Pulaski

Er, British homes don't have AC systems and British heating systems seem to last for ever, as do British roofs.

My parents had a gas heating radiator system installed in 1976 and it is still going strong. The water heater is linked to it and the related plumbing is original to the house built in 1958. Whereas the original heating system in our house in the US was replaced after about ten years - I know that because the current heating system, which is on its last legs, is about ten years newer than the house, so our house is about to get its third heating system after only 25 years.

Not only did I never need to replace a roof on my house in the UK, nor have my parents never replaced a roof on any house they owned, I don't know a single person in the UK who ever had to put a new roof on their house. Here? My neighbor just had a new roof installed to replace one that was only 11 years old! A roof that lasts 20 years seems to have done very well to last that long.

Trust me, having owned homes in the UK and the US, US homes need a LOT more TLC, and a a LOT more money, to keep them running.

Jerseygirl

What you pay per year was what we almost paid per month.

Twinkle0927

Give me a cool, autumnal day over the desert any time! What do you mean "the weather in the U.K. for the most part now"? It's always had a cooler, wet climate. For centuries and centuries. I only moved away last December and from memory summer 2016 was very pleasant. But I was in Dorset. I'm sorry to hear you're in the Midlands.

I bought a house in the U.K. in 2006. It was a Victorian railway worker's cottage from the late 1800s. I replaced the boiler when I moved in. During a storm I lost a few slates from the roof. The only other work that was done on it was purely cosmetic and to suit my taste. I changed the front door, for example, because I wanted one with some glass in it rather than just solid wood. Not bad for house of around 140 years old. Oh, the drain was occasionally a problem but it was shared with the neighboring cottage where the woman used to flush her make-up wipes down the toilet and cause blockages. That was the sum total of necessary repairs and maintenance over a 9-year period. In Germany I lived in a house that was over 300 years old and it was a similar story.

Here we are in a house 20 years younger than me and we've been here since March this year and already had 5 different tradesman here for different necessary work. I seriously doubt this house is going to still be here after 140 years.

MidAtlantic

Exactly my experience also.

In the last three months at least six homes within half a mile of me have had roof replacements on houses built in 2002/3 (and none of it due to storm damage). My neighbor opposite me has just replaced his a/c system - again a 2003 home.

Steve_

I don't know how you come up with all this stuff about property maintenance being so much more in the US than the UK, it's not something I've noticed. Fair enough you might need AC but $25,000? My AC in Florida was completely destroyed by Hurricane Andrew and it cost $3,000 back in 1992 for a complete replacement. The top-of-the-line Lennox 60Db AC unit is around $5,000, I just got quoted on one because of how hot the summer was in Calgary.

It might wear out faster in the US but it's all cheap crap. You can get it all at Home Depot for not much. Wood-framed houses covered in Tyvek are pretty easy to repair compared to something made from brick.

Roofs might wear out in NC quickly but not in Phoenix, there's hardly any precipitation. The main thing that would be a surprise for someone coming from the UK is that the house has to be painted at least once every 10 years, that can cost a few grand. Plus termite treatments.

Steve_

Oxygen optional. A lot of people have summer condos up in Flagstaff.

Steve_

But you're in Georgia - people don't use shingles in Arizona. The roofs are generally tiled. Shingles would melt.

Steve_

Someone asked this question the other day, the main problem in Arizona is that the schools stink, so if you have kids, that could be a problem. https://www.edweek.org/ew/qc/2016/st...n-ranking.html

< snip > the answer is a neighbourhood with high income people who moved to Arizona from the midwest instead, I guess.

Pulaski

That's what Yorkieabroad was quoted 2-3 years ago. His house is pretty big, but not massive. It seemed to be on the high side to me, but for a high end system in a larger, high-end home it is certainly possible.

BTW your $3,000 figure is pretty meaningless because when they increased the minimum permissible SEER rating prices jumped. Then they jumped again when R22 was discontinued as refrigerant for new systems. So what you paid in 1992 is entirely irrelevant.

Jerseygirl

We were also quoted more or less the same around 10 years ago.

Pulaski

Per 2 minutes with Google looking for <Arizona roofing materials>, these links were three of the first five or six links:

You might want to contact these guys, who seem to think that shingles are the most popular choice in Arizona. Also these guys who say shingles are "popular" in Arizona, and these guys who say shingles are "very popular" .... They also seem to think that shingles in Arizona get damaged, so you will probably want to correct them on that point too!
No doubt Steve will be back shortly to tell you that you are wrong!

Steve_

I don't think it is actually if you take into account inflation. More than what I was recently quoted.

Anyway the quote I got a few months ago isn't and that was for a top-of-the-line AC unit for a house. AC costs a lot if you haven't already got ducting but that wouldn't be an issue in Arizona.

I used to work (for many years) in building maintenance in the UK btw, it's hard to generalize because it depends on the age of the housing stock but given that very little of the housing stock in Arizona is old, it's exaggeration to say maintenance costs are generally higher. By definition almost, the average age of a property in the UK is much older than in Arizona.

Damp is the most common cause of damage and it only happens in Arizona due to plumbing leaks generally.

Steve_

Okay some people use shingles, but spend 2 minutes on Google maps looking at satellite imagery of roofs in Phoenix tells you pretty quickly that tiles are more popular. Even on those websites you quote the photos they use are of tiled roofs.

Regardless, my point was, you don't have to replace your roof every 10 years, that's just untrue. Phoenix is too dry. Your view of house maintenance is inaccurate.

Here are some cheap new houses: https://www.pulte.com/homes/arizona/...ill-ranch-7739 All tiled.

zzrmark

F**k me rigid, I didn't realise Phoenix was subjected to temperatures of over 300F!!!

Grade 1 asphalt/bitumen shingles (the crappiest grade) have a softening point, not melting point, of 140-150F, grade 3 starts at a softening point of 190F.
I can sit and work on a white Aluminium roof when the temps outside are in the humid high 90's but the same temps on a bitumen roof and it blisters my arse through my shorts, the heat through the soles of my workboots severely restricts the amount of time one can spend on bitumen roofs when they're that warm but still no melty sticky stuff!!!

Steve_

So in other words they melt then, because the air temperature gets up to 120 F in Phoenix, let alone what the temperature would be on shingles. Get on top of a house in Phoenix during the summer with a laser thermometer and see what you get.

Houses in Phoenix generally have tiled roofs, I'm not making this up...

New Jersey, North Carolina and Georgia are not Arizona. Comparisons you're making are not valid.