mikelincs

Info here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraced_house

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bungalow

sile

Thanks, Mummy. Yes, ceilings fans are pretty nice. Does it get humid there along with the heat? (On second thought I guess muggy means humid...)

Shard

Interesting link on Bungalow. Didn't know that it was an Indian word, and didn't know some of the two storey houses (built into the eves) are technically bungalows.

mikelincs

Rarely gets humid..

curleytops

When we lived on the south Kent coast we had a few days over each summer that got a bit warm and muggy (I have a low tolerance for it so it likely wouldn't have bothered most) but managed to cope with just an oscillating fan. We lived in a big Victorian flat that pretty much looked over the sea so we would get some nice breezes. If it looked like it would be exceptionally hot in the direct sun we would leave the curtains drawn and opened windows that allowed for a breeze through from one side of the flat to the other, it was really nice. I wouldn't have minded having the odd screen as we would get bees and wasps fly through now and again but we found the magpies were downright nosy and a couple of times nearly had them come in the windows. I guess I'll have to see how we fare in Yorkshire but I can't foresee any bother with it getting too warm in summer.

Okuda

I am an American who has not been to Britain.

Please forgive my ignorance...I imagine some will find these questions amusing.

I wonder about a few things regarding homes there that perhaps someone could address:

Are the following things easily available?

- wall to wall carpeting yup

-air conditioning Newp, we like to suffer and have stand alone fans that blow hot muggy air around in the summer. I'm from the South East and it gets quite muggy and sticky in the summer.
BUT after my Aunt came over here, they did go out and get air conditioning units they mounted on the walls in their living room and bedroom. They are not and antiquated looking like the window units in the states, they are quite spiffy looking in fact, but she's had them in for 3 years and not had to turn them on once .. shows you the need for them in England lol

- attached garage and garage door openers Never saw a door opener in England, I suppose you can get them installed. Some Semis can have a garage on them. Even then on some estates (neighbourhoods) there can be an area behind the houses of about 30 to 40 garages and each house has a right to one.

- dishwashers (installed) Ya, if you don't have space, you can have someone come in and take some cupboard space out and plumb one in.

Do you have screens on your windows? Nah, we just give the kids a fly swatter in the summer and set them to work

Basements? Rarely

Why are the washing machines in the kitchens and where do you put the dryers? Cause we aint got space for a laundry room You can get a all in one washer/dryer or stick the dryer out in the garage. When I was little our dryer was under the stairs.

Thanks in advance

Okuda

Detached i= single family home
Flat = apartment
Terrace = townhome
Bungalow = Ranch

Bevm

I have to say that I don't like carpet in a bathroom. Damp, mold-fostering etc etc. We have non-slip vinyl. It's grand stuff. Really is non slip.

We are odd in disliking tiles. We lived a while in a rental with tiling everywhere in the bathroom and on a lot of the floors elsewhere. Cold, hard, and often slippy. It's a pain to have to keep the grout clean. We have a formica type lining in our showers, and tough bathroom paint on the walls.

Each to their own, but I reckon one day soon tiled bathrooms will be being ripped out in favor of something gentler and easier.

Bev

robin1234

I've often thought that one of the reasons that basements are so common in America and so rare in the UK (18th and 19th century houses in the UK often have basements, but not modern houses..) is the difference in the plumbing. In Britain, the waste pipes go outside the house whereas in America (where most places have cold or very cold winters) all plumbing stays inside the house so you need a basement to gather up all the sewage and waste water so you can then send it off underground to the septic tank.

robin1234

I'm guessing that fitted carpet (wall to wall) is still more common in Britain than in America since in general all wood products are more expensive in Britain, so I assume hard wood floors are more expensive. I know that in the UK that fake hard wood floor is quite common though. I like having fitted carpets upstairs, hallways and bedrooms but not the bathroom!

Pica

Bathroom floors are better tiled (ceramic). Carpet gets damp, mouldy and smelly in the bathroom.
Fitted (wall to wall) carpets are normal in UK but there has been a move over the last few years to laminate flooring (-it's probably just a marketing fashion) and can be cold,noisy,slippery and dusty.
Detached house-stands alone within its own garden
Flat-part of a large building
Terraced house- is one of a row of joined houses
Bungalow-techically is a home with all rooms on the same floor-that is no upstairs but some bungalows have been adapted and now use the attic / loft space as a living area

WEBlue

Yes, the odd insect will fly in at the height of the summer when the windows are open a lot, but we found the spiders would also climb in and make themselves at home in the corners of ceilings, etc., and they would make short work of whatever bug had bumbled in the house.

When we lived with the old casement-style windows, all kinds of creatures would venture in if those windows were left wide open -- a few birds, neighbour's cat, and a cheeky squirrel once!

That reminds me, Sile. Be careful to check the windows of any place you want to live in. Double glazing is SO important for comfort!! Single glazing is horrible to live with . . . cold & drafty, weepy from constant condensation, which leads to mildew/mould & all kinds of problems. As one who lived for years with single glazed windows, I would advise you to avoid it at all costs.

Lothianlad

That is not strictly true....I live in the UK...the Scottish bit of it...on top of the English bit......there really is no need for air conditioning in Scotland whatever the time of year....central heating, most definitely but not a/c....yes, sometimes "things" do fly in through open windows and doors, but the UK nowhere near suffers from the same kind of "bugs" problem as does the USA by all accounts...the common house fly is probably the usual unwelcome invader of homes here except in winter...they have already vanished here for now. Some people attached fly screens across open doors, usually in the kitchen, to prevent a fly invasion.....perhaps ants are the next insect pest as soon as the weather turns fine and warm which it does in Scotland - now and again.

Scotland is renowned for its midges (tiny flying insects - tiny but extremely irritating) on warm still humid days in open country, especially close to standing water.....in their many hundreds in close proximity to each other they can be a real pain.

My mother has not only had flies come into her kitchen from the back garden but she has also had to deal with a friendly wee robin that hopped in through the open door and stood looking up at her with his head cocked to one side, a swift that flew in through an open bedroom window and caused mayhem, a field mouse that came in and disappeared beneath the washing machine, a frog that also hopped into the kitchen then, amazingly, leapt up off the floor and onto a work surface where she was preparing food - there is a pond in the garden.........and the cat from next door.