Durability of Household Fixtures

[rant] I've owned several houses throughout my life, and I'm reasonably handy when it comes to household projects, but I've been stunned since my arrival in the UK at the flimsiness of household fixtures.  Specifically, the door knobs and the shower head in our current (rental) house.

We've been in this house for just over a year, and during that time, one by one, the door knobs have all worn out.  Without going into the intricacies of door knob construction and operation, one of the bits inside wears out over time, preventing the handle from fully retracting the latch and opening the door.

The first one to go was the bathroom door, which is the one we use the most.  This was followed a few months later by the master bedroom door, then the office door, and finally the spare bedroom door.  While it would be simple to go to B&Q and get replacements, the point is four door knobs wore out in under a year.  I'd like to think that I just have really strong arms, and they're too much for my door knobs, but I've lived with countless doors over the years and never before worn one out.

In a tangentially-related development, our shower head has started leaking.  We've got one of those removable ones that's shaped a bit like an old-school telephone handle, with a round plastic face through which water shoots out.  Over the last few months, water has begun squirting out around the edges of the plastic face, so that in addition to water squirting downward from the face as designed, water also squirts out horizontally, which is less helpful.  Again, I've seen replacement shower heads at B&Q, so this is easily fixed, but this is not a pre-war shower head; this one is probably less than 3 years old.  How does it even wear out?  There are no moving parts!

That about wraps up today's rant about the durability (or lack thereof) of household fixtures.  I'm not really looking for solutions here.  It's more that we're planning to buy a house in 2010, so I'm worried about future expenditures on home improvement products.  If anyone would like to reassure me that my problems are not emblematic of larger failures in the UK household DIY industry, that would be appreciated. [/rant]

[If anyone would like to reassure me that my problems are not emblematic of larger failures in the UK household DIY industry, that would be appreciated. [/rant]

I'm normally very loath to post replies to rants but as you explicitly ask...

Please be reassured, your problems are not usual.  Just as in the US things are available in a variety of quality levels and are installed by people with differing levels of expertise (especially in the DIY sphere.)

In a tangentially-related development, our shower head has started leaking.  We've got one of those removable ones that's shaped a bit like an old-school telephone handle, with a round plastic face through which water shoots out.  Over the last few months, water has begun squirting out around the edges of the plastic face, so that in addition to water squirting downward from the face as designed, water also squirts out horizontally, which is less helpful.  Again, I've seen replacement shower heads at B&Q, so this is easily fixed, but this is not a pre-war shower head; this one is probably less than 3 years old.  How does it even wear out?  There are no moving parts!

Interesting observation - I only just noticed the same exact thing on the shower head of the place we are renting when I took a shower this morning (I had previously noticed water squirting out at odd angles but didn't look closely until today).  The bathroom was only renovated within the past 3 years as well! 

I do sympathise with your rant!

Interesting observation - I only just noticed the same exact thing on the shower head of the place we are renting when I took a shower this morning (I had previously noticed water squirting out at odd angles but didn't look closely until today).  The bathroom was only renovated within the past 3 years as well! 

I do sympathise with your rant!

Ugh, this was the same scenario at my friend's flat that we stayed at in London last month.  The disc had detached itself from the shower head so we had basically a stream of water shooting out.  For some reason, he doesn't mind.  I am guessing it's because he only takes baths.

Is the house a new build? Because I found the problem worse in those.

Rentals and newer houses especially at the budget end seem to be fitted out at the minimum cost. I found this in Canada and the US and Spain as well as in the UK.

Thanks everyone for the replies.  The house is not new, but the interior has been remodeled within the last 3-5 years.  The strange thing is it's obvious the owner put a lot of money into it, as the appliances and furniture are all good to excellent quality, but when it came to the last steps it seems like she either ran out of money or patience or both. 

For example, all of the interior doors are new and have never been painted.  On the backs of them you can clearly see the pencil markings where the installer marked which side the hinge goes on.  Why would you spend however many thousands of pounds on appliances and repainting and reflooring the interior of the house, buying brand new doors for every interior opening, and then leave them unpainted?

In the bathroom, whoever installed the floor tiles did a poor job of subflooring, because they're all uneven and a few of them have cracked as a result.

Anyway, it's not like any of this limits my enjoyment of the place or has turned me against the entire British DIY industry; it's more like mild frustration at the random half-a$$edness of my landlord which flares up any time the shower head squirts me in the face or I get stuck in a room with an inoperative door knob. 

I think it speaks more about the level of money the owner put into those small furnishings than the UK as a whole.  Our past 2 flats have both been Victorian conversions, both semi-recently refurbished for the lettings market.  The first was excellent and we never had a problem with ANY of the fixtures/fittings.  The second, the one we live in now, has kitchen cupboard doors falling over, doorknobs not working properly and leaky shower head .  The 2nd is done to a much lower standard/cost as this is glaringly obvious!  Sometimes you just gotta live with it, since you don't own the place...

The strange thing is it's obvious the owner put a lot of money into it, as the appliances and furniture are all good to excellent quality, but when it came to the last steps it seems like she either ran out of money or patience or both. 

Not so strange. I have seen this plenty of times. It also happens when people do up a house to sell it. They seem to concentrate on the attention getting items and forget the "little" things until they have run out of money or time (or patience as you said)

Shower heads I've had problems with but doorhandles never ever!