Life knowledge after service

When to replace things in your home

Nobody teaches a Soldier that a roof has a service life. You get handed a house and a mortgage and no one ever says how long the parts last. Here is what the official tables actually say, and what they do not.

Repair money — USDA Section 504
Read this first. These are typical ranges, not guarantees. Almost every number below comes from HUD's estimated useful life table — a planning table built for budgeting, which assumes normal use and normal maintenance. It is not a consumer study and it is not a warranty. Real life swings hard with climate, water hardness, how well the thing was installed, and whether anybody maintained it. The document that controls your specific unit is its own owner manual and warranty, not my page and not HUD's table. Use these numbers to plan and to budget. Do not use them to argue with a contractor, and do not throw out something that still works because it hit a birthday.
Systems

Heating, cooling, water, power

  • Furnace — about 20 years HUD's planning figure for a gas furnace or air handler. ENERGY STAR separately says that once a furnace or boiler is more than 15 years old you should "consider replacing" it. That is a prompt to get it looked at, not a statement that it is dead.
  • Air conditioner — about 15 years HUD's figure for an electric A/C condenser. ENERGY STAR says consider replacing a heat pump or air conditioner more than 10 years old — again, a prompt to evaluate, not a lifespan.
  • Water heater, tank type — 10 to 15 years The Department of Energy says a storage water heater lasts 10 to 15 years. HUD says 15. This is the best-sourced row on the page.
  • Water heater, tankless — about 20 years Department of Energy and HUD agree: about 20 years.
  • Electrical panel — about 50 years In practice a panel gets replaced because of capacity, damage, or a code requirement during a remodel — not because it hit an age.
  • Copper supply pipe — about 50 years
  • Galvanized steel supply pipe — about 40 years
  • PEX (flexible plastic) supply pipe — no published figure No federal source and no model code body publishes a service life for PEX. The only life claims I could find are manufacturers' own sales brochures, and that is not good enough to print. Check the written warranty on your specific tubing.
Heads up on the old flyer. The version of this list going around says a tank water heater lasts 8 to 12 years. The official sources say 10 to 15. That two-to-three-year difference can push you into buying a water heater you did not need yet.
★ Plan by these. Decide by the unit in front of you.
Outside and structure

Roof, windows, paint, deck

  • Asphalt shingle roof — about 20 years HUD's single planning figure. You will see 15 to 30 printed everywhere. Neither end of that spread is backed by an official source.
  • Metal roof — about 50 years The 70-year metal roof you see advertised has no official support behind it.
  • Wood windows — 35 to 45 years That is HUD's figure, and it is specifically for wood windows. If your house was built after roughly 1990 you probably have vinyl or aluminum-clad windows, which no federal table covers at all. For those, the manufacturer's warranty is the only real answer.
  • Exterior paint and stain — about 8 years
  • Garage door — about 30 years
  • Garage door opener — about 20 years The common flyer says 10 to 15. HUD says 20.
  • Wood deck — about 20 years The common flyer says 10 to 15. HUD says 20.
  • Composite deck — about 50 years The common flyer says 25 to 30. HUD says 50. That is a big gap in your favor.
★ Understating a lifespan costs you money too.
Inside

Appliances and floors

  • Refrigerator — 12 to 15 years
  • Dishwasher — 10 to 15 years The common flyer says 8 to 12. HUD says 10 to 15.
  • Range, cooktop or wall oven — 20 to 25 years The common flyer says 10 to 20. HUD's whole range sits above that. Do not let anyone tell you a 15-year-old stove is at the end of its life.
  • Clothes washer and dryer — 10 to 15 years
  • Carpet — 6 to 10 years The common flyer says up to 15. Nothing official supports a 15-year carpet.
  • Hardwood floor — about 50 years One planning figure, not a range. How long it really lasts depends on how many times it can be refinished.
★ Know the number before the salesman tells you one.
Life safety

The two alarms

Smoke alarms: replace 10 years from the date of manufacture — the date printed on the back of the unit. Not 10 years from when you installed it. An alarm that sat in a warehouse for two years gives you eight years, not ten. Turn it over and read the date today.
Carbon monoxide alarms. The old flyer leaves these off entirely, and that is the worst thing about it. Carbon monoxide has no smell. If you have a gas furnace or a gas water heater — both are on this page — you need CO alarms. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says CO alarms "should be installed on each level of the home and outside sleeping areas," and "should not be installed in attics or basements unless they include a sleeping area."
Both alarms: test them monthly. Replace the batteries once a year unless the unit has a sealed 10-year battery. That is the cheapest thing on this entire page and the only part of it that saves a life.

CPSC's carbon monoxide information: cpsc.gov · Smoke alarm rules from the U.S. Fire Administration: usfa.fema.gov

★ Read the manufacture date. Test monthly.
Septic

The one that is pure money

If you are on septic, this is the most expensive mistake on the page.

I pulled the septic tank lifespan off this page. You will see "20 to 40 years" printed on the flyer version. No federal source publishes a household septic tank service life. HUD's table has no septic line at all and EPA publishes maintenance intervals, not a lifespan. I will not print a number I cannot stand behind.
Here is the rule that is sourced, and it is the one that matters. EPA: the average household septic system "should be inspected at least every three years," and household septic tanks are "typically pumped every three to five years." A system with a pump or float switch should be inspected about once a year.
EPA's own math: routine maintenance runs $250 to $500 every three to five years. Repairing or replacing a failed conventional system runs $5,000 to $15,000. That is the whole argument.

EPA septic care: epa.gov/septic/how-care-your-septic-system

★ Pump it, or buy a new one.
On a schedule

Frequent attention

  • Smoke and CO alarms — test monthly Batteries once a year unless sealed 10-year units.
  • HVAC filters — every one to two months during the cooling season That is the Department of Energy's guidance, and it is written for the cooling season. Change them more often if the system runs constantly, if conditions are dusty, or if you have fur-bearing pets. For the heating season, follow your furnace manual.
  • Water heater flush — yearly, or every 6 months on hard water No federal agency publishes a flushing interval. This is manufacturer guidance. Much of Kansas is hard-water country, so know your water before you settle on yearly. Your unit's owner manual is the authority.
  • Caulking and exterior sealant — inspect yearly, no fixed interval The flyer says "every few years." No agency, code body or manufacturer publishes a re-caulking interval. Look at it once a year and re-caulk wherever it has cracked, shrunk or pulled away from the surface.
  • Dryer vent and chimney — have them inspected Both are fire-safety items on the same footing as your smoke alarm. I could not confirm an official interval, so I will not print one. Get them on a professional's list.
  • Radon — test the house EPA's action level is 4 pCi/L. Testing is cheap. Mitigation after the fact, or a failed radon test in the middle of selling the house, is not. Test, and test again after major structural or HVAC work. epa.gov/radon
★ Small money now or big money later.
If you cannot pay for it

USDA Section 504 repair loans and grants

Being told your roof is done is not the same as being able to replace it. Here is one door that is open.

  • Maximum loan $40,000, termed 20 years, interest fixed at 1%
  • Maximum grant $10,000
  • Loan and grant can be combined for up to $50,000 in assistance
The gates that decide it — read these before you get your hopes up. You must own and occupy the home. You must be unable to get affordable credit anywhere else. Your household income must be within the county low or very-low income limit. The grant additionally requires you to be age 62 or older with very-low income. And the property address must fall inside a USDA-designated rural area — that is decided address by address on USDA's own eligibility site, so check your exact address before assuming it qualifies.
Program page: rd.usda.gov — Single Family Housing Repair Loans & Grants. If the address does not qualify or the income limit rules you out, your next stop is your county or city housing office and your local Community Action agency — they administer repair and weatherization money that is not on any federal page.
★ Ask before you assume you do not qualify.
Paperwork

Keep the proof

This is not on the original flyer and it should be.

  • Model and serial number of every major system and appliance
  • The install date, and who installed it
  • Receipts and the written warranty
  • Permits and inspection records
  • Dated photos of the roof, the deck and anything you had repaired
Insurance claims and warranty claims turn on proof of install date and proof of maintenance. A roof or water heater claim can get cut down or denied because nobody can show when it went in. Take five minutes and photograph the data plate on your furnace and your water heater. Put it somewhere you will find it in ten years.
★ No paperwork, no claim.