How Long Should Things In Your Home Last?
It can be very very helpful to homeowners to have a basic understanding of how long all the various components of their home should last. Having this information at your fingertips will allow you to monitor performance carefully when each of the various elements of your home approach their standard expiration dates. This in turn will allow you to plan for replacement or upgrades, so you don’t have a significant loss of service. Your construction contractors and East Bay HVAC servicemen at B.A. Morrison offer the following information on the life cycles of most components of your household.
Appliances
The number of years any appliance will last depends in large part on the kind of usage it receives within the household. In general however, you can expect dryers and refrigerators to last about 13 years, gas ranges to last about 15 years, dishwashers will generally last nine years, and microwave ovens will also generally be good for nine years. Consider hiring an east bay air conditioning service person to inspect your home for proper air quality.
Concrete and Masonry
For all intents and purposes, you can forget about life expectancy of your concrete and masonry, unless something happens to cause cracks in them. Short of an earthquake or some other catastrophic event, brick walls will probably last more than a century, and any chimneys or fireplaces you have will last a lifetime.
Doors
Vinyl or screen doors can be expected to last somewhere between 20 and 40 years, and closet doors will generally last an entire lifetime. You can expect French doors to last between 30 and 50 years, and any exterior doors made of wood, steel, or fiberglass will probably last as long as the house itself does.
Electrical Fixtures and Lighting
Any electrical accessories installed in your home such as lighting controls, will probably last in the neighborhood of 10 to 15 years. The wiring which is installed in your home, whether it’s copper-plated, aluminum-plated, or even bare copper wiring, will all last a lifetime. For the most part, you don’t need to worry about your electrical wiring at all.
Floors
Your carpeting will probably last somewhere between eight and 10 years, assuming a fairly standard pattern of traffic and normal maintenance on your part. Linoleum floors are generally good for about 25 years and vinyl floors can last as long as 50 years. If you properly maintain your marble, granite, or slate flooring, you can expect it to last 100 years, and the same is true of any natural wood flooring you have installed. The key to getting the maximum life expectancy from your flooring is periodic maintenance.
Framing and Infrastructure
You can expect plywood and softwood installed in the framing of your home to last approximately 30 years, whereas particleboard will probably have a life expectancy of up to 60 years. Roof and floor trusses, as well as your wall paneling, should last a lifetime under normal conditions. You can also expect poured concrete systems, insulated panels, and timber frames to last your entire lifetime.
Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning
These systems all get a lot of attention, because they’re so necessary during the cold and warm seasons of the year. Because they also get a great deal of usage during those seasons, you can anticipate their lifetimes to be considerably shorter than the stationary components of your home. Your East Bay heating furnaces will generally last between 15 and 20 years, and the same can be said for heat pumps. A gas water heater or an electric one will only last for about 10 years. While thermostats can be expected to last 35 years, they rarely live out their full life expectancy, because they’re generally replaced before then by newer, more capable devices.
Curious How Long Your Home Appliances Will Last? Ask an Expert at B.A. Morrison.
Contact B.A. Morrison HERE for a free quote. We have been actively serving the Bay Area since 1990. If we don’t know you, we look forward to meeting you soon and helping you maintain your home!
