We don’t tend to think of houses aging to the point of being uninhabitable, but it can happen if homes are not maintained with care. The same is even truer of the appliances in our homes, without proper care they can become unusable.

The National Association of Home Builders recently issued a study that estimated the amount of time various parts of a home should last. The most basic parts of a home—its foundation, drywall, plaster, pipes, basement and framing—should last at least fifty years, the study asserts.

The median age of a house in America today is 32 years, four years older than when the NAHB did its last such survey in 1993, meaning that homebuyers should be that much more aware of the condition of the most basic elements in the construction of the home they choose to buy. Some of those elements, though, have far more durability than they used to. Kitchen cabinets, for example, used to last 15 to 20 years; now, they’re expected to last 50 years. A good paint job used to last 3 to 5 years; now, thanks to chemical improvements, it lasts 15.

Some things, mainly because they’ve become more complex, don’t last as long—refrigerators, for example, and water heaters. You can view the complete NAHB study at www.nahb.org/fileUpload_details.aspx?contentID=72475. For answers to your questions call Beth at 425-450-5208 and visit her website at www.bethbillington.com.