Jake referred to this article and said, “great care should be given to replacement and maintenance costs for a house”, which is true, because homeownership is expensive:
A house may survive for hundreds of years. But the individual components that make up the house may — or may not — be as resilient. Components made of concrete or brick can last a long time while major appliances are almost disposable, despite how costly they are to purchase, repair and replace.
Examples of especially sturdy products include cabinets in a garage or laundry room, brick pavers, a concrete or cast iron waste pipe and copper rain gutter downspouts, all of which can last 100 years or longer, according to a 2007 National Association of Home Builders, or NAHB, study of home components’ life expectancy. Other durables that can last a lifetime include natural stone or tile countertops, fiberglass, wood or fire-rated steel exterior doors, copper wiring, wood floors, walls, ceilings and most types of insulation.
Small appliances may die after just a decade
Household appliances such as a trash compactor, compact refrigerator, microwave oven and humidifier have much shorter average life spans of about nine to 10 years. A gas range, which has an average life span of about 15 years, is one of the longest-lasting household appliances, according to the NAHB survey.
Other household components that have a relatively short average lifespan include:
- Aluminum roof coating (three to seven years).
- Enamel steel sinks (five to 10 years).
- Security system (five to 10 years).
- Carpet (eight to 10 years).
- Smoke detector (fewer than 10 years).
- Faucets (10 to 15 years).
- Garage door opener (10 to 15 years).
- Air conditioner (10 to 15 years).
- Asphalt (12 to 15 years).
- Termite-proofing during construction (12 years).
Homeowners may choose to replace items early
The NAHB study cautions that these life expectancies are only averages and the actual life span of an individual house’s component will depend greatly on the quality of installation, level of maintenance, weather and climate conditions and intensity of use.
Many homeowners choose to swap out house components or appliances before the end of their useful life due to “changing styles and preferences or improvements in newer products,” the study states. Tax credits, rebates and the introduction of new models that are more energy efficient and thus less costly to operate also may spur homeowners to replace items before the originals reach the end of their useful life. Newer products don’t always have a longer life span than older models, however.
In my house remodel, we replaced an entire kitchen that lasted over 30 years.
The oven and dishwasher were clearly past usable. The tile countertops with an inch of concrete base was clearly ready to go another 30 years, if they weren’t so hideous.
However, it’s important to note that our aluminum windows that were 45 years old were in excellent shape, but were replaced with high efficiency Low-E double glazed Milgard Vinyl windows. The sound an energy benefits were clear 5 minutes after putting them in. We could no longer hear the dogs next door.
The 45 year old wood siding was replaced with stucco that should last more than 50 years.
All told, other than the termite damage, my 45 year old house was structurally well built (stick built, conventional framing), but newer homes have many of the energy efficiency built right in. (we added insulation to exterior walls when we stuccoed, can you believe people survived without insulation?)
It’s clear that some of the newer stuff we put in won’t last as long as the stuff we replaced… faucets are clearly not as nice as they were 30 years ago, even the expensive ones.
Chuck
I live in a house built in 1928 out of bricks/mortar/Rhodesian Teak parquet floors/Oregon pine roof trusses/clay tile roof, in the last 25 years maintenance (besides paint) is re-tiling the bathrooms, adding extra rooms, replacing broken glass (cricket balls) and buying new appliances (US Speed Queens only last 20 years in South Africa but better than European/Japanese /Korean appliances). My kitchen? Just like Chuck Ponzi’s Concrete bases and Oregon pine cabinetry still good after 83 years!
Any stats on the longevity of granite countertops?
I think style probably matters more than actual longevity. 1970’s ceramic tile is probably fine from a usable perspective but you’re going to get dinged by a 2011 perspective buyer for not having granite, or not having stainless steel appliances. Styles and desirable attributes change pretty frequently especially when it comes to the life cycle of a house.
10-15 years from now a 3000 sqft 20 year old house in CV with another 10 years of Mello Roos, might have a hard time competing with a newly remodeled 1500-2000 sqft single story with ADA and green features in west mira mesa. None of us know how tastes will change and how school districts will change.
For all we know 10 years down the road school districts in Santee will test better than Poway as young professional families we’re forced to settle for cheaper property during the bubble years.
Ewhac…
Think of how long granite mountains stand, and that’s how long granite countertops will last. The plywood base beneath them will rot before they go… of course style is already saying that granite is passe’. what do I know?
We recently bought a 10 yr old house and it is showing lots of wear and tear from a large family. We’ve spent about $50K so far and have a few more things to replace and/or improve. The 800 sq.ft of saltillo tile in part of the house would probably have lasted for an eternity! We tried it for a month, but we couldn’t live with the raised/uneven surface and color, so it was ripped out and replaced with a stone look porcelain that should last for a long time.
Agree on new faucets being less sturdy, even compared to 7-10 years ago.
I like that most newer homes do not have exterior wood accents around the windows, but rather have stucco trim. The sun seems to beat up the paint on the wood quite quickly and causes the need for frequent (every 4-5 years) re-painting to keep it looking nice.
Someone once told me, “Beware the 20 year mark.” Meaning when a house reaches that age things start to go wrong. I wish we had listened. Our home was 17 years old when we bought it. We’ve since replaced the roof, windows, doors, flooring, water heater, furnace, replumbed with copper (due to slab leak), fences, gates, etc etc. Whoever buys this house after us probably won’t have to fix anything for another 20 years!
My parent’s house back in Virgina has been around since 1692. Granted the bulk of it dates from later times and the last major remodel was from 1884.
Most of the doors are original and some of the windows even have bubbles in the glass. Most of the gaslight plumbing is still there too. It’s on it’s third oil fired boiler and probably had at least one coal fired one. Before that it had a wood stove in most of the major rooms.
Granted it’s warm in the summer and cold in the winter. No great rooms and the stone is in the foundation, not a kitchen counter. It was never designed for indoor plumbing or electricity so that has always been interesting to work on. The floor-plan is straight out Georgian with a central hallway and main stairs. Don’t try to look for great rooms, half baths, coat closets, or downstairs master suites.
It does have advantages though, such a front porch that is more then an afterthought, four fireplaces & six mantels, back stairs for hot and cold running servants, and a really nice view of the Blue Ridge.
Houses will last forever if the will is there.