# 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:** 4
**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, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/61 "2019-01-15T03:19:16Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It seems to me that any competent robber would just bust through the door rather than bother picking locks. It’s not that hard in most residences, with basically one simple tool. Wouldn’t it be, in these case too, reinforced doors that you can’t just bust through? If I just close my door, it’s locked by a simple lock. If I turn the key, it moves the metal bars that enter the frame, making a break-in significantly more difficult. I have only one key, though. ---
**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, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/62 "2019-01-15T03:20:25Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > But then you need a covered space outside the door (presumably, you don’t want to leave your shoes under the rain), Most buildings I’ve seen are designed in such a way that your shoes would say dry, even if it’s not a proper covered porch. > [@](#): > > And in an apartment, you presumably don’t leave your shoes in the hallway, either. Au contraire, it’s very common to see wet boots and umbrellas left in apartment building corridors. Some people even permanently leave a door mat or rubber boot mat in the hallway outside their apartment doors. It’s not unheard of—though certainly not the rule—for people to ban outdoor shoes in their apartments, like in Asia. I believe it’s even more common in Canada. ---
**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, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/63 "2019-01-15T03:22:24Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > 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. The need for a hall inside an apartment’s front door is slightly less because, of course, there’s a hall _outside_ an apartment’s front door, albeit that it’s a common hall. But, yeah, in my experience Irish apartments more usually have a hall inside the front door than not. Having said that, in Ireland apartment living (on any scale) is something of a novelty - just 12% of households are in apartments and, since households in apartments tend to be smaller than the average, that means significantly less that 12 % of the population live in apartments. (The corresponding US figure is 20%.) And even that is the result of strong recent growth; half of those apartments have been constructed since 2001. So, partly because of the expectations of a market largely unfamiliar with apartment living, builders may tend to construct apartments that replicate more of the features of a house than is strictly optimal. People haven’t really thought about living without a hall, so builders give them a hall. ---
**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, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/64 "2019-01-15T03:34:49Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > 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? Huh? If I want cabinets, I take the measures, go to a shop (or even shop online), buy the cabinets and I have them delivered the same day or the next. It also wouldn’t occur to me to hire a contractor. Why for? Screwing a cabinet in the wall? And if I can’t do it myself, I can’t imagine needing to wait several months to find someone able to spend two hours in my place drilling holes and fixing a cabinet. And your price tag is…err…ridiculous? A complete kitchen set costs…between € 1000 and € 3000, maybe (not really sure)? I assume that cabinets aren’t commonly sold in shops over there, which could make sense if people only buy them when I build a house or remodel it. And even then, not really, because presumably since you need the same number per house, logically the same number should be sold overall, and there’s no reason why they would be less easily available in a country than in another. ETA : maybe Americans change kitchen furniture less often and less readily than European do (only when the remodel entirely the house as opposed to when they’re tired of their old furniture set, plus also sometimes when they move to another place), however, which might result in more sales and more availability??? Just a guess. ---
**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, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/65 "2019-01-15T03:57:14Z")
Too late to edit : After checking, kitchen furniture costs range roughly from € 1000 to € 10 000 , with an “usual” price of about € 2000 to 3000. If you don’t install it yourself, there are a bazillion of ads of people doing it for pay, very cheaply (€ 100-200), some stores have technicians who can install them when you buy the elements from them, for € 500 in the example I checked. Finally, there are apparently people specialized in that job (often working with stores, but independent) for up to € 1000-2000. I must say that I’m quite puzzled by the price difference. I assume they don’t provide the same services. I saw also that stores have videos online explaining how to install your cabinets yourself. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/66 "2019-01-15T04:00:28Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > 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? These types of locks are not unknown in the US. My uncle (a Chicago police officer) had one on his front door when I was a kid. He said he installed it so a burglar couldn’t just break the little window in the door and reach in to open the lock. It seemed to me then (and still does) that if you’re worried about that, you should just get a door without a little window in it. ---
**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, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/67 "2019-01-15T04:14:46Z")
> [@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. Well, I’m wondering if there’s a difference in European and American cabinets. Over here, your kitchen furniture is sold in modules. So, worst case scenario, all of your cabinets don’t fit on the wall, so you don’t fix one of them or you fix it on a different wall, neither being exactly a massive problem. > [@](#): > > Same for light fixtures - there is not likely going to be the same number and distribution of fixed lighting locations in the new place. And here too, I’m wondering how many light fixtures you expect in a kitchen or a bathroom, besides the light bulbs on the ceiling. One, possibly two in the kitchen under which you put your oven and food preparation area and one in the bathroom above the sink is about all I would expect. So, I wouldn’t expect to have any issue of number and distribution. ---
**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, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/68 "2019-01-15T04:19:52Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > In the Kelly vlog I watched, she pointed out how her kitchen appliances didn’t perfectly fit in the space available. Which makes sense, but then again, when you move, do your previous furniture fit perfectly the space available in the bedroom, for instance? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/69 "2019-01-15T04:45:39Z")
Huh, TIL American houses don’t have entrance halls. That’s news to me. I am right now sitting in my us living room, which has a broad doorway to the entrance hallway, in front of me. Around the corner is another bit of hallway leading to 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. There’s a large doorway (no door) to my right where the dining room is. At the other end of the dining room is a smaller doorway, with a door, that leads to the kitchen. The kitchen also has a door separating it from the entranceway, and another door separating it from the den. When we use the self-cleaning feature of the oven, I close all the doors to the kitchen. Otherwise they are generally left open. But sometimes we close the door to the den when one person is making noise in the kitchen (washing dishes, running a blender, running the disposal) and another is watching TV in the den. When friends come or go in the winter, I appreciate that opening the front door doesn’t create a draft in the living room, only in the entranceway. The entranceway doesn’t take up much of the total square footage of the floor. I like having it. The house I grew in had a front hall where guests entered, and a back hall (mudroom) between the garage and the kitchen where the family usually entered. My grandparents’ house also had a front hallway and a back hallway. So did all my neighbors’ houses. My apartment in NY had a long hallway that took up a lot of space. But the alternative would have been walking through all the bedrooms to get to the living room, so it seemed worth it. I lived in a tiny apartment in NJ where the door opened directly into the living room. It still had a doorway between the living room and the kitchen. (but no door.) And just one bedroom and one bath both directly off the living room. But that whole apartment would fit in my current living room+dining room. I suppose it couldn’t afford amenities like an entranceway. That’s the only place I’ve lived where the door to outside opened directly into the living room. I visited a friend in Munich last summer, and his living room and dining room were two wings of the same space, with a kitchen separated but open to the dining area. It did have a nice little entrance foyer where you could take off your shoes and coat, though. ---
**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, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/70 "2019-01-15T04:50:03Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Which makes sense, but then again, when you move, do your previous furniture fit perfectly the space available in the bedroom, for instance? It’s rare that it wouldn’t. I buy standard-sized beds and sofas. (IKEA is a wonderful thing.) Besides, beds, sofas, tables, and dressers arefar cheaper and easier to install than kitchen appliances and fixtures. I can get a bed for less than $200 and have it delivered within hours. There’s essentially no installation or assembly required. You just put it there. ---
**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, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/71 "2019-01-15T04:56:01Z")
A last thing occurs to me. Even though I personally don’t really care (at least not until I live in a place from which I don’t intend to move anymore) people typically _want_ to choose themselves their kitchen furniture (someone can be fine with plain white cabinets, but someone else might want them colorful, and someone else made in some fancy wood, someone wants a modern style, and someone else an old style, etc…) and appliances (they prefer brand X rather than brand Y for their oven, they want their washing machine to have this or that feature, they want a large fridge with a freezer, or a small one that will fit under the hot plates to gain space, etc…). I assume that Americans are accustomed to not having a choice in the matter, but I strongly suspect that a lot of French people would be about as happy with not being able to pick their preferred kitchen furniture and appliances as they would be with not being able to pick their preferred bed and sofa. As someone pointed out, it also might be related to French people moving less often than American people, and so being more desirous to personalize a place where they’ll stay for a long time. Once again, a guess, I don’t know. ---
**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, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/72 "2019-01-15T04:59:31Z")
In America you can always buy a new refrigerator/freezer, dish-washing machine, stove/range/oven, microwave, overhead light fixtures, and kitchen cabinets if you want to. It’s wonderful that that the standard assumption is that you won’t have to. And that’s in a house. Why would you care to bother about that in a rented apartment/flat? It’s the landlord’s responsibility and expense to provide you with working appliances. One of the biggest benefits of renting is that the landlord maintains the facilities. A lot of people even want the sofas, tables, beds, and chairs provided by the landlord. Fully furnished rentals are not uncommon. ---
**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, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/73 "2019-01-15T05:14:08Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It’s rare that it wouldn’t. I buy standard-sized beds and sofas. (IKEA is a wonderful thing.) > > Besides, beds, sofas, tables, and dressers arefar cheaper and easier to install than kitchen appliances and fixtures. > > I can get a bed for less than $200 and have it delivered within hours. There’s essentially no installation or assembly required. You just put it there. Installation is more complex, yes. But cost? Sure, you can buy a cheap bed, but plenty of people (probably most) wouldn’t go for the lowest price for their bed or furniture. Mine are generally as cheap as you can get (and IKEA stuff is incredibly resilient for the price, I can’t believe that at 53 I’m still using the cheap IKEA bookshelves I bought when I moved in my first place, despite all the heavy crap I’ve been putting on it for 30 years and it having been moved and mounted again I don’t know how many times. Same for cheap chairs I kept for 20 years, while others equally cheap I bought elsewhere all lasted about 1 year, 2 tops. On top of it, they were made in USSR, yes, that’s that old, not exactly a country that I would have expected to produce better quality stuff), but most people I know have spent a lot on their furniture, and I myself sometimes lust for fancy stuff that would cost me an arm and a leg (I mean, isn’t walnut wood beautiful?) And regarding size, even though there are standard sized beds and sofas, there aren’t standard sized rooms, so you can’t have your furniture fit _perfectly_ in your new place, like apparently you expect to be the case in the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/74 "2019-01-15T05:19:19Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > 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? Nobody is going to spend $15,000 plus and wait weeks for new cabinets every time they move - but I suspect that the $15K to $50K range your friend is talking about covers not just new cabinets, but an actual renovation of the whole kitchen including new appliances. I can replace all my current kitchen cabinets for about $3K at IKEA and go home with them the same day - I don’t have a big kitchen and my husband and I can hang the new ones just like we hung the current ones. But even within the US, conventions differ between places and exceptions are sometimes made. I mentioned earlier that an apartment I rented did not come with a refrigerator, which is not unusual in my area, although newer apartments come with refrigerators. And I know a few people who took a specific light fixture ( always chandeliers) with them rather than conveying it with the house. Although someone said the opposite earlier, in my experience, washers and dryers get sold with the house and don’t stay with an apartment - but that’s because the apartment tenants bought their own tiny , portable washer and dryer\* which are far easier to move than the standard sized ones. I’ve never known anyone who rented an apartment that came with a washer and dryer although I suppose newer apartments in luxury buildings might. - But then again, most people I know who live in apartments aren’t allowed to have a washer at all. ---
**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, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/75 "2019-01-15T05:25:49Z")
In my experience, larger apartments likely come with clothes washers and dryers and smaller ones have access to a shared laundry room. I’ve never heard of an apartment where you could choose to buy and install your own washer and dryer if there already wasn’t one there. As for houses, the general default I have always seen is that you must supply your own washer and dryer. (But, strangely enough, it’s considered good luck to leave your broom for The next resident. Go figure.) ---
**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, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/76 "2019-01-15T05:32:11Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > In America you can always buy a new refrigerator/freezer, dish-washing machine, stove/range/oven, microwave, overhead light fixtures, and kitchen cabinets if you want to. It’s wonderful that that the standard assumption is that you won’t have to. And that’s in a house. But what do you do with the former appliances/cabinets that were provided? You give them to the landlord for storage until you leave? I assume you can’t throw or give them away, otherwise you’d have to buy new ones or leave yours when you move. > [@](#): > > Why would you care to bother about that in a rented apartment/flat? It’s the landlord’s responsibility and expense to provide you with working appliances. One of the biggest benefits of renting is that the landlord maintains the facilities. I understand this point. But it’s not like you need to change appliances every other day. And besides I assume that the cost involved in providing them to you and fixing them when needed is reflected in the rental price. > [@](#): > > A lot of people even want the sofas, tables, beds, and chairs provided by the landlord. Fully furnished rentals are not uncommon. They exist over here too. But they aren’t terribly common, and definitely significantly more costly. They’re typically rented for a short duration, and in fact the lease duration can be shorter for them. And anyway, I assume that even in the USA, most people would prefer to have their own furniture, TV, computer, etc… I’m not sure why you’d expect it to be different for kitchen stuff, unless you’re accustomed to the idea. ---
**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, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/77 "2019-01-15T05:42:59Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > But what do you do with the former appliances/cabinets that were provided? You give them to the landlord for storage until you leave? I assume you can’t throw or give them away, otherwise you’d have to buy new ones or leave yours when you move. By “in a house” I meant to say non-rental circumstance. You own the house so you can replace the kitchen appliances if you want to or keep what was already there. > [@](#): > > I understand this point. But it’s not like you need to change appliances every other day. I don’t understand what you’re asking. If the appliances are the landlord’s responsibility, then they’re the landlord’s responsibility, no matter how often they might need to be changed. > [@](#): > > And besides I assume that the cost involved in providing them to you and fixing them when needed is reflected in the rental price. The landlord has efficiencies of scale in buying appliances and hiring repair personnel that I don’t have as an individual renter. I would expect to benefit from those efficiencies. ---
**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, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/78 "2019-01-15T05:45:06Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > But then again, most people I know who live in apartments aren’t allowed to have a washer at all. This also is a difference. I never heard of a place where you couldn’t have your own washer. I don’t even know if such a condition would be lawful. And I’ve seen many time on TV apartment buildings that seem to have a communal laundry room with plenty of washing machines, a bit like a laundromat. Even though I don’t know how common it really is over there, I’ve never heard of such a thing over here. And I find very inconvenient to not have a washing machine in one’s place. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/79 "2019-01-15T05:55:44Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > In my experience, larger apartments likely come with clothes washers and dryers and smaller ones have access to a shared laundry room. > > I’ve never heard of an apartment where you could choose to buy and install your own washer and dryer if there already wasn’t one there. > > As for houses, the general default I have always seen is that you must supply your own washer and dryer. Like I said, the conventions are different in different places , even in the same country , probably in part because situations are different. For example, in the neighborhoods where I’ve lived, most apartments are in owner-occupied two to six family houses which generally means 1) there’s not enough space for a laundry room and 2) some people become very friendly with the landlord who lives across the hall who then allows the portable washer/dryer. I’m guessing the neighborhoods/buildings you’ve lived in were different. > [@clairobscur](#): > > And anyway, I assume that even in the USA, most people would prefer to have their own furniture, TV, computer, etc… I’m not sure why you’d expect it to be different for kitchen stuff, unless you’re accustomed to the idea. It really is just a matter of what you’re accustomed to. I think in one of your earlier posts you referred to cabinets as “kitchen furniture” and it took me a moment to get what you meant. Because from my point of view, “kitchen furniture” would be a table and chairs. Kitchen cabinets are in the same classification in my mind as the kitchen and bathroom sinks and the toilet. ---
**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, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713/80 "2019-01-15T05:57:10Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > By “in a house” I meant to say non-rental circumstance. You own the house so you can replace the kitchen appliances if you want to or keep what was already there. But then, this mean that if you’re renting, you _can’t_ put whatever you want in the kitchen? I assume you understand that most people not accustomed to the concept would dislike the idea, in the same way that they would dislike the idea of not being able to have the sofa they want or the TV they want? In fact, I didn’t even consider the idea of houses you _buy_ coming also with the appliances. It was mentioned, but it escaped me. > [@](#): > > I don’t understand what you’re asking. If the appliances are the landlord’s responsibility, then they’re the landlord’s responsibility, no matter how often they might need to be changed. I mean that if it’s _not_ the responsibility of the landlord, it’s not a huge issue either, because you don’t need to change your appliances very often. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/european-housing-whats-with-all-the-doors-and-corridors/827713.md?page=5)