10 Things In European Homes Americans Think Are Weird
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- Опубліковано 27 тра 2024
- Every culture is different but these are ten things that I, at least, as an American, find pretty odd about homes of different countries in Europe. Europe is home to an amazing history and culture so I'm glad to have had the chance to spend some more time there. None of these things are negatives - just different from what I'm used to so it was fun to explore them. #europe #italy #travel
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One thing I noticed in a lot of countries in Europe is the roller shutters (Rolladen). They offer nice room darkening, and they have a mode where the shutters are down but have small holes to allow air flow.
These small holes really do nothing. I think they are just a biproduct of the manufacturing and linkage system, and never really were intended for airflow.
@@Deses I'm pretty sure it is for airflow and for letting through a little bit of light if needed.
@@Deseswrong. Manufacturers even say they have multiple purposes. One is airflow. Another is security, because you can see motion outside (nothing worse than being unable to see what's going on outside). A third is to allow some light in.
I agree with you. Electric rollers shutters are really really nice, I had them for 17 years in Luxembourg.
I live in Germany, near the French and Luxembourg border. I would agree with most of your statements but in Europe are a lot of different cultures and different habits & languages on a very small area, as you mentioned also. Ocasionally I visit Switzerland, France, Belgium, Netherlands and visited UK three times. I can't remember to see a door knob in the middle. Bidets were common in my grandma's generation (at least here in my area). I'm really glad that most of the european countries teach english as a common language, but I really like the local languages and cultural things, especially food, wine and beer ;-). The washing machine is usually in the basement here (countryside). And air conditioners gets common here more and more. That was the reason why I found this channel :-) Most of the existing walls are made of concrete and bricks but we also use "Trockenbau" for room seperation inside. I really like this channel to see american crafting... Keep it going, have fun!
Here in Brazil, poor or uneducated people don't use a bidet
When we stayed in a rented house in Italy, the kitchen counters were stainless steel with slope to drain into sink. The bottom of the cabinets above counter were wire draining racks, some to hold plates other general stuff. That way you put them on rack to dry at same time you are storing them in cabinet. Saves a Step.
That setup is also popular in Spain, and is very useful. Another clever feature I saw in Italy was in public bathrooms, from before the days of sensor-taps - a foot-operated lever for turning on the taps when washing your hands - your hands are free for washing, you don't have to touch a dirty/soapy tap after rinsing, and there's no chance of leaving the tap running when you leave.
As a European, I find US public toilet cubicles (stalls) creepy af. What’s the point of a door that only hides 60% of your dignity 🫣
If you think Europe is small and heavily populated, you should avoid travel to Asia.
Haha true
@@tollav2 REPLIES
Also in Europe: relatively sparse use of carpeting. Hard wood and vinyl flooring is much more common (in homes).
I installed bidet attachments to the two main bathrooms in our house during the Covid toilet paper scarcity. Now I wouldn't consider living without them.
Here in Brazil, poor or uneducated people don't use a bidet
As an American plumber I would say that Bidet's were quite common in new construction during the 80's as well as some older homes that were from the 40's-50's but never required. Wall hung WC's are rarely used outside of commercial rest rooms where they can easily be mopped underneath.
Those split AC/heat pumps are common in Motels but are becoming popular with homeowners who don't want to go through all the trouble of duct work! At least in area's that have more moderate climates.
Having travelled and lived for short periods around both Europe and the US, when we were remodelling our new (to us, 40 years old) house this year, we made some unusual (for Ireland) choices, to get the best of all worlds: It’s a big house (bungalow) in a rural area - 210 m2/2,260 ft2, so way bigger than the Irish average. It also has concrete walls throughout (although internal walls of wood-framing & drywall are more common in newer houses). We converted the smallest bedroom into a laundry room (with a dryer). There aren’t window screens, but we fitted Mechanical Heat-Recovery Ventilation, to prevent the improved airtightness being an issue, so we never need to open the windows anyway. We kept the lovely type G electrical sockets and plugs of course, but we added a ledge around the edge of the ceilings and ran hidden LED strip lights on them (pendant lights in the centre of the ceiling give poor lighting with horrible shadows). We now have aircon by default, as we didn’t replace the typical/default boiler with radiators and a hot water tank with electric immersion element with new versions - we chose an air-to-air heat-pump with central air ducting in the attic, so we can have heating in winter and cooling in summer. There’s a separate hot water cylinder with the water heated by a small heat-pump built in to the top of it. After hearing about how great bidets are from their many online fans, we fitted a bidet in the bathroom (unusual for Ireland), and we are now also fans of them. All our taps (faucets) are lever-operated mixer taps, thanks to our US experience. Although we’ve used US-style waste disposals, we didn’t choose one, as they seemed hard to keep clean and odour-free, and we have a separate organic refuse (trash) collection for food waste anyway. Our previous (110 year-old) house in the city had a central door knob on its original front door, but you don’t turn them to operate the latch, most of them are just something to pull on as you close the door when you go out. Our new doors do have the dimple-lock keys that you showed in the video, with multiple locking bolts all around the frame. Our friends and neighbours think it’s very good, but they do think some of our choices were a bit weird…
I got an add on bidet last year. It's life changing, and you'll wonder why they are so loathed here in the USA. Ladies, NO MORE SKID MARKS!!!
Window screens are actually quite common in Hungary, some windows are even sold with built in screen and rollershutter. Windows are usually opening to the inside, so fixed screens are okay too. In the UK however, windows are opening to the outside and I had to custom make window screens with hinges, opening to the inside.
I got 2 toilet seat bidets and it's sooo much better. You wipe a lot less and it feels cleaner. I thought it was odd at first but you get used to it quickly in fact i hate no having one since i got soo used to not hving to wipe everything.
A few wipes to dry your bottom and you're good and the tp os usually pretty clean.
Regarding door design (#9) - you may not have noticed but the frame on the right side of the door generally can be opened with an allen wrench type thing to expand the door opening. Particularly useful for moving furniture in/out.
that's a very useful design. Thanks for pointing it out..
Integrated bidet is a game-changer. I love it.
Australia is a bit of a mixture of Europe and the US. We often have solid brick, concrete homes like in Europe, but many of us have reverse cycle ducted air conditioning, like in the US, not split systems. We also have separate laundry rooms for washers and dryers, and the option to hang clothes outside to dry, since many of us have backyards still. We also use fly screens religiously, but we run on 240 V AC. Roller shutters are very popular here because of the heat. I would like to see more bidets here, but at least we use proper air con systems!
I live in Florida where most of the homes built in the last 20 years are concrete block (due to hurricanes).
How about the light switch for the bathroom in the hall outside the bathroom??? I was at a coffee shop peeing in Eastern Europe someone turned off the light
We have a separate bidet in our house. 😂 Lauren originally hated the idea of having it in our master bathroom when we bought the house eight years ago and now she can’t live without it.
I've traveled to many European cities and I have never seen a center door knob. I prefer US plugs because they are not bulky.
Our plugs and outlets are nice and compact, but it's too bad that our appliances are mostly limited to 15 amps. To sell a 20 amp appliance, the manufacturer is required to make one of the prongs on the plug L-shaped, and that won't fit into most outlets, even some with 20 amp breakers (though that's probably a code violation), so most appliance makers don't bother. It makes things like kettles, toasters, toaster ovens and irons a lot slower and wimpier than they have to be.
In the US, garbage disposals are far less common in houses that are on septic systems. In Germany, DIY house wiring is verboten, and can only be done by a licensed electrician. I'm not sure about plumbing. Europe has some really cool plumbing and wiring systems, like the way the handle manifolds, plates for mounting sinks and toilets, etc. We have some of that when you're using PEX, but I'm not sure how common it is in residential new construction. I've seen it in some upper end townhomes I've been through.
Pretty spot on. Also, the smaller beds and showers with half a door. And beans for breakfast was weird....until I got used to them. LOL
3:34 its because its mounted upside down. In europe it should be up-ON, down-OFF. And its difference between hotels, and homes. In czech republic we have separate Switches, and outlets...
Oh i live in europe and i Never saw middle door knob :-D
@@jankindl915*Same here. Might be some UK thatched-roof, Hobbitt-dwelling thing...*
I love the rolling shades in the windows.
The best European plug is the CEE 7/7 which works with all type C, type E and type F sockets all over Europe except the UK, Italy and Switserland. But even in Italy and Switserland they are catching up. What you showed was the Schuko plug which doesn't work everywhere. (BTW Schuko means Schutzkontakt = protected contact).
I watch a lot of American YT Videos, and I'm often stunned by how big the differences are between the US and Germany, especially plumbing, electrical systems and building techniques in general.
In Germany, bidets are not very common. Garbage disposals are not allowed, as we try to keep food waste out of the sewer system to not feed the rats (has something to do with the black plague, I guess). Furthermore, there are considerable differences in Europe regarding all the items you listed. For example, ACs are also quite uncommon in Germany, as we not really need them in our climate. But some newer heat pumps which are used to heat the houses in winter can also cool in summer - but not by air, but by running cool water through the heating system in the floors or walls.
According to some American friends, one of the worst things about Germany is the size of the car parking spaces and garages: Sometimes you have to squeeze out of your properly parked, mid-size car not to damage your car or the car next to it. They told me, the parking spaces in the US are sized like ours for the disabled, about 10 ft wide. A typical parking space in Germany is only about 8.5 ft wide and often only 15 ft long.
Ah, and one thing I totally forgot: In Germany, it is quite common that windows can be tilted to partially open. Something that just does not exist in other parts of the world and even Europe, afaik. We are big fans of fresh air from outside 😄
@@mststgt In Czech, tilting windows are everywhere :) Good thing
@@mststgt*First noticed them in a Stuttgart hotel we were staying at. Now it seems those German-style, lever operated bottom tilt and swing-in opening windows are ubiquitous in most central and eastern European homes. Side benefit is they are very secure when closed. Cheers!*
The wood framing used in the New World also makes renovations much easier.
True, but with stonework, there aren't problems with rot and termites. Wood lasts well in some climates (continental Europe and most of North America have continental climates, so it's dry when it's cold - I've seen centuries-old unpainted woodwork on buildings in northern Italy), whereas in Ireland (temperate, maritime climate), it's extremely damp - weather with temperatures just above freezing combined with humidity of 90-100% is common all winter, so unpainted/untreated wood only lasts a year or two.
Screens in windows really depend on the latitude you live on. In Spain, being warmer than the north, has more bugs than, say, Finland. I guess it's the same in the US, where in Florida are a must but I don't think Washington (the state) require them as much.
*Fair assessment. If you live below the 38th Parallel you best have screens.*
I like the solid stone/concrete/brick walls. Seems to offer more resistance to fire and tornadoes and hurricanes.
Definetely! Not to mention it has more mass and doesn't really affect fast outside temperature changes. That's why we don't need AC so much.
I love this video!!!! When I came to US, I was shocked there were no bidets, something it was hard to adjust. Wet wipes became norm but not the same at all. Love the bug nets but would prefer the outdoor blinds that roll up and down the window. The door knob in the middle is because easy to push heavy doors. I totally love this post. Thanks!
You’re amazing thank for nice videos 🙏♥️
I can't begin to guess how many locksets I've installed/relaced that have 2 3/4 or 2 3/8 inch backsets. Those center mounted locksets must have a hellava latch. 🤣👍🍻
5:43 Wait, so 74F is about 23 degrees celcius. That sounds like a perfect temperature! When you say you turn the air con on to get it just right, what is your ‘just right’? Hotter or colder?
*As an American am guessing colder. 22C/72F or so. In a properly insulated home 71 or 72 is the perfect year-round HVAC setting. Cheers!*
You gave bathroom things a lot of attention here. Is the drain in the bottom of the toilets larger? It seemed so to me when I was there, though of course I didn't measure it. So many times it has occurred to me that so much frustration and grief could be avoided if our toilet drains were even just a quarter inch larger, if you get my drift.
They used to be bigger when toilets had 5 gallon flushes. Now they are limited to 1.6 gallons in the USA, so everything has to be smaller, and sometimes it takes more than one flush to get rid of everything.
Doors are broken eveywhere. The dead bolt should be top and bottom and in the frame and extend into the door. The handle on the left or right.
This allows power to the locks and allows the lock to pull the door against the gasket making them both more secure and more efficient.
11:08 that is a thing of southern Europe and I as a German hate it. No precision whatsoever closing the door.
*Yep. South of Bolzano is where my travels cease.*
Most English houses have a drying closet, with shelf’s above the water heater. This is we’re we hang our washing inside.
I live in the UK what’s A/C ? Our climate says we dont need it…bug screens ? We dont need them…
I had a ceiling fan and we never used it…when we tested it we were showered with dust,so i took them out..
I admire the square footage you have in america ..big rooms nd big gardens…
The large toilet flushers are so that you can use the back of your hand to flush, so that you don't transfer the poo onto the button from your finger
I live in the netherlands and I throw all my yucky stuff down the sink. No garbage disposal and it never clogged somehow. So I won't stop doing it until it does
The most unusual at least for me is toilet just being a hole in the floor that one Squats over to use. ( France, Thailand and ? ? )
For sure. I've seen those in India too. I've never actually used one but just seeing them makes me grateful for traditional toilets.
I have had a bidet for a little over a year now and wow, it's been great. Not flushing paper down let along purchasing toilet paper. It took right at a week for me to get accustomed to having the water squirt, but oh yea.......I feel clean!!!
I think the type J (Swiss) Plug is the Best, because its almost as safe as the UK one but way more Practical / Space efficient.
Washing machines are in the kitchen or bathroom because homes are much smaller and cannot fit a dedicated laundry room.
What you call door knobs is more a door handle, that is it does not activate the locking mechanism, it is just a way to push or pull on the door.
*Also greatly simplifies water source and drain.*
The thicker walls in Europe is soundproof and that is better for privacy.
and better Isolating --> Less need for ACs
As an europian Type F/Schucko plugs is just dumb (just as Type E and Type C and so all the reversible plugs). Yes the plug is reversible, yes you can't touch the live wire/pin (one of the safest plug) but because it is a reversible plug half of the time the phase is flowing on the neutral wire to the appliances, so you didn't know you plugged in the connector phase correctly or not.
#8: never seen door knob on the center of the door.
Why is it important how the neutral wire is connected to your appliance? A lights bulb doesn't care, neither does a washing machine, kitchen robot, drill, etc. So please enlighten me (if you want).
I know of no appliance which takes neutral into account.
3:03 I think you forgot to put up a card for your type G plug video. I replayed it to see if I just missed it and it still didn’t come up. I scrolled your video feed until I eventually did find the video.
I spoke too soon. It’s at the end. LOL!
I had to look, because I would’ve forgotten to find it by the end of the video (if you hadn’t mentioned it there). LOL!
You _did_ point to the corner of the screen at the timestamp above, so you can’t totally blame me. 🤣
I bought a travel bidet - basically a squirt bottle with an angled spout. Better than nothing!
We didn't have screens when I was stationed in England, but we didn't bugs.
I think it depends on location. I‘ve been in Euro cities where streets are clean and less trees so there’s less bugs. But I’ve stayed in more rural Euro areas where there are more bugs
No Mozzies here in England to speak of, save for the middle summer fortnight.
@@JP_TaVeryMuch*One mozzie is one too many. Cheers!*
Ha ha! That was funny, really!
So many things you say are common are just modern design.
I live by myself and I have a laundry room, a 2700 sq. ft house, no window screens even if we have a lot of mosqitos in the summer. Most European countries use the EU-plug (Type F), toilets with wall mounted controls are ofte found in hotels and restaurants. At homes the flush control is on top of the water tank, sometimes divided in two depending on what you have done - less water for #1 and more for #2. AC and mini splits are more common in warmer countries, not necessary here in Northern Sweden. Door handles placed in the middle of the door are modern design and most seen in hotels, not in homes. I have three toilets and two showers, one kitchen and on pentry - but absolutely no bidet.
Did you ever leave the hotel room in Italy? The things you say are common in Europe are things you mostly can see in modern designed hotel rooms.
I like your videos, but this one was just hilarious funny. ;-)
It is not only in Europe, also countries in Asia in general have the same systems as Europe.
You titled the video wrong, but I guess "how to write off your entire European vacation" doesn't have the same ring to it.
*Ha!, ha! You caught him! All YTers use this gimmick.*
The title and thumbnail have me cracking up laughing! 😂 I thought the same visiting Hungary.
*Ha!, ha! So true. However we do have window screens. Cheers!*
Sorry but it definitely is common to have a laundry room and not have the washer drier in the kitchen. and
So not the case at all unless you live in an apartment or very small house and then you might and usually have a common laundry room if living in an apartment. I am from the UK but live in Sweden so have never had a washing machine in my kitchen. But I agree with you that the UK plug set up in my opinion is much better and feels safer. 👍👍 To be honest you are very much generalising and all countries in UK and Europe are actually very different depending on where you live. My house both in the UK and in Sweden is around 2500sqft and what you also forget is it is different living in a capital city compared to out of town etc. Size is also normally down to prices as typically you will find places like the UK, France etc more expensive for homes on average and especially the main cities. Try building a 5000 sqft home in and around London and be prepared for mega costs similar or if not more to New York or LA. So I understand what you say but it is a very poor generalisation.
I'm from the US, but I'm guessing some of these observations are about European hotels and not residential buildings. Hotels in the US usually have mini-splits in each room, solid locks, etc.
*Agreed. My German grandparents had their laundry room in the basement where potable water heater also resided. Next room over was the oil tank and boiler for floor heating. Cheers!*
it really isnt common place in europe the way i understand it is that its more common in the uk as mentipned above, i also alwaus thought it kind of gross to see the laundry been done in a kitchen, most times someone had no laundryroom the washer is placed in the bathroom with in a lot of cases the dryer stacked on top or beside it.. my grandparents had their laundryset set up in the garageand later in the gardenshed(it was aswell a small brick building seperate from their house)
ah i misread the upper comment😅 so you acctually are from the uk my bad, so its also not common place there good to know bc i was under that impression before thank u for clearing that misconception up for me
I know a plumber who is a big proponent of bidets. He keeps trying to convince me to get a bidet toilet seat (since I don’t have room for a stand alone bidet). But I don’t have electric near it and don’t want an unsightly extension cord running across the walls. Perhaps you can do a video about these bidet toilet seats and how to deal with the problem of not having electric nearby
You need neither power nor a hot water hookup for a bidet. Cold water not only will do, but if I were ever to want to deviate from the cold tap water, I would want a water CHILLER. Think about it.
@@jfruser I would imagine I would not prefer a sudden stream of cold water on my lower regions in winter. I don’t even wash my hands with cold water in winter. I live in the NE of US so winters are cold. Also electric is for heating the seat as well as water and also the gust of warm air for drying.
@@bereasonable8018 You can imagine all you want, butt my (hands on?) experience says otherwise. In any case, a cheap non-powered cold tap water bidet runs the princely sum of $35 or so last time I dropped some cash on one, so not a big risk, home improvement-wise. Good luck, either way, and I hope it comes out alright in the end.
@@jfruser The cheap tap system is 90% of the benefits for 5% of the expense and hassle. If you don't like it, easy to remove.
Funnel shaped toilet bowls with just a small bit of water in the bottom outlet in Europe...Your poo sticks to the dry parts of the funnel before it gets to the bottom and leaves a smelly stuck on streak. US toilets are bowl shaped so poo drops in the water, not to the sides.(Also squat toilets but that is another story)
*Ah, the good ol' Turkish Bombsight.*
#7... where is the food thrown to the disposal going to? is there something that captures that?
*Simple. It goes down the drain with everything else.*
Like many British homes, we have separate hot and cold taps (fawcetts?) in our bathroom both on the washbasin and the bathtub. Air conditioning wouldn't be something most people here would have because we don't have the kind of climate where it would be used very often. Also, electricity here is I suspect way more expensive, which is another reason we hang most of our laundry on a drier in the garden even though we have an electric one.
Heat-pumps are helping to change those (until now, fairly realistic) reasons for not having aircon and dryers. Air-to-air heat-pumps are cheaper to run, and provide cooling as well as heating (with solar PV, you can run the cooling function for free in summer). Likewise heat-pump dryers are a lot cheaper to run than traditional ones, and we actually have a hot water cylinder which is heated by its own mini heat pump - uses about 650 watts instead of the almost 3,000 watts of a traditional element.
I've never understood why the British don't use modern faucets with a single spout that blends the hot and cold. They're been around for years and years, and here in Canada I haven't seen the separate hot and cold faucets since I was a very small child (I'm in my sixties now). You're right about electrical costs: I believe you're paying about half a Euro per kWh, while I'm paying only 12 cents. Yet Canadians still whine and complain about the high cost of electricity!
@@paulmaxwell8851 We are seeing more mixer taps in the UK. The reason thay were less common is perhaps because the hot water came via a static tank that wasn't always clean enough to hold water fit to drink while cold water came directly from the main supply. We are indeed paying way too much for electricity - but in pounds rather than Euros. Brits tend to economise with electricity for that reason.; we can't afford to waste it
@@paulmaxwell8851*God Bless Manitoba Hydro!*
*UK is Going Green by driving your middle-class into penury. Cheers!*
In northern california we dont really need air con, so alot of people dont have it.
One European innovation (though many of the early examples were made by the U. S. company, Bendix) I'd like to see in the USA is the all-in-one-drum washer-dryer. It seems silly to have to get up in the middle of the night just to move the clothes from the washer to the dryer, and to have to worry about them getting smelly if they aren't moved promptly.
*Eh? Decades ago my grandmother had one as you describe, Miele, Bosch, etc. She hated it on general user-hostility grounds. My grandfather because it was a constant repair PITA. Went back to separates, no regrets. Cheers!*
In UK & Ireland there is a cupboard with a hot water tank, and a few shelves around it called a hot press. The house's heating system heats water and it's stored in the tank but you can also switch on an immersion heating element to heat the water. It's mainly a thing from older houses.
There was always the fear of "did I switch the immersion off?!" when out of the house as it kills the electricity bill lol.
The Irish name is indeed the Hot Press (a press is an old Irish term for a cupboard), but they are known as Airing Cupboards in the UK. BTW, a typical electric immersion element is around 3,000 watts, so with daytime electricity prices being almost €0.50 a KWh, leaving it on for a few hours can add up to a few € if you're careless.
Is there really a washing machine in "many european kitchens"? I don't visit homes around europe but i do live in europe and i have never seen a washing machine in the kitchen. Only of it's a summer home or small apartments in the biggest cities where there just isn't room for it. Not in typical houses.
And as for door knobs in the middle of the door, same thing. I have never seen that before.
You need to travel more. There is a lot to be learned from other cultures.
Ceiling fans were rare in the U.S. until the 1970s when they became a fad and got installed everywhere and remained popular ever since.
*Edit that to say "...rare in some parts of the US, specifically north of the 38th Parallel... and you'll be spot-on. Cheers!*
@@blackrifle6736 True, I had forgotten that they remained in use from the pre-air conditioning days in parts of the U.S.. Those old systems had a style that is still hard to match and a durability that kept them in service.
I totally understand why homes in Europe are Smaller than the homes here in the US and therefore appliances and many other things that are in the home are smaller compared to the US. But because a toilet and a bidet both use water I don’t understand why they are separate appliances it takes up more room it seems to me they could be easily combined into one appliance.
Maybe now, but not on the old times. Still it is way easier to clean yourself and teach your children hygiene in a bidet.
*The Japanese have made that into a science all its own. TOTO, for example...*
Many houses in the US have solid walls too
I don't think the thing in the thumbnail is a bidet... It doesn't shoot water to clean you off. How do you use it? Is it a poop smear and rub device and you just wash your hands afterwards? Couldn't even find the answer on Google while using a bathroom in Portugal. Thankfully they had toilet paper.
*Yikes!*
I was waiting for the tiny house &c. point. For the tiny house, I raise you the tiny american back yard. Tomayto/Tomarto, that obscene Italian loo switch equates to your fat light switches which in the UK are tiny in comparison. Fans and A/C aren't needed for long enough in England at least and for a through draft, we open a downstairs door and the highest positioned window at the same time.
Who's going to be first to say WE'RE THE BEST or equivalent!? Can't be long!
Thanks for a bit of light relief.
10 Things In American Homes Europeans Think Are Weird
Right vs left hand driven vehicles.
Guess I live in another Europe then 🙄.
*Not Italy, then...*
Nice Vid ... however, there is an annoying "echo" in your recording. Could not watch it all due to the poor audio quality. I never noticed it before ... but maybe it's always that way?
Watch the beginning and the end.
*Hard-surface reflections are difficult to filter out in post-production.*
Weirdest thing is the German toilet poop shelf.
They are no longer installed and are now almost extinct.
*Roger that! Back in the day, Erica Jong humourously explained the reason for that once-popular German shelf in her novel "Fear of Flying" (Angst vorm Fliegen). Simply put the shelf allows for minute examination of...*
Come visit the Netherlands and review some modern Dutch houses. They are the best. :)
Excellent video Brother. The South should build concrete homes with all the hurricanes & tornadoes.
As a european I'm saying: no, it's not an excellent video. He has probably seen a tiny portion of Europe and those were also tourist places, and from that generalizes everything. About 80% what he mentioned, I didn't even know they do it like that in other countries of Europe... and I've visited a couple other countries here.
@@M_Andras I respect your opinion? Which country are you from? I've seen a lot of the things he speaks of and I've visited Germany, Hungary, & lived in Turkey (shares the European & Asian continents).
@@willmallory9085 I'm from west Hungary and I see daily a lot of homes around (including Austria).
@@M_Andras Szia Brother. My Bride is from East Hungary (Nograd). Beautiful country!
@@willmallory9085 Yes, it is, but every country has his own beauty!
Welcome to Europe my friend!
*Well, somewhere in Italy anyway...*
Sound quality is awful. Not acceptable for such a large chnnel.
12:37 post prod is a thing. All pro video editors have an IA module to remove any noise or echo. Echo in particular is very easy to remove even without IA
You should see the German toilets with a poop shelf
As a European, I can say you are right on most things, except #1 :-) You are probably visiting tourist spots in Europe and not suburbs. Those are usually more densely populated and expensive; therefore, condos are smaller and the washer is in the kitchen. It is actually worse in the US when you think about it in the same tourist locations like NYC, Chicago, and San Francisco. For the first 15 years, I lived in the US in various places in SF Bay Area and Chicago I never had my own washer or dryer, but I had to use a coin-operated one in the building. Some buildings don't even have a common washer/dryer, and people have to take their laundry to laundromats. At least in Europe, everyone has their own washer or a combo, even if some smaller condos have to keep it in the kitchen (it is usually installed in the bathroom). God, I hated those coin-operated machines... :-)
Exactly. A washer dryer unit saves a lot of time and bother as well as cuts down others getting your laundry. It's certainly safer than toting laundry down outside stairs with the risk of slipping and falling.
I had some friends living in San Francisco and the landlord prohibited washing machines because the water pressure was so low due to the elevation. I don't know how common that problem is in SF, but it seems that it would be more likely in hilly places.
Where did you see doorknobs in the middle of doors? In my 35 years, I've never seen a doorknob in the middle of a door.
Bide is just plain logic. You wash your hands with water so why would you prefer paper for your butt? Don't you want to be properly clean?
European standards would not pass home inspections, nor would they sell. The only thing I like was the door hinge.
I wonder if those door locks are because the citizens have no other way to protect themselves or their possessions...
It is only about theft. No need to protect ourselves because nobody has guns. Never felt the need to protect myself, this is in the Netherlands.
*Well, that's one reason...*
Does a door lock help when each and everyone has guns?
Seems the homicide rate in the US is 6 higher than Europe (5.6 vs 0.9 per 100.000).
Door locks helps against theft.
Not against guns.
I heard from a real estate agent that a group of Germans she was showing houses to were amazed that used houses came with used toilets. They said that in Germany people take their toilets with them when they move away. They would definitely be installing new toilets if they bought houses in America. Is that true?
As a German who has moved several times myselve and also helped other People move: No! We do not take our toilet with us, when we move out.
@@vexrath You should have said yes. You all have a dedicated toilet with your name on it, and you bring them to the grave with you. :)
*Nah. Someone is punking you and you believed them.*
im from belgium and the toilets are not the same toilets as italy
I have a bidet and people look at me like im insane..,bidet all the way,,plus I can shower less..
The dude making this video has just seen a small part of Europe. I see what he is saying might be accurate for the place he is staying at, but to generalize these thing as all Europe is not fair. A lot of the things on this list is not accurate of where I live in Europe.
Riguardo il tritarifiuti, in italia fino al 2008 era proibito.
*Grazie per questo. Molto interessante da imparare. Ancora vietata nella maggior parte dei paesi a nord delle Alpi. Saluti!*
I have to ask... What in the world is going on with the PVC plumbing and the foil tape @ 6:38??? It looks like you have a leaky sewage drain above a TV and the Y pipe doesn't make any sense. Is that a vent? Vents don't normally need a sweeping turn and drains don't typically have a Y in that orientation.
Well---How do you use a bidet? Maybe use a blow up doll to illustrate? Seriously.
You left out closets or lack there of.
*Yep. No German-designed home has them.*
eww laundry in the kitchen? Not for me
It's only common in cities where the houses are tightly packed together and space is scarce. I think everybody would _prefer_ a dedicated laundry room but when there's just no more square meters left you'll see people resort to putting a combination machine in the kitchen rather than lugging your laundry all the way to the laundromat.
*Agreed. However, keep in mind the example here is an Italian vacation guest residence, probably a condo or apartment block not a single-family home. Big difference.*
Major difference is American houses are made of cardborad, and european houses are made of bricks :D
We have a lot of national parks, so many areas are similar to Europe.
Crazy timing, I was just talking yesterday about how US homes were toy homes that a fire/tornado/you name it can completely annihilate in one unfortunate event. But there is still one thing that I actually have to concede: it is so much easier to do some electrical adjustments, additions and to decorate on walls when you have to deal wood and drywall instead of bricks, cinder blocks and stone. Unless you're willing/able to add fake walls on top and lose space for this. Not worth it, including financially, in the majority of cases. I'd rather have my TV setting cables run hidden behind a drywall than having to use cable trunking, true, but oh well.
As for the rest, apart from space, which is always something people would appreciate to have more of obviously, I'm actually pretty ok with how things are here. Especially the fact that we're mostly not built around cars but people. That's such a different way to live.
This is true, but some trim into/tapped to the wall might be uglier but my god is it easier haha.
To be fair the US has a lot more tornados, period. Same with other catastrophic events. Wood is easily availqble, easily shipped. Most of Eurpe was built in preindustrial times and that influenced its expansion. International building codes have only recently begun to approve strawbale, cob and other atypical building methods. Thats on industrialized big business...
Being in the center of TWO World Wars [bombing] has a factor in homes being formed out of concrete.
That and being so on top of each other, one kitchen fire could wipe out an entire complex.
A question about bidets -
When you're done rinsing, do you just walk around with a wet butt?
Do you dry off with a blow dryer?
Are the more advanced ones like a car wash with soap and brushes involved?
Wouldn't a Water-Pick do the same thing?
Where's the advantage? As far as my #2 habits, it would be useful only once a month.
They have a built in dryer.
Europe being tiny/cramped is so real. That was the most stark difference I felt.
#10 is called Matchbox House, which unfortunately not safe when someone is shooting a house. Besides the metric system, Americans should also adopt the Bidet system to totally eliminate poop stain on their underwears.
I am European and am almost 51 years old. I have NEVER seen a doorknob in the middle of a door.
For the rest, you really don't need to have everything ridiculous big. It is bad for the environment to have obknoxious big cars. It is really not required to have 4 bathrooms in a house. We managed to live fine with one bathroom with 4 people. If people wine about having to share a bathroom with their children, they are just dramaqueens.
Having huge open plan rooms is also bad for the environment. Good luck with the gas or electricity bill after heating the intire house instead of just the spaces that you actually use.
There are few situations where airconditioning is really required. It is comfortable but 9 out of 10 times a fan will do just fine. If one complains about not having an airconditioner even in a mild climate, that person is just a spoiled snob.
*Nah, but we now know where yer head is placed. Must be tough having only one bellybutton lense to see through...*
Americans gotta get with bidets. All I'm gonna say.
I didn't vote for Trump, but then I didn't vote for Bidet either.
#4 and #10 correspond: if you have proper walls, you have better insulation and less need for air conditioning. North of the alps you hardly find ac in private homes because no one bothers.
*Not true. That's a pretty broad brush you're painting with...*