Irish House Oddities

In no particular order.

American power systems are different in 2 ways they are 110V, but the way the AC is presented at the socket (both conductors carry potential, at any particular moment, one wire is at +55V, the other is at -55V) which means the voltage is only 55V above (or below) earth potential, so the potential current flow into a person from a US supply is a quarter of the potential current from an Irish socket, so the shock injury risk is a lot lower than with the European concept, where the potential difference from the one live wire to earth is 230V (only one conductor carries potential, the other is effectively earth)

The reason for roof water tanks to to provide a reserve of water in the event of a failure of the supply, and it was also suggested to me that the size of the supply pipe is also reduced compared to other countries to limit the potential flow rate in the event of a leak, or a tap being left open.

A vent through the wall is supposed to be piped, though there were a lot of Celtic Cowboys that didn't pipe them, and another aggravation is that if you have SEAI insulation put in, and the existing vents use 4" pipe, they will require new vents to be put in, as the 4" pipe is fractionally under the minimum size now required under building regulations.

Another hate is the architects that insisted on putting Velux windows in through the roof of dormer bungalows to provide light into the bathroom. They were and are a disaster, they can't be easily cleaned, due to how small they are, and the section above the bathroom ceiling up to the tiles is never properly insulated, so it ends up black with mould in a very short space of time because of the very moist air coming into contact with very cold plasterboard. Opening or closing them is a pain as well unless you have a very long pole or similar to operate the thing, and access to the tunnel to decorate it is a nightmare.

Another hate, waste water pipes from sinks or baths that come out through the wall, and discharge over a 4" gulley with a grid on it, there are 2 issues, the first is that if the grid is in the wrong place, it also ends up getting rain water in it, which it's not supposed to, and second, if the wind blows leaves in on to the grid, it can be blocked, so dirty greasy water ends up going all over the place where its not supposed to.

Door saddle boards. Why, its not a problem to put carpet joiners in under the door, and that way, if you want to move something on castors from one room to another, you don't have to fight to get it over the saddle.

Circuit breaker boards that are not labelled with what circuit or devices are connected to each breaker, so finding out what is connected to a particular breaker becomes a pain to do.

Circuit breaker boards that are too small, so that (for example) all the lights in a house are on one breaker, so a bulb failing in a lounge wall light and tripping the breaker also puts all of the upper floor into darkness.

Plumbing systems where the control valves are not labelled with what they are there for and what system they either control or regulate, so carrying out maintenance or adjusting the heating balance is a lottery.

Central heating pumps that are put in the most inaccessible position imaginable, so that they can't be got to for maintenance or repair without dismantling huge chunks of the system.

Incoming phone line termination boxes that are nowhere near a power socket, and are put in a place that makes it almost impossible to connect a broadband router to them and be able to use it for WiFi connections.

House layouts that are designed so badly that every hot water tap in the place has to waste significant quantities of water before the hot water arrives from the tank.

Toilet flushes that don't, even if you stay there and hold the handle to get a "long" flush.

Most of these are design failings rather than construction issues, but the reality is that there are failings on both the design and the construction side that make for some pretty unfriendly houses.