To think a kitchen should last more that 12 years?

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

I live on a small (a dozen houses or so) estate. And i'm a nosy cow, so every time someone puts their house up for sale, I have a look at it on rightmove. Every single house that has been up in the last few years has upgraded their kitchen and often their bathrooms from the original.

Our houses are top end 4 and 5 bed houses. They didn't have cheap fittings put in them, there was a decent choice of finishes. I have raised four kids in my house and, honestly, my kitchen is in really good nick. I have one travertine style bathroom that looks a bit dated, but not badly enough to rip the whole thing out.

Some people just seem to spend money for the sake of it.

And yes, my kids have cost me a lot more than a kitchen update.

However, I would rather spend my money a hundred different ways before I would rip out my perfectly decent kitchen. And people are ripping out kitchens they chose when their house was built, not ones that were imposed on them.

You sound actually a bit bitter. Do you envy them op? I don’t think I’m buying youre just worried about the environment.

I'm really not bitter at all Bluntness. We are fortunate to be very comfortable financially. I'm just a bit bemused by it.

Our kitchen was put in in 1983. Magnet, still going strong - needs new worktops which we are doing after Christmas, but we'd never get such good quality cabinets and doors - and they are grey - fashion has gone full circle.

Bitter Bluntness? Where did you get that from? There’s no hint of it in the OP or any subsequent posts!

I thought this was going to be a thread about wanting things to be built to last and was going to say YANBU

But I see it's actually about sneering at your neighbours for having different interests / values etc to you. So, YABU.

I can't see why it bothers you tbh. People are free to spend their money in whichever way they want. And if people are selling their houses, having a dated kitchen or bathroom is likely to put people off, so lots of people update in order to sell their house.

They might not have had the same kitchen as you to start with. We bought a new build house as soon as it was finished, in a row of four identical-plan terraced houses, but every one of the kitchens has a different colour scheme, different handles, etc. Some of them are also definitely nicer than others in terms of how dated they're likely to look in five years' time!

I think we're also going to have to replace the doors earlier than planned, because the worktop is holding up fine, but the (cheap) veneer on the doors is starting to show early signs of separating from the wood, particularly in the under-sink unit where it's been splashed quite often. I'd be happy to replace them like-for-like, just with a less easily damaged version (we have an oak+white kitchen which we didn't specifically choose due to buying in a huge hurry, but we'd probably have picked of the options available).

I have a bathroom I have not done up despite it being old and a bit manky. I’ve lived in the house 16 years. I can’t afford to do it. It’s a small bathroom and the last quote I had was for £2500. I don’t have that sort of cash lying around looking for a purpose.

Whereas I would take the quote, look at how much of the work I was able to do myself and work out which parts I couldn't do and reduce it right down. I put in our kitchen 5 years ago; it was built to my design and I installed it myself aside from the worktop as it was a specialist quartz that I wouldn't have risked. If you're able and willing to graft and learn, you don't have to spend thousands renovating a home.

Honestly OP, in certain social groups it's extremely important to emulate and match/outdo the home improvements of your friends and relatives.

Decidedly unnessecary in my own opinion but, you know, whatever makes them happy I suppose.

I agree with you completely tinkly but have all the people who live near you lived there since the house was new?

Some may have moved in later and 'had' to change the kitchen because they couldn't face the indignity that is living in a house with a kitchen they did not choose personally.

certain social groups

What would those be then?

YANBU. We probably have the only 'original' kitchen in our road, houses built around 20 years ago. My DP's kitchen is 55 years old!

But it's not harming anyone, so each to their own.

My kitchen is over 30 years old. Yes, it could probably do with updating, but as long as it's all still working fine we really CBA with all the faff.
I don't care if anyone else thinks it's old fashioned.
Even if we wanted to sell the house I wouldn't bother, because very likely the new owner would want something different and rip it all out anyway.

I agree OP, it's a waste.

Hmm, our estate is quite "nouveau" I suppose. We are quite nouveau ourselves, but have no interest in keeping up with the Joneses.

lower middle class primarily; lots of my family are to my mind guilty of this very thing.

And people are ripping out kitchens they chose when their house was built, not ones that were imposed on them.

I think it's pretty common for people who buy new builds to not actually get a choice with kitchens, or to get a very limited choice from a pre-defined set. Ours was completely decided for us because it was already ordered by the time we signed up for the house (our entire house buying process took eight weeks from start to finish and the house was only finished two days before we moved in), and I think my neighbours were the same.

I agree, it's wasteful.

Ours was getting on a bit, when we moved in, 14 years ago. We replaced the warped and stained worktops and the door handles for less fussy ones that were easier for me to manage, the bent sink, knackered oven and lethal solid plate hob. The doors are lovely hard oak and still look great. The units themselves are falling apart, now, though, since we had a leaky pipe last year.

Sooty social climbers and nouveaux riche.

We had our 12 year old kitchen replaced recently. 90% of the cupboards were fine, but one by the sink had got damp too many times, and swelled as it was chipboard, and the laminate had come off too. As well as a replacement for the damaged one we also wanted some extra storage cupboards, but as the fashion had changed we could not match either the cupboard or the doors.

If it had been a solid wood, painted kitchen, we could have had a new cupboard made to match, and sanded and repainted the others. But cheap chipboard can't be fixed that way, so we ended up having to replace the lot.

We spent more this time, on wood rather than laminated, in the hope it will last longer and be reparable if it gets damaged.

Our kitchen is 30 years old and falling apart. We will update it in 5-6 years with something I expect will last for 50 years as I will get solid wood doors and cabinets. They can be sanded down and painted to keep up with fashion.

We’ve just bought a house that has its kitchen put in 12 years ago. I don’t like it, it’s very dated (and obviously I didn’t choose it) but it’s in perfect condition. We’ll be replacing it in the next couple of years, when we can afford to!
Having 4 kids is way worse for the environment than replacing a kitchen though.

Our kitchen is 20 years old and doesn't look too bad, I would like to maybe replace it but DH who would probably be involved in doing a lot of the work seems to think it will easily last another 20 years and then he thinks I will be too old to care.

Bitter Bluntness? Where did you get that from? There’s no hint of it in the OP or any subsequent posts!

I don’t know if bitter is the right word but the op doesn’t come across as bemused, more annoyed or looking down on them or something, whatever it is it’s a negative emotion.

I really don’t see op why you give a shit if someone has a new kitchen and you don’t. I’m not buying thr wasteful argument and it’s their money they can do as they please. They may even have sold the old one on. If they can afford a new kitchen and want one, I see no reason why not.