Jerseygirl

That's due to safety...having electrical outlets and switches in a bathroom is dangerous when using 240 volts. Also in the UK you are not allowed to have an electrical outlet near the kitchen sink.

GeoffM

Dangerous at 120/110 whatever as well. We have sockets right underneath a cabinet and inevitably my hands are dripping from the sink when reaching into the cupboard. Makes me nervous!

The regs in the UK are something like not being able to directly reach an electrical device while standing in the bath, hand in a sink, etc. If the room was big enough then theoretically you could have a switch and a socket in the bathroom. I think the vast majority of UK bathrooms would not qualify!

Wibblypig

How exciting for you

We have triple switches one is for the main light, another is for the ceiling fan and the third is for a socket (although in a couple of rooms they are for very random sockets!).

I am not a fan of the mailbox being at the end of the driveway, I keep forgetting to check it and if a parcel will fit into it the mailman (well lady!) will just stuff it in there!

I love the AC/heating, although only used the heating part twice last winter

Don't like not being able to hang clothes out to dry! Tumble drying all the time kills the clothes far too quickly

Back in the UK we had (still do technically!) a big double garage, didn't use it for the cars for long as it got packed full of 'rubbish' pretty quickly! Here I couldn't imagine not keeping the car in the garage, mainly because of the heat and the torrential thunderstorms Didn't have electric doors back in the UK but do here on the double door but not the single door (we would however if it was owned by us).

I love the closets here Also love having a HUGE master suite

Swimming pools here are more common than not (could be a Florida thing though).

Single storey houses more common here (mainly too keep the house cooler in Florida I believe).

Games/media rooms common here, although our house back in the UK had a games room (we just classed it as a big bedroom as it had a door to it).

Homes in the UK closer to the shops (corner shops etc), we could walk but here we have to drive.

Bob

Electrical sockets in the bathroom and no drawstring light switches...because health and safety are for wusses...

Basements, with sumpumps...never heard of those till I got here, pumps obviously.

Kitchens generally lacking in extractor fans over the cooker here.

Stupid light switches in bedrooms and living rooms that control a electrical socket, expecting you to have a lamp, rather than a ceiling light here...see it loads and it's crap.

Lack of hallways in homes, seems to just open up into living space.

Gardens tend to be a lot more grass and less individualised pieces of scaping...around here at least and where we've lived in the past.

Don't seem to find as many houses with built in bookshelves in the living room, from experience at least, here.

Don't generally see radiators around here, convection heating, doesn't happen - heat vents or baseboards all over the place so you don't get that convection current going.

Don't generally get screened in decks in the UK.

Around here, from experience, everyone keeps their lawn mower in the garage and not in the shed and they're always petrol powered. Speaking of which, whatever happened to the Flymo? Flinging that thing around on a slope, great fun

Brownouts are to be expected during really hot days in the summer and all the time during the winter here, where we've lived.

Don't tend to get ceiling fans in the UK, they are quite nice.

Don't seem to find power showers here, so unless the tanks up high, the water pressure has generally been a bit shit in one bathroom compared to another.

Seems like there are less established trees around in peoples gardens around here, seems everything gets leveled in a development and then lucky to see anything put back in place out in the burbs here...but when places do have established trees, they do tend to be much more fun fruit trees.

TV's tend to be bigger here than some homes in the UK...not necessarily a bad thing

Sally Redux

Wish they had those here - mind you most of our lawn has died now anyway

Giantaxe

The California regs require a GFCI for an outlet within reach of a bath/sink etc. Normal unprotected outlets are not allowed. In fact, every outlet in my kitchen is GFCI-protected, regardless of location. Not sure whether that's required by code though.

Peachbythebeach

US - screens on the windows, UK no

S Folinsky

As an American who has traveled, I will put in my "two pence."

The electrical differences have been noted. Also, the differences go beyond the 220/240 voltage. Due to UK wiring methods, the UK has those fused plugs and outlets are switched. This is different from the rest of Europe.

As I have mentioned in discussion in these forums regarding how things are done "in the U.S." -- the US is a big place and there are regional differences. Also, practices have changed over the years. It used to be that most single family residences had one "bathroom" and more was a luxury. One of my daughters and son-out-law decided not to rent a particular residence because it had "only" one and one-half bathrooms. Go figure.

I have been interested in construction methods for a long time and observe them in my travels. The variation in methods vary by availability of materials reinforced by habit.

As an example outside of America -- "timber framing" between the UK and Northern Europe differs. Northern Europe had tall trees. In the UK, oak was the predominant tree species. Accordingly, the English would use short pieces of timber. BTW, the buildings in California dating from the Spanish era were built out of adobe bricks covered with stucco, with oak timber. Roofs were clay tile. [The look of this is replicated in "Spanish" style housing in L.A., but I digress].

The most common methods of North American [US & Canada] construction, "lumber framing" or "stick framing" is a result of the historical confluence of the industrial revolution and the availability of forests.

The industrial revolution made for dimensional lumber. [Note I use "lumber" rather than "timber."] The industrial revolution made for the ready availability of a little metal item -- standard grade nails. Much in the way of skill is needed for timber framing. The level of skill needed for timber framing is much less. Also, lumber framing is more economical of use of wood than timber framing. Also, the industrial revolution made for the advent of railroads and steam-ships.

As I mentioned, many construction methods persist by force of habit.

But the differences between various areas of the world are interesting.

AZ_Alba

Part of the regional differences is also due to climate. For example although Florida and Arizona are both hot, Arizona does not suffer from hurricanes therefore the construction is much lighter in Arizona. Concrete pad with 2 by 4 lumber framing with a stucco skin on top as used in Arizona, probably would not survive hurricane season in Florida.

Similar issues apply to plumbing and foundations as in southern Arizona there is no frost depth so no need for deep foundations and basements. Pipes tend to run under the slab with no lagging on the pipes, and if they leak you will need to dig up the floor or replumb all the pipes through the roof space ( only cold water in summer is from the fridge ).

Seen these differences in various parts of the world. In the middle east and Caribbean a lot houses were concrete pour. Also in summer you turned off the water heater which is inside the house. The cold water tank is on the roof it is solar heated in summer. Therefore the hot and cold taps were reversed.

MadRad

My tuppence-worth, based on Scotland/Colorado

Scotland - stone-built, granite
Colorado - timber with wooden siding or stucco

You still get great tenements in the cities, some with a 'wally close' (tiled, often quite ornate)

Scotland - the roof doesn't need replaced often (slate)
Colorado - shingle/flexible tile - expect to replace every 20-30 years

Space - great room - house in the US has 20 foot ceiling We had an open plan layout in the UK but smaller than here.

In the UK people generally don't have triple garages - that's the norm round here.

Windows in the US seem much poorer quality than in Scotland, but they do have fly screens.

I doubt anyone in Scotland needs aircon or a sprinkler system!

Blown air heating in the US - handy for wall space as no radiators, but seems very inefficient as you can't control the temp in each room as easily.

Knockdown/skip textured walls in the US - what the h*ll's that all about? Why is wrong with a nice flat interior wall with clean sharp corners??? I managed to greatly offend the selling agent in the first house I viewed when I asked what was wrong with the wall!

Interior design/styling in many US houses (certainly around here) is questionable. In Colorado the nightmarish orangey-oak kitchen which is almost ubiquitous. Or at the other end of the scale, extravagant, totally OTT custom wooden kitchens with pillars, corbels, lurid granite and flamboyant lighting. Standard kitchen appliances are like something from the dark ages - freestanding old-school cookers with the controls at the back, and top-loading washers - last time I saw one of those in the UK was around 1982. I was amused to recently have a tile worktop in our bathroom described as being an upgrade (from what??). Getting decent lights is damn-near impossible - our house is full of nasty and ineffective pot lights and theatre dressing-room style bar lights. On the plus side, room sizes are good and hardwood flooring is very common. Just as well, as the carpets are truly horrible! Of all the many, many houses (easily 100+) OH and I looked at to buy, only one was remotely modern-looking. It was being sold by a Brit. It's not just that they're quirky or unusual or individual or eccentric - most were just downright ugly.

Think other folk are better qualified to talk about plumbing and electrics!

Here, an attic is not somewhere you can use for storage. But basements are fab!

mamasue

In the UK everybody had their 'back garden' fenced in....
Here in GA, nobody has a fenced backyard....unless there's a huge dog to be contained!
Same at the front....our 'front yard' is huge and open. When we first moved here, I felt unsafe, as anybody could just walk up to the house. (nobody ever does, it's a really quiet suburban subdivision)
That small front wall and gate in the UK, for some reason, gives you a sense of security..... not sure why, but it does!
Also.... at least 2 bathrooms seems to be the norm here..I love that my husband and I each have our own bathroom. When we have guests, and he has to 'move into' my bathroom, I feel like I'm being intruded upon!
In the UK, if you've got a basement, it's usually full of stored junk.
My basement here has my laundry room, office, gym, and extra tv room (husband's man-cave)....I love it!
In the UK we had a small single garage, that you could probably fit a mini in at a squeeze....
Our double garage here has space for 2 SUV's, 2 bikes, workbenches, and all my husband's tools and stuff.
Also...pools are more common here....we use ours 5 months of the year....just not worth having one in England, that you could use probably 5 days!!

The downside here is that without a car you're housebound.....nothing's within walking distance, and there's nowhere to ride a bike unless you drive it somewhere first.
Also.... in the UK, you don't get scorpions in your garage, or rattlesnakes in your backyard......had both of those here!!

MostlyYank

MadRad, back when I was a RE agent here in Cleveland OH I had a lady relocating from New York City. After looking at many houses she said in despair, 'Geese, geese, every kitchen is decorated in geese! Why isn't there any modern houses here?!'

Pete

kimilseung

I think it might have something to do with trespass laws. I think in English law you have to avoid giving implied permission (not fenced) to cross your land, which in turn can lead to the establishment of a right of way.

GeoffM

Those bland wooden kitchen cabinet fronts in the US... UK has a lot more variety (usually man made materials but different nonetheless).

Built-in sprinklers in the US; cheap plastic ones from B&Q in the UK using hoses that last maybe a year or two if you're lucky.

N1cky

Last year walking down Oxford Street, my husband couldn't stop laughing at me. I didn't stop to gaze in the window fronts of Selfridges..., instead it was the kitchen showroom, I was drooling on the window