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Life Expectancy of Home Components and Systems

When considering buying, upgrading, remodelling a house or just preparing for the future and potential maintenance costs, it's helpful to have an idea of the the general life expectancy of your house components and systems.

A house is expected to last many years and through several series of owners. But what about the individual components that comprise the house? How many years of service can a home owner reasonably expect from a roof or a door, a floor, the systems (HVAC, toilets and tubs, well, septic systems, etc.) or a window?" What components last the longest? What components have to be replaced frequently?

Fortunately there are several sites that have have analyzed the statistics, compiled the information for you and have presented it in easily accessible online and/or downloadable (pdf) formats.

Here are several sources providing statistics on home component life expectancy:

NAHB / Bank of America's "Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components"
[alternate link]
(click here for summary press release on the National Association of Home Builders/Bank of America Home Equity Study of the Life Expectancies of Home Components)

NAHB: Consumers: Remodeling Your Home [Rebates & Loans for Green Homeowners]

The Old House Web: Life expectancy How long should the components and systems in your home last?
(this is based on the HUD Residential Rehabilitation Inspection Guide, February 2000, 162 p.)

Septic System Life Expectancy

House Component Life Expectancy and Average Costs

Example Life Expectancies:

Bathroom, laundry and garage cabinets and closet shelving can last 100 years or more,

Kitchen cabinets may only last 50 years

Natural wood flooring can last 100 years or more

HVAC systems last from 8 to 20 years, depending on sub-unit and usage

Plumbing related fixtures (faucets, etc.) last 10 to 20 years, depending on use

Exterior and Interior paints last on average about 5-10 years, 1-5 if used for waterproofing

Cement footings and foundations last approximately 50 years; concret block lasts 100 years, poured footings and foundations last 200 years

Flooring is usually lifetime, except for 11 years for carpeting and 20 to 30 years for vinyl sheet or tile

Dryers and Refrigerators last about 13 years, while microwaves last 9 years and compactors only 6 years

Natural stone countertops last a lifetime, while cultured marble countertops last about 20 years

Wooden decks usually last 20 years under ideal conditions

Copper wiring lasts a lifetime, however the controls and accessories associated with it normally last about 10 years

It's important to remember that in the long run, it much cheaper to do perform regular maintenance on a house than to wait until a major component fails. It has been suggested by some that a good rule of thumb for budgeting for annual maintenance is one percent of the value of your home.

Additional Blog Articles:
Remodeling and cost vs. value
Property Maintenance and Repair Issues
Homeownership

For real estate resources, help and support services in acquiring or selling properties in New Jersey, Visit my web site: LawrenceYerkes.com

and visit Besthomes-NJ.com to shop for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (Residential, Commercial, Multi-Family, Farm, Land).

Copyright 2007 by Lawrence Yerkes. All Rights Reserved.

Posted by Lawrence Yerkes - Broker Associate, Southern New Jersey Real Estate Services on 05/31/2007 01:47 AM

Comments (6)

buying, homeownership, maintenance, remodeling, components, life expectancy, house systems, house components

Originally posted at: Southern New Jersey Overlook: Life Expectancy of Home Components and Systems

6 Comments on Life Expectancy of Home Components and Systems

MAY

2007

Good tips.

As a Home Inspector I do not even attempt do predict life expectancy. There are way to many factors involved. Material, brand, previous maintenance, how many times this product was used. With exterior you have climate, pollution and many other factors. It is way to much of a guessing game.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Of course when buying a home I always emphasis the importance of having a home inspection. However, for making rough estimates of value or potential ownership costs, it often helps to have some idea of the relative life span of building components for decision making. Once you reach the decision point that you want to proceed with the purchase of a house, then you need to bring in an experienced home inspector.

After purchasing a home, you usually can't bring in a home inspector every time you need to make a decision about what may need to be fixed or soon replaced (hopefully the inspection report gave you some guidelines as to what may be potential problem and cost areas).

If you've owned the home for a long period of time, you still need some help in identifying potential maintenance and replacement areas so you can budget and plan appropriately.

This post is attempting to provide some general information to help in maintenance and remodeling decisionmaking by homeowners.

I agree with that Lawrence, I do give my client a lot of verbal " estimated life ' such as the condition of roof, siding, windows, plumbing, if they will need to up grade electric service for future add-ons. But to give the life expectancy on paper sometimes confuses people and they think this is a guarantee, which it is not.

But you are right, it does help and they deserve to have some kind of an idea so they will be prepared for future expenses.

MAY

2008

Great stuff, one of the best AR posts I've read. Thanks!

I've updated some of the links in the article referencing information on NAHB's web site.

Here is link for NAHB's press release (5/12/08):
"Remodelers Report Slow But Steady First Quarter"

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