Irish House Oddities

Effects · 22-10-2015 7:28pm

username2013 wrote: »

In Ireland and the UK, they use 240. So I think that is why you can have sockets in bathrooms there, a shock from 120 won't kill you. Not an electrician though so could be wrong on that one.

We use 230 volts in Ireland.

Effects · 22-10-2015 7:29pm

Strumms wrote: »

I always thought they preferred to come in the back door when nobody was looking.

Different age groups, different rules.

gizmo555 · 22-10-2015 7:52pm

amdublin wrote: »

The front door that is NEVER used. Like never. Even if a stranger is calling around the back they go.

God rest him, the only time I saw my father-in-law use the front door of his house was when we carried him through it on the day of his funeral.

Ray Palmer · 22-10-2015 7:52pm

username2013 wrote: »

In north america and europe(i think), appliances use 120 volts where as in in Ireland and the UK, they use 240. So I think that is why you can have sockets in bathrooms there, a shock from 120 won't kill you. Not an electrician though so could be wrong on that one.

Obviously not aware of how electricity works. The current is what kills you not the voltage. American standards are more dangerous. Sockets in bathrooms do kill people quite regularly in the US.

The reason for so much danger in electricity in bathrooms is you are more easily electrocuted when you are wet then there is also the fact you can be in water.

The US standards on certain things are way lower than the rest of the world. Most of their housing is grossly inefficient an relies on their cheap fuel. Some of the older buildings in the US have weird conversions. My brother lived in a place where the bathroom had two doors and you had to go through it to get to the kitchen and through the kitchen to one of the bedrooms.

MightyMunster · 22-10-2015 7:54pm

Eutow wrote: »

Simple. Pour it down the sink beside the one that is full of dishes.

Exactly, never get a single sink if you can help it!

Buona Fortuna · 22-10-2015 7:55pm

Strumms wrote: »

I always thought they preferred to come in the back door when nobody was looking.

Yeah, don't look just grit your teeth

Azalea · 22-10-2015 8:26pm

Not odd but obviously very Irish - all the GAA trophies and medals and rosettes, along with first holy communion photos, in a cabinet in the front room.

KungPao · 22-10-2015 9:22pm

Vents.

The Irish version of ventilation is to smash through the wall and leave a massive hole for the northerly howling wind to rush through.

The main problem (apart from them being unnecessarily large) is usually it's:

hole in external wall
cavity being filled with freezing air
hole in internal wall

Why they don't have a pipe/duct through the wall is beyond me.

meeeeh · 22-10-2015 10:19pm

amdublin wrote: »

You see this in the country rather than Dublin (well I've never seem it in Dublin):

The front door that is NEVER used. Like never. Even if a stranger is calling around the back they go.

I've no clue why culchies bother with a front door at all.

I use front door because I park there, my partner uses back door because he parks there and family or people who have our gate code just come to the kitchen patio door and knock. I think the door use is more dependent on how much space you have around the house and it's not just Irish thing.

What puzzles me is the water pressure in Ireland. Are the mains on the continent more pressurized or something? And yes the separate taps for hot and cold.

The liberal use of carpet is another thing. When we we're building my precondition was I don't want to see one bit of carpet in the house.

However hot press is a brilliant invention.

Ruu · 22-10-2015 10:21pm

Azalea wrote: »

Not odd but obviously very Irish - all the GAA trophies and medals and rosettes, along with first holy communion photos, in a cabinet in the front room.

Waterford Crystal (or Cavan to a lesser extent) for something or another that can't be remembered.

Nekarsulm · 22-10-2015 10:35pm

Ruu wrote: »

Waterford Crystal (or Cavan to a lesser extent) for something or another that can't be remembered.

I am mates with a guy who was a sales rep. for Cavan crystal. He was responsible for organising and delivering an award bowl for Gay Byrne for some award or another. The first one he brought was dismissed by Gaybo because the inscription was sand blasted on. So he got another identical bowl made and this one had the words cut into the glass. On arrival in RTE he was made wait for a half hour outside Gaybo's office, then was called in and told " leave it over there"
No other conversation occurred so he had to turn on his heel and leave. Gaybo never looked up from the document he was reading.

He made sure they never submitted another piece of crystal to RTE. He reckoned dealing with Gaybo was too high a price for publicity!

Buona Fortuna · 22-10-2015 10:37pm

Reading this thread, poor water supply, poor insulation, poor sound proofing, poor ventilation - you might be surprised that had a building industry at all.

All of my family are connected (one way or another, or retired from) the building industry. All of my neighbours on 3 sides are or were builders. Personally I struggle putting some Ikea furniture together but ....

meeeeh · 22-10-2015 10:42pm

Buona Fortuna wrote: »

Reading this thread, poor water supply, poor insulation, poor sound proofing, poor ventilation - you might be surprised that had a building industry at all. ..

I think a lot of it is because the climate is milder here. Single glazing is a lot less bearable if the temperature in winter regurarly reaches minus ten or more.

colm_mcm · 22-10-2015 11:27pm

JasonS246 wrote: »

I've been waiting for this thread to appear.

I've been living in Ireland for just over 6 months now and Irish housing is utterly atrocious. Seriously Ireland, what the hell? Did the architects / builders all have a couple of pints before arriving at work?
As the OP mentioned, what is up with all the hollow walls? You can hear everything your neighbour or even room mates do and trying to sleep in a place like that is unpleasant. This was the most miserable 5 months of my life.

The layout of most of the places I've seen. It smacks of insanity, I've seen houses where you need to walk past your neighbour to go to the bathroom / shower. WTH??!

Some units had a bathroom basin sitting in the middle of a room, literally in the middle.

Places are so stupidly small (two steps and you've reached the other wall) but you can be damn sure someone will try rent it out for 900 quid.

Flooring not properly flush with the walls. I could feel a breeze coming from between the floor and walls.

Immersion tanks that screech at you if you use the water for too long.

Wooden floors are great for insulation, but please do it properly! Even a Ninja would struggle to walk across these wooden floors quietly.

Privacy in your own home or yard? Bwahaha! Completely non-existent.

Look, I like living in Ireland, but the housing situation is my one and only complaint about Ireland. It truly is terrible and this is from someone who lived in deepest darkest Africa...

I think you need to up your rent budget

the groutch · 22-10-2015 11:27pm

That press/room under the stairs.

Nichard Dixon · 22-10-2015 11:42pm

secondrowgal wrote: »

Washing machines in the kitchen (where there is no utility room/space under the stairs).

My friends on the continent cannot understand this - dirty washing in the kitchen, with food, uggghhh.

most of the dirt on the washing is food!

The US standards on certain things are way lower than the rest of the world. Most of their housing is grossly inefficient an relies on their cheap fuel. Some of the older buildings in the US have weird conversions. My brother lived in a place where the bathroom had two doors and you had to go through it to get to the kitchen and through the kitchen to one of the bedrooms.

In fairness the they've reduced the average number electrocutions each year caused by hand-held hair dryers falling or being pulled into water from 18 to about 4. This is probably more than the number of judicial electrocutions.

steddyeddy · 23-10-2015 12:01am

The child of Prague used to freak me out.

HalloweenJack · 23-10-2015 12:13am

My Spanish GF had a list of oddities about Irish houses when she visited with me.

Can't remember them all but they included:
The toilet - something about having a handle in most places as opposed to buttons
The shower - being electric and immersion
The stairs - steps were too narrow

riclad · 23-10-2015 12:52am

Since 2000 some houses were badly built, low quality sound insulation .
Thats not an oddity ,thats bad building standard,s and lack of inspection standards .
Some old houses have very small bathrooms,
just big enough for a wc,shower and a sink .
So what happened is builders built house,s with very little sound insulation ,
there were never inspected by anyone .
Someone signs a form this building is up to standard.
IT costs money to install proper sound insulation ,
when walls are plastered over it looks fine ,
until you live there and can hear the neighbours switching on the kettle .
i,D be very wary of buying anything built from 2000 to 2008.

23-10-2015 1:12am

meeeeh wrote: »

The liberal use of carpet is another thing. When we we're building my precondition was I don't want to see one bit of carpet in the house.

Don't get people aversion to carpet, I much prefer it to wooden floors etc. In fact in my home place they changed most floors to wood years ago but I faught tooth and nail to keep carpet in my room and succeeded. I'm moved out of home a good few years (back home a lot of weekends though) now and the carpet is still there but they are talking about it again, I'm fighting it again and worst case is they will recarpet my room. I refuse to allow them to put wooden floors there.

The main bathroom also has carpet and to be honest I love it. Basically nowhere else I've been has a carpet bathroom and it always feels crap under foot, I love the carpeted bathroom at home.

wil · 23-10-2015 1:18am

Buona Fortuna wrote: »

Reading this thread, poor water supply, poor insulation, poor sound proofing, poor ventilation - you might be surprised that had a building industry at all.

All of my family are connected (one way or another, or retired from) the building industry. All of my neighbours on 3 sides are or were builders. Personally I struggle putting some Ikea furniture together but ....

Builder relatives myself too, oh the tales they could tell.
Yea, we had a great building industry. Anyone who could rub 2 bricks together called themselves a builder.

We have more dog wardens than building inspectors, yet still have our fair share of freshly turded streets. Cowboy dog wardens.

DivingDuck · 23-10-2015 1:19am

Raiden Odd Student wrote: »

The main bathroom also has carpet and to be honest I love it. Basically nowhere else I've been has a carpet bathroom and it always feels crap under foot, I love the carpeted bathroom at home.

Tiled floors in bathrooms are wretched. The shocking cold of the tile underfoot when you need to visit the loo in the middle of the night is horrible, and wet tile is so slippery it's a hazard. I can't stand the thought of having carpet either, though, for hygiene reasons.

The man who invents the easily cut-to-size, machine-washable carpet tile will be a millionaire.

The Randy Riverbeast · 23-10-2015 1:36am

Candie wrote: »

Two taps, the whole immersion thing, and the existence in older houses of The Boxroom.

A boxroom is a tiny room that's too small to be a bedroom and too large to be a cupboard. It often has a bed stuffed into it, two sides of which are
jammed into the walls, and there's perhaps one metre clearance around the edges. An inexplicable use of space.

Carpeted bathrooms are still to be found in Ireland too, usually old houses in the sticks. Because you really need something absorbent and unwashable around a toilet!

The boxroom in older houses? It was a staple of the 3 bed house in the past decade.

wil · 23-10-2015 1:56am

The Randy Riverbeast wrote: »

The boxroom in older houses? It was a staple of the 3 bed house in the past decade.

You mean the 2 bed semi-detached.

As for carpet lovers

, horrible food, dust, flesh ridden dirt magnets, glue carpet to the soles of your feet if you need, or wear slippers. Wooden floors so much cleaner, easier, brighter.

KungPao · 23-10-2015 2:13am

Just for another view...

I have been in Brazil, and I lived in a swanky part of town in a new build apartment block.

Terrible sound insulation (made infinitely worse as all windows are open most of the time), can't drink the tap water - need a dude on a motorbike to deliver it. No AC as standard - climate is hot but not THAT hot...I was melting though. No ceiling fan in our place...

However, great water pressure...toilet flushed straight from the mains...no cistern.

Gas bill was split between all residents...very low. No heating obviously - just for cooking.

Showers there are a bit dodge. Basically a shoddy electrical shower head connected to the overhead water pipe...never liked that!

Equally ****e storage space - we rented 2-3 room places (no kids) just to be sure we had enough room.

But a utility area is standard, which is is nice, just watch out for the cockroaches coming up the drains.

Nichard Dixon · 23-10-2015 2:13am

A boxroom is a tiny room that's too small to be a bedroom and too large to be a cupboard. It often has a bed stuffed into it, two sides of which are jammed into the walls, and there's perhaps one metre clearance around the edges. An inexplicable use of space.

If that isn't a good use of space, what do you put over the hall?

My Spanish GF had a list of oddities about Irish houses when she visited with me.

The shower - being electric and immersion

So how do they heat water in Spain then?

Ruu · 23-10-2015 2:15am

Nichard Dixon wrote: »

If that isn't a good use of space, what do you put over the hall?

So how do they heat water in Spain then?

Running of the bulls, duh!

KungPao · 23-10-2015 2:33am

Do they use things like this in Spain?

Super common in Brazil. Naturally warmish water from the pipe...shower head does the rest.

riclad · 23-10-2015 3:27am

i Know someone who bought an apartment in 2003,
because they are renting ,the council told em to put in a ventilation grill ,
in the wall about 5 x5 inches .
It,s part of building regs , house,s must have ventilation grill s in the outer walls ,theres probably 5-6 in an average new house .
you cant just seal a house 100 per cent to save heat,
there has to be some ventilation .
Old rural houses , used to all have a picture of JFK us president , and the sacred heart picture in the hall or the front room in the 70s, 80s .
Many old house,s still have the main water supply going in thru a lead pipe.
It,s not good for your health .
There were lots of good house,s built in the boom,with good insulation etc
there were not all bad.
it depends on the builder .

fuzzypickle · 23-10-2015 4:09am

People displaying those little obituary thingies on shelves or mantelpieces. Like some sort of weird "look at all my dead relatives" collection. I find it grim.

I lived in a new built apartment a few years ago. Absolutely horrendous. Damp everywhere, no insulation, no soundproofing. Feckin storage heaters instead of proper radiators. It was warmer and drier outside than it was in that place.

Also love how we call it a press instead of a cupboard. Never thought about it until my OH asked me what the fcuk a press was.

Irish House Oddities

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