# European housing - what's with all the doors and corridors? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 14, 2019, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713 "2019-01-14T01:16:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/41 "2019-01-14T23:38:52Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > First of all, those are not corridors, they are hallways. In 72 years I have never heard anyone refer to a hallway in a residence as a “corridor”. How are you defining corridor that it’s _not_ a synonym of hallway? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/42 "2019-01-15T01:17:29Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > How are you defining corridor that it’s _not_ a synonym of hallway? A _corridor_ is a space whose sole or dominant purpose is to faciliate movement between other spaces. You do little or nothing in a corridor except move along it to get to the space you want to be in. A _hall_ is a large room which may have other rooms opening off it and so may serve as a thoroughfare to those rooms, but which is also big enough for other uses or functions, particularly social uses such as dining or entertaining. A hall offers little or no privacy from other occupants of the building. An _entrance hall_ is such a room into which the main entrance of a house gives, and it will be used for at least the initial reception of visitors. Obviously, the grander the house the larger a hall is likely to be, and the more potential uses it has. You could argue that if a modern US house has a large space used for dining and recreation (and possibly cooking) with bedrooms, bathrooms, storage space, etc opening off it, that’s a hall, even if we don’t call it that. A _hallway_ (which is predominantly a US term) combines the two senses. Its primary function is for movement between spaces, but it can have secondary uses - for example storage (in a school, student lockers are often in the hallway) or a certain amount of social intercourse with people that you meet in the hallway. Would “hallway” typically be used for a space in a modest private home in the US? Would the area into which the front door opens (if it’s a distinct space from the main living area) typically be referred to as a “hallway”? Or something else? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/43 "2019-01-15T01:34:55Z")
Under your own definitions, my uses of “corridor” in this thread encompass “hallway.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/44 "2019-01-15T01:39:15Z")
And this is a dumb point to argue. You know very well that even in American English close synonyms are often used in different ways by individuals and groups. I use “hallway” for these things too. For whatever reason, I decided upon “corridor” in this thread because it seemed appropriate to me. To me, a lifelong speaker of American English, it was an appropriate usage. Live with it. My wife uses the term “passage,” because that’s the term used in Indian English. If I had said “passage” would you be going on and on about it? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/45 "2019-01-15T01:45:34Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Would “hallway” typically be used for a space in a modest private home in the US? Would the area into which the front door opens (if it’s a distinct space from the main living area) typically be referred to as a “hallway”? Or something else? Like **Ascenray** said, I can’t speak for all American dialects, but I seldom if ever hear a “corridor” being spoken of in a modest private home in the U.S. It’s either “hallway”, or sometimes “foyer” (with various pronunciations) if it’s also the entranceway. If I heard the term “corridor” out of context, I would think of an internal, non-residential, passageway, in either an office-style building or apartment complex. That said, I didn’t take the term to imply anything other than what most Americans call a “hallway”, because the context is obviously residential homes. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/46 "2019-01-15T01:58:03Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > She has pointed out some unexpected differences between housing in Germany and the United States. Some of the most surprising to me: > > 1. When you rent an apartment in Germany, generally the previous renter will have removed all the overhead light fixtures and kitchen appliances. As a renter, you’re responsible for providing your own light fixtures and equipping the kitchen. This seems like it would be really annoying. True in France too. Although the apartment I’m currently residing had a small fridge in it when I moved in. The reason? The same reason why you bring your own furniture and your own computer when you move. It would be more convenient too if you didn’t have to, no? It surprised me a lot when I read for the first time that kitchen appliances were provided in the USA. Probably as it would surprise you if you were told that somewhere, when you rent a place, there’s already a desk with a computer in it. > [@](#): > > 1. The front door can’t be left unlocked. It always locks behind you. In fact, you need a key to operate it _from the inside_. The craziest thing—_you can get locked inside your residence_ if you don’t have the key. Why would you want such a feature? Not always true, but relatively common. I don’t know what doors are like typically in the USA, but over here, metal reinforced safety doors are indeed common. And indeed they lock partially when you close them. From the inside, you normally have a small trigger that you can move to open it without the key. There of course could be safety doors that _don’t_ lock when you close them, I suppose. I assume the reason is to avoid forgetting to lock the door when you leave or even when you’re inside for that matter, but I’m not sure. I’m pretty sure that burglaries are much more common in Europe than in the USA. Having such a door once allowed me to prove to my insurance company that I couldn’t have forgotten to lock the door when my apartment was burglarized without breaking in (presumably with the use of an unauthorized copy of the key). > [@](#): > > 1. Germans use cash for a lot of things that say Americans and British people use cards. I rarely carry cash. I often encounter beggars on the streets that I would like to help, but I can’t because I just don’t carry cash. In fact, I avoid businesses that insist on cash payments. Yes, I know there are privacy and security concerns, but the time and trouble it takes to obtain and keep cash is not worth it to me. Using cash for everything still hasn’t become common over here, either. For the longest time, no shop would accept a card payment below a certain amount. It used to be about 15 euros. For the last 5-10, shops have begun progressively to accept cards for any amount, but a lot of people still tend to use actual money, if only, like me, because it just doesn’t occur to them that they could use a card. If other Europeans also tend to use cash for small payments, Germans however, have a specificity. They also use cash for _big_ amounts. Like buying an appliance or sometimes even a car. > [@](#): > > 1. Beds are really low. Wouldn’t know, since I’ve no clue how high beds are in the USA. > [@](#): > > 1. You pay an estimated fee for your utilities in advance every month, instead of actual use at the end of the month. Partly true here too. Although it’s not in advance. I’m paying an estimated fee every two months (but at the end of the period) and the actual use is only established once a year (or at the end of the occupation). > [@](#): > > But the most baffling thing to me is—why do German (and I believe other European) residences have so many doors and corridors? It seems like a tremendous waste of space. In large cities, and in Europe specifically, as opposed to America, space is at a premium. Why would you waste so much of that space on doors and corridors? That’s a good question. True also over here, but less and less so. Until maybe the 60s-70s, appartements indeed tended to be build with all these corridors, and I too am baffled at the waste of space. Apartments build more recently, or remodeled, tend to not have these anymore. I suspect it was just something traditional, without real reason. People expected to have an entrance corridor, so they put one even though in a small appartement it made no sense. Maybe an heirloom from a time when visitors were sometimes allowed only in the entrance??? Don’t know, really. However, regarding the kitchen/dining area I remember that when I was raised in a very backward countryside, the kitchen and the dining room in many large houses were two distinct areas. The kitchen doubled as dining area, and that’s where you would eat normally or receive casual visitors. The dining room, on the other hand, was away from the kitchen, and was only used when you had guests. So it was essentially a reception room. The living room was often in the same space as the dining room and tended to not be used that much. People (like my grandmother who raised me) spent most of their day in the kitchen that was the main living space (my grandmother would read there, watch TV there, open her mail or pay her bills there, etc…). In normal circumstances, the dining room/living room was mostly unused except as my playground. And I’ve seen the same arrangement, as I said, in other houses if they were large enough. If we casually visited a relative, we would stay in the kitchen the whole time. If we went there for a larger family gathering, it would take place in the dining room/living room. People with large families/small houses of course didn’t have this arrangement. But, I think interestingly, neither farmhouses nor other really old houses had it. In these houses, there was a really large common space with the fireplace, that was at the same time the kitchen, the dining room and you probably could say also the living room and was even partially a working space. So my guess is that the kitchen being a separate room with doors was a survivance from a specific period of time (I would suspect from the late 19th to the mid-20th century) when the dining/living room was for relatively formal situations, (even though it wasn’t adapted to rather small apartments), itself probably an imitation of the way of life of upper classes who had reception rooms distinct from the living quarters, and where the kitchen that was the dominion of the staff. But it’s just a guess. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/47 "2019-01-15T02:11:57Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > True in France too. How do you feel about that? Would you like it if France changed to a system that assumed that light fixtures and kitchen appliances remained with the apartment? In the U.S., we have a strange exception that the clothes washer and dryer don’t stay with a house, but they do stay with an apartment. > [@](#): > > Not always true, but relatively common. I don’t know what doors are like typically in the USA, but over here, metal reinforced safety doors are indeed common. Metal-reinforced safety doors are not standard here. And even if there were, it would be easy to break a window or a back door to get in. It also wouldn’t be that hard to break the door frame around a reinforced door. > [@](#): > > If other Europeans also tend to use cash for small payments, Germans however, have a specificity. They also use cash for _big_ amounts. Like buying an appliance or sometimes even a car. Boggles the mind! > [@](#): > > Wouldn’t know, since I’ve no clue how high beds are in the USA. I’ll measure mine tonight and get back to you. Thanks for the detailed French perspective! ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/48 "2019-01-15T02:12:16Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > Having a separate kitchen keeps all the cooking smells away from the rest of the house. > Do you really want your main living area to be smelling of curry, or fish, whatever, a lot of the time? Yes, I know there are extractor fans but they can’t catch everything. I’d say many of us do. When I make a pot roast or spaghetti sauce or adobo, for instance, I’ll sit in my comfy chair[sup]TM[/sup] happily smelling my dinner cooking for hours (the first two require low-and-slow cooking, the adobe requires a long marinade so it’s mostly in the fridge but it sure smells good when I open the door!). Many Americans enjoy smelling holiday meals as they cook all day. It’s the wipe-the-drool-off-your-chin anticipatory prelude to a delicious meal. (I’d probably draw the line at fish, myself, but I’m not a big fish eater.) And, of course, nothing beats the scent of cookies baking. In any case, the scents generally clear within a couple of hours after eating and doing the dishes. I’ve never lived anyplace where they stuck around for days on end or permeated the paint or fabric in the dwelling to the point that the scent never went away. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/49 "2019-01-15T02:17:13Z")
I have heard some white Americans complain about moving into a house the the previous residents cooked a lot of Asian food and the smells “got into the walls,” but I don’t know why people would mind smelling their own cooking in the house. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/50 "2019-01-15T02:27:39Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Yes and yes. Divided spaces are easier to heat or cool, and this matters if central heating/cooling is not available, or is not standard. I didn’t think of that in my previous post when I ascribed the separation to a tradition of having a distinct reception area. But in fact, this might be the explanation. Where I was living, the kitchen (which as I said was the main living space) was heated with a wood stove, while the separate dining room/living room was heated with a fireplace. We had central heating, but in the view of my grandmother born in 1899, that was a fancy thing to be used with moderation, and many if not most of the other houses didn’t have it at all. And now, I in fact remember that when I was a child I was constantly told to close the doors. So, I now suspect this is the explanation for the separate rooms with doors. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/51 "2019-01-15T02:32:11Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > And this is a dumb point to argue. You know very well that even in American English close synonyms are often used in different ways by individuals and groups. > > I use “hallway” for these things too. For whatever reason, I decided upon “corridor” in this thread because it seemed appropriate to me. To me, a lifelong speaker of American English, it was an appropriate usage. Live with it. > > My wife uses the term “passage,” because that’s the term used in Indian English. If I had said “passage” would you be going on and on about it? Chill, man. I don’t object to your usage and I’m not arguing against it or going on and on about it. I’m just offering something in response to Dewey Finn’s query about the senses of these different words. > [@Ludovic](#): > > Like **Ascenray** said, I can’t speak for all American dialects, but I seldom if ever hear a “corridor” being spoken of in a modest private home in the U.S. It’s either “hallway”, or sometimes “foyer” (with various pronunciations) if it’s also the entranceway. > > If I heard the term “corridor” out of context, I would think of an internal, non-residential, passageway, in either an office-style building or apartment complex. > > That said, I didn’t take the term to imply anything other than what most Americans call a “hallway”, because the context is obviously residential homes. I agree. In my variant of English (which is Hiberno-English) it would be relatively unusual to have a "corridor’ in a modest private home. Corridors are more for institutional buildings. But “hallway” also suggests institutional use. Private homes (in my variant) don’t have “hallways”. The entrance space into which the front door opens, and off which other rooms open, is usually the “hall”. Even if there is a common living/dining/cooking area the front door won’t typically open into it; it will open into the hall, which in turn will open into the living/dining/etc area. The hall also contains the staircase and, if you go up the stairs and they take you to a space on an upper floor off which bedrooms, bathrooms, etc, open, that’s the “landing”. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/52 "2019-01-15T02:39:20Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > How do you feel about that? Would you like it if France changed to a system that assumed that light fixtures and kitchen appliances remained with the apartment? I personally wouldn’t mind, at the contrary, because I mostly don’t give a shit about what kind of appliance or cupboard I have, so the less I have to move, the better. However I suspect that a lot of people would mind because they would want to pick specific appliances and kitchen furniture. Plus, if you’re moving all your stuff anyway, kitchen appliances won’t make much of a difference. Also, it has to be done one way or the other for everybody. Because otherwise, what do you do with your appliances when you move from an apartment where they aren’t provided to an apartment where they are? > [@](#): > > Metal-reinforced safety doors are not standard here. And even if there were, it would be easy to break a window or a back door to get in. It also wouldn’t be that hard to break the door frame around a reinforced door. I’m talking about apartments, where entering through a window/backdoor isn’t an option. And when I think of it, in fact, metal reinforced doors aren’t standard in houses over here (in fact, in apartments, they aren’t “standard”, simply “common” : two of the last three place I lived had one), either, presumably for the reasons you give : they wouldn’t really afford protection. > [@](#): > > I’ll measure mine tonight and get back to you. When I thought a bit more about it, I realized that when I was young, a lot of beds were really high, while more recent ones seem indeed to be very low or even simply at floor level. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/53 "2019-01-15T02:39:30Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Private homes (in my variant) don’t have “hallways”. The entrance space into which the front door opens, and off which other rooms open, is usually the “hall”. Even if there is a common living/dining/cooking area the front door won’t typically open into it; it will open into the hall, which in turn will open into the living/dining/etc area. The hall also contains the staircase and, if you go up the stairs and they take you to a space on an upper floor off which bedrooms, bathrooms, etc, open, that’s the “landing”. Is this true in Ireland even in a small apartment/flat or house? What if there’s no second floor? I’m getting a sense that the Irish configuration is somewhere between Germany and North America. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/54 "2019-01-15T02:40:51Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I have heard some white Americans complain about moving into a house the the previous residents cooked a lot of Asian food and the smells “got into the walls,” but I don’t know why people would mind smelling their own cooking in the house. It may not be just the smells. Food preparation and associated activities generates steam, grease, heat, noise etc, any of which may be unwelcome. But of course the layout of the house, or changes in that, may reflect social habits about food preparation, eating, etc. If the cultural norm is for mother to prepare substantial meals which the entire family eats together at set times, a separate kitchen and dining room may make more sense than if meals are less formal, family members do more “grazing”, food preparation becomes simpler (perhaps with less starting from raw ingredients, mro use of prepared and semi-prepared food, etc). Plus there’s changing employment/lifestyle patterns. If both parents in a family work, and if (as is the case) they tend to work longer and longer hours, there’s a higher premium on time at home, and on shared experience and/or communication during that time. So arranging the house so that people can be engaging in different activities but still together and communicating makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/55 "2019-01-15T02:43:26Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Also, it has to be done one way or the other for everybody. Because otherwise, what do you do with your appliances when you move from an apartment where they aren’t provided to an apartment where they are? I’d just let my landlord or his next tenants deal with it. > [@](#): > > I’m talking about apartments, where entering through a window/backdoor isn’t an option. None of my apartments had reinforced doors either. Maybe I just lived in shitholes, though. I haven’t taken note of the doors in fancy apartments. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/56 "2019-01-15T02:55:06Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Also consider that in Germany, and probably much of Europe, renting a house is usually a long term thing. Leases are often 10 or 20 year deals. Not true here. Leases are for three years over here (although automatically renewable), by law (you can offer a longer lease, in theory, but not a shorter one). ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/57 "2019-01-15T02:58:57Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I’d just let my landlord or his next tenants deal with it. > > None of my apartments had reinforced doors either. Maybe I just lived in shitholes, though. I haven’t taken note of the doors in fancy apartments. I never lived in fancy areas or buildings, still I had reinforced doors more often than not. Might be random chance, though. I thought since my last message that I’m the only one on my floor (out of 5 doors) with a reinforced door. I didn’t install it, though. It was already there, like in the previous apartments I lived in that had one. I can’t tell with certainty how common it is, just that it’s not rare at all. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/58 "2019-01-15T03:00:16Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I’d just let my landlord or his next tenants deal with it. That’s a solution but neither appliances nor furniture are free, so I suspect that a lot of people would have an issue with leaving theirs behind. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/59 "2019-01-15T03:07:47Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > You have a coat closet off the living room. Even in my parents’ houses, if your umbrella or boots were excessively wet or dirty, you left them outside. But then you need a covered space outside the door (presumably, you don’t want to leave your shoes under the rain), which isn’t typical of French (at least, but I would say even European, from what I remember) houses. And in an apartment, you presumably don’t leave your shoes in the hallway, either. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/60 "2019-01-15T03:16:32Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Insane? No. Different? Yes. Inefficient? Highly likely. I have never rented or bought housing in Germany, but in the US there is virtually zero change of your old cabinets fitting the new kitchen/bathrooms. I’m really curious about the cabinets, any move would require purchasing and installing new cabinets which is not trivial. My friend does kitchen and bath renovations and this seems to be the typical pattern: 1 - Wait for the contractor to free up - in Seattle area it’s been about 3 month lead minimum for the last few years 2 - Measure and order cabinets - 6 week lead time to get them 3 - Install - maybe a week or two depending on size 4 - Pay $15,000 to $50,000 for the whole process If a person is just changing apartments, this seems excessive. It must be cheaper, quicker and less involved? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713.md?page=4)