of information!

This is true where I live but it varies by location and the age of the house. Some empty nester friends just finished a custom-built two bedroom house and they each have a small office in the house. They had tiny closets built in each one so that if they sold, they could market it as a 4-bedroom.

Clothes washers and dryers are sold as sets. In many areas it is against code to have a backyard clothesline.

These are usually homeowners’ association or deeded covenant rules. However, if you live in a state, like mine, that has a “right to dry” law, the law supersedes those rules.

I wondered if there are any Americans who are addicted to our 'Right Move' app?!

I am. Especially Scotland.

Some people do have electric kettles (although I don’t know any personally). But you can grow old waiting for one to boil. Stovetop or microwave is much faster. Also many Americans seldom have a need to boil water. Less tea drinking and instant coffee is a no-no for most people. I do have a kettle on the stove for a cup of tea now and then, a habit I acquired while living in the UK.

As for carpets, most people I know have carpet only in bedrooms. Wood flooring is the preferred surface for public rooms, with tile in bathrooms.

.

Microwaves above cookers, not only do they look unattractive it is so impractical, if someone is at the cooker no one else can use the microwave, bizarre!, especially as American kitchens are generally much bigger you would think they could find another place for it.

Our Texas house was ranch style (aka a bungalow) and was basically made of wood, tyvek, insulation and plastic siding. We had an interior bath to use as a tornado shelter but I don’t think it would have been any use at all if we’d had a direct hit. No basement because the whole place was essentially built on a swamp. Mosquitoes were huge.

Electric a/c (cost a fortune, I remember being so thankful when temperatures finally fell below 80°F at night) and gas winter heating, all blown through ceiling vents.

Our washer and dryer were in a cupboard off the kitchen. It was a tired rental so we still had the dark wood cabinets and white corian worktops.

Responsible for mowing and edging the grass verge adjacent to the road (bummer as we had a corner plot), and the Neighbourhood Association was shit hot on tidy front gardens.

What I do love about American houses is ‘Wainscoting’ even most new builds have it, really adds charm.