we took the kitchen when we moved out

[edwardh1]

Possibly off topic, and I admit I watch too much HGTV international but whatever caused the european practice of taking the kitchen appliances (and in many cases the cabinets too)with you when you move? whats that about? I see that a lot on the shows. even in new rennovations, the kitchen is stripped. If its a european thing, what kept it from getting started in the US?

to me when moving maybe take the refrigerator but pull out the cabinets? never same with the usually old dishwasher etc. anyone have any "idee" as we say in the South?

[Jim Katen]

I think you can blame it on Ikea and modular cabinets.

The practice doesn't seem to have hit the Pacific Northwest yet. I can't say that I've seen people take their cabinets with them yet.

[John Kogel]

We are better consumers, so we want new stuff when we move. We buy another house, and likely as not will throw out the last occupant's appliances because it's the wrong color, and buy new anyway.

Home ownership is really expensive in Europe, so the majority of people rent all their lives. If you are moving out of a rental, you take everything you bought with you. I'm told Europeans like click-plank flooring, because they will even take the living room floor when they move.

[Tom Raymond]

You haven't been in enough foreclosures. I've seen doors and windows removed and furnaces taken. One house, a very angry individual that took a chain saw and removed the exterior wall of the bathroom, seems the bathtub wouldn't fit through the door.

[kurt]

Raymond's and my experience are similar. The kitchen is always gone, plumbing fixtures, carpet, hardware.

I've even seen them take the copper out of the walls.

European kitchens are entirely different than ours; they snap into tracks, and are intended to be removed.

[Mark P]

I lived in Germany for 4+ years, I don't know about the kitchen thing (my focus in life was elsewhere), but none of the houses had closets because taxs we in part based on the # of rooms you had and a closet was considered a room.

[hausdok]

I learned about all that in language school and I'll be damned if I can remember the details 30 years later. They even have a specific term for it. What little I do remember is that you can purchase or rent homes two ways - with or without fixtures and wardrobes.

When you think about it, from a landlord's perspective it's a good deal. You aren't responsible for the cabinet door that falls off because the hinges are worn; that ceiling fixture that gets broken isn't your responsibility, the kitchen stove that fails isn't your responsibility to fix, etc.. Renters move out, they sweep it out, you come in prime and paint it with white paint and the next guy in is welcome to paint it any way he wants and decorate it any way he wants. No security deposit disputes over worn carpets, etc.. Same for a builder - the builder doesn't have to listen to a persnickity wife complain about the choice of electrical fixtures, faucets, etc.. You sell them the home and they're presented with a blank canvas to create whatever they want.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Jim Katen]

You haven't been in enough foreclosures. I've seen doors and windows removed and furnaces taken. One house, a very angry individual that took a chain saw and removed the exterior wall of the bathroom, seems the bathtub wouldn't fit through the door.

That's very foolish. It wreaks havoc on the bar and sprocket, to say nothing of the chain.

[hausdok]

You haven't been in enough foreclosures. I've seen doors and windows removed and furnaces taken. One house, a very angry individual that took a chain saw and removed the exterior wall of the bathroom, seems the bathtub wouldn't fit through the door.

Yeah,

I had one like that a while back. The only thing the guy didn't take was the gas fireplace. Guess he couldn't figure out how to take it without the chimney chase on the end of the building coming down. He stripped the house down to the drywall and even took the piping.

His possessions were stacked on the front lawn where the Sheriff's department had supervised a crew from the millionaire's club that removed everything before they locked the door.

As I was working my way through the trash littering what remained, I couldn't help but notice several notices from the IRS warning the guy that if he didn't respond to their past letters he was facing seizure of all of his assets.

Guess he decided to sell off everything he could to pay his way to the next place and left all of his assets in the house for the IRS to have. I doubt if they lasted long on that front lawn. Several times during the inspection cars slowed down so folks could rubberneck and assess what was there and a couple of folks actually stopped, got out of their cars, walked up to the edge of the property and stood there on the public sidewalk staring at all of that stuff - undoubtedly mentally noting the location of everything they intended to take the minute I was done and my vehicle had turned the corner.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Jim Baird]

I don't watch TV, thank the Lord.