Oh no, just think about it, is your home about ready to expire? Well actually the components of your home.

We’ve all heard horror stories of a “money-pit” right? I’ve recently been working on re-habing a 60 year-old home owned by my family, it’s the same house we lived in when I was a kid. After taking another look at this list, I’d say we got off fairly lucky. Hard to believe, yet we’ve still got a few things in that 60+ year old house that are on this list.

When considering buying an older home here are some things to consider about the average life-expectancy of appliances and components of your home.

Kitchen:
Dishwasher – 19-12 years.
Range – 19 years for gas, 17 years for electric.
Garbage Disposal – 6-15 years.
Refrigerator – 17 years.
Kitchen sink – 8-10 years enamel/steel 25-30 years for cast iron.
Trash compactor – 8-15 years.
Microwave – 11 years.

Baths:
Bathtub – 50 years cast iron, 10-15 years fiberglass.
Toilet – 50 years.
Faucets – 13-15 years.

Exterior:
Roof 15-30 years asphalt, wood shingles and shake.
Central air-conditioning unit – 15 years.
Window unit a/c – 10 years.
Ducts – 30 years galvanized, 15 years plastic.
Garage door opener – 10 years.
Now please keep in mind these are estimates of the “average” life expectancy and many of these items require routine maintenance to meeting these projections.

Miscellaneous:
Wallpaper – 7 years.
Paint – 10-15 years wall and trim.
Carpet – 11 years.
Drywall – 3-70 years.
Furnace – (forced-air) 15-18 years.
Water heater – 11-13 years for gas, 14 years electric.

It’s important to please keep in mind these are estimates of the “average” life expectancy and many of these items require routine maintenance to meeting these projections.

Source: National Association of Home Builders.