British homes are weird | Canadian Living in England

[@FormulaProg]

I feel like the funniest thing about your videos/channel is that it’s mainly British people that watch your videos and you basically tell us everything we already know but still watch everything and just laugh 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@helenFX]

I watch a few channels from people that have moved to britain - I find it very interesting to hear about the place from a fresh perspective :)

[@shaunw9270]

Well I think us British have always been able to have a laugh at ourselves & know when someone is laughing along with us ,not at us. I think Alanna has integrated very well lol 😊👍

[@MichaelJohnsonAzgard]

@@helenFX they mention some things we take for granted or are used to, then I say "oh yea, I didn't think about it that way"

[@FormulaProg]

Can’t wait for this channel in 10 years when she sounds more English than I do

[@MayMay-jy9mr]

literally haha i love watching videos from people who have moved to the uk its so interesting hearing their perspective. Love evan edinger too

[@sarahawkins1208]

The 'closet' with the water heater is called an 'airing cupboard'.

[@mikemargo]

Or in London.. a studio apartment

[@bexter107]

And the one under stairs is the cupboard or I like to call it a Coraline cupboard

[@jaycobbina9529]

@@mikemargo and worth a fortune. So comfortable in the knowledge that I can sell it and buy a big house in the future lol

[@krashd]

The cupboard where my water heater is kept was once called a 'coal bunker'. It's a very old house.

[@JUANKERR2000]

@George Job No, she is from Canada, were she American I would agree with you!

[@stanleyt.7930]

Population density of Canada: 8 per square mile. UK 800. Our homes are smaller for a reason

[@jadateia]

Thats not true mate. 99% of the houses were built ages ago.

[@bobbysausagefingers4405]

I think we got enough room to have bigger houses it’s just a rip off here

[@monkeymox2544]

@@jadateia No that's not true. Only just under 5 million British homes pre-date 1900. Most of our homes have been built in an era when Britain is crowded (or at least, its towns and cities are), and have accordingly been built smaller.

[@casualprince8779]

Everyone is down near the borders, no one wants to be up north

[@tomuxp1]

@@monkeymox2544 crowded? Village after village...

[@thegingerwitch322]

Houses often dont have driveways because they were built BEFORE people routinely had a car!

[@richardbryant3169]

I never thought of that to be honest, good point

[@GaryMcCaffrey]

And that's why the roads are small too.

[@lindashelley3635]

The Ginger Witch But a lot of people nowadays will pave over their front gardens in order to be able park their car off the road. That’s, of course, if the front garden is big enough, which would essentially mean that your house would have to be either a semi or a detached property as a terrace will usually only have a tiny garden or no garden at all (like in the TV soap Coronation Street)

[@BBRC7612]

Except now.. New houses are small and parking for anything bigger than a Mini is a problem in most estates. Small country with too many people!!

[@lindashelley3635]

BBRC7612 That’s true, but sometimes the planners will try to find a solution to the problem. My daughter and son-in-law moved into a small 3-bed semi on a new-build estate with a front garden that they can’t pave over, nor are they allowed to park in the road outside. But the builders provided a car park behind the back gardens just for the houses in their street.

[@philipcochran1972]

Laundry room! Would love to have one. Many houses in the UK were not even built with a toilet room My first house had a toilet in the back yard Would love to have a basement. You'd have to by a large, old house to get a basement Most houses in the UK were built before the car, hence, no drive-way. My house was built in 1874

[@janr2133]

Wow Philip! I am from the Dallas, TX area and I lived in a 1910 two story house and thought that was old! I loved it, then down sized when my kids left. Love hearing about England. Been there 4 times visiting a pen friend and totally loved it, ya'll are soooo lucky!

[@marksnow7569]

I live in a modern "every house almost the same as all the others" estate, but the heart of the town where I live, Whitehaven in Cumbria, was developed as a planned community between about 1640 and 1740. It was designed as a rectangular grid, and individual plots, all basically the same width, were sold for development. There was one key rule: houses had to have three storeys above ground. Most of those 300+ year-old houses are still there, all with three storeys of windows visible, but some with rooms not much over 2 metres floor-to-ceiling, and very plain frontages, others on the same street with much higher ceilings (at least on the entrance floor- the servants on the top floor would be a lot more cramped) and much more decoration. Harmonious, but quirky.

[@millomweb]

I'm not sure you're right about the basement. Very few houses have basements in the UK. A lot with underground rooms have cellars - often with no natural light down there and often only a single room, maybe 2 rooms. May also be limited headroom too. My grandmother had a house with a cellar. good headroom, and 2 rooms - one was a coal bunker - with a trap door in the street for tipping the coal down and the other room was for storage. Neither room could have been classed as 'dry' but at least not wet either !

[@millomweb]

Hi@@marksnow7569 look south to Millom - can you see me waving ?

[@marksnow7569]

@@millomweb It's either you or a wind-turbine!

[@Meowlynemeowjoh]

The “floors” are usually called upstairs and downstairs because lots of houses have only 2 “floors” not 3

[@drawde_064]

Lucy Foster I have 3 floors in my house and I just call them downstairs, upstairs and upstairs lol.

[@mokkaveli]

Or upstairs, downstairs and the loft/attic

[@SyAndrews]

I’m failing to explain the differences to my fiancé as I’ve done the opposite to you having moved to Canada. This was a great video! I miss England.

[@davewraxall8021]

Alana, I've been watching your posts for a few weeks now and I love what you're doing. I'm originally from Manchester, England but have lived near Toronto (Oshawa) for 31 years (I'm 65).. I can really relate to what you're saying and you are bang on the money. I was just watching a post where you were going through comments and there were idiots saying a lot of mean things. You're a sweetheart and don't deserve to have crap like that thrown at you. Small minded, toxic people make me sick. You are not complaining but comparing, which you are perfectly entitled to do. It's far from negative, as they seem to be making out. Whereas those idiots usually have nothing to compare against and so, are not qualified to comment. I'd advise you to completely ignore them and just keep doing what you're doing. It's very entertaining and we could all do with more smiles. Thank you. Dave

[@millomweb]

Where's your vids Dave - comparing Canada with Manchester ?

[@davewraxall8021]

Alana, I haven't done any videos other than ones on fishing when I owned a lure company. Having lived in Canada for 31 years. I don't know how relevant it would be. I do tell people here that the only way you know it's summer in England is because the rain gets warmer!

[@eattherich9215]

@Dave Wraxall: I visited my sister who lives in Pickering, and her home is large and comfortable, something that I did not expect from the small frontage. There was so much space inside and everything was well appointed. My nieces live in Ajax and their house is luxurious. However, I feel there is far too much reliance on the car and the suburbs all look a little samey.

[@davewraxall8021]

@@eattherich9215 I agree with you... to point. While the burbs do look a little samey, there is a fair bit of variation. When you buy a new house, you can pick the interior layout and them choose from several outside treatments. So you can get several houses which are all identical indoors but all look different on the outside. Certainly when I lived in the UK and when I go back to visit, housing estates tend to be full of virtually identical houses. Houses in Canada, are typically bigger and most have basements, which are often converted into living space and aircon, as our summers usually average around 30ºC. You're right about relying on cars too. When I lived in England, virtually everything was a maximum of 20 minutes away. My typical commute in Canada was an hour and a half, thankfully I'm retired and don't have to do that any more! If someone had told me that we want you to live in Manchester but commute to the south of Birmingham every day, I'd have thought they were crazy. But, that's exactly what most people do here. Canada is also ginormous. It's the 2nd biggest country in the World next to Russia. If you look at a map of Canada and focus on Ontario, Lake Ontario, the 2nd smallest of the Great Lakes, it would fit into the UK about 4 times. So that will give you a sense of scale. Yet, our population is about half of yours, at 38 million. The biggest difference I find, is that living in Canada is like Manchester was when I was a kid. There is very little crime or violence here. People are relaxed rather than stressed. We have an American lifestyle with more of a European vibe. It has been voted the best place in the World to live many times. That said, we also have a complete knob running the country, just like you. I really miss the Mancunian culture and all of my family and friends and especially Holland's Steak and Kidney Puddings! If I could get them all to move over here, I'd be like a pig in pooh. Wherever you go, there are things you like and things you don't. Overall, living in Canada has worked out well for me and I got to do things that I probably never would have been able to do in England.

[@mickwful]

Up north we dont need drive ways, I keep my bike in shed out back wi ferrets.

[@chipzz86]

Ur flat caps their too 😆 lol

[@virtualatheist]

Aye, next t' privy 😜

[@edwardtreen7416]

So where does t'whippet live, lad?

[@mickwful]

@@edwardtreen7416 Now don t be daft lad whippets are cosy by fire wi a bowl o tripe. an any road how could our lass do washing wi dolly tub in shed wi dogs under er feet.

[@edwardtreen7416]

@@mickwful Dolly tub in t'shed and not in t'back yard? By 'eck, tha spoils that lass!

[@claveworks]

We have a separate tumble dryer which is great, but there's nowhere for the vent pipe to go so we put it through the cat flap lol.

[@SNMG7664]

Be careful or you'll end up with steamed cat

[@emilycarroll8320]

Have you ever thought about getting a condenser dryer? 😁

[@claveworks]

@@emilycarroll8320 I have not, but will investigate, thank you!

[@Aeronaut1975]

@@claveworks Yep, that's what condenser dryers were invented for. Just remember to empty the water collection container every time you use the machine.

[@mezmanmerrill7412]

Our vent pipe goes through the window

[@barrygower6733]

Optometrist asks, “How are you finding England?” “No problem, with these glasses, I open my front door, and there it is.”

[@adamjohannesson3434]

Barry Gower 😹😹😹😹😹

[@fatbelly27]

Go to Greenland and turn right

[@MarkFrancis-xt7ni]

Barry Gower haha

[@cheekyboy5000]

@@fatbelly27 Extra points for the Beatles reference.

[@fatbelly27]

Well spotted!

[@peteryoungpeteryoung965]

In our house we only bath if we have a hangover, on weekends. On weekdays its a shower. We keep pets in our bath tub, my kids have two turtles and a frog in ours, they don't shave or need a hair dryer. We park our cars on the street, driveways are for skips, kids bikes, garage sales and rubbish bins. Guys like to do DIY to improve their homes and go to the pub a lot so they can get tips from other guys on what to do. My wife loves hanging the washing out on a dry breezy day because it smells so much fresher than a tumble dryer, which she hardly ever uses. Thanks for your appreciation of our strange little country.

[@kafaimelody]

Washing machine here in Hong Kong is located in the kitchen as well, the same as England! Housing in Hong Kong is also expensive (even more expensive than London) that people won’t waste living space just for laundry. It’s fascinating to learn about Canadian and British Homes. Love your videos!

[@AlexKinPongLo]

I’m from Hong Kong too. I was born in Hong Kong. I’ve been in Germany for a year and in the USA for 2 years. I find the houses in the UK are so small. I would say the quality of living would be the worst in the UK compared with HK, USA, and Germany. 1. Let’s see the price. I count it by square feet not by bedrooms and bathrooms. For example, I currently live in southern area of UK. In term of square feet, the price in south and near London is actually the same as those in Hong Kong. It’s a three bedroom house only 1000 square feet. The stairs and hallway just waste a lot of space. It can cost you 600-700k pounds. The tricky thing is that they count the price with bedroom and bathroom. So many developers and house owners will part very small room to maximise the price. 2. The security is very bad. Burglary and thefts are very often in the UK. So you need to buy a lot of security service, pay the service annually, high insurance, and the police will do nothing even you caught the theft. You may think the USA is the most dangerous. But the truth is you have gun at home in the America, so you can literally legally shoot the theft to death if they break in. 3. There are many weird and outdated law to strict your freedom at home, like you can’t do such and such and the like in your private garden. You can’t hang your clothes near the windows. 4. There are many land owned by the Lord and Lady who are the nobles and the UK laws protect them and the government and capitalists can do nothing to them. Just like the native land in the New Territories in Hong Kong. In conclusion, I think the USA would be much better living quality than those of UK in term of square feet and safety. Most importantly, your salary can be doubled in the USA with cheaper houses. The hardest thing for HK people to live in Germany is the language barrier. Before I came to the UK, I think everything would be similar to the America. But I could say please think about why British Empire disappeared and the USA is raising. If the UK can get rid of the nobles and become a capitalism and republic, it will become great. The laws are no longer protect the nobles but the people.

[@rachelwalsh3575]

I would use a tumble dryer AND a washing line/clothes horse. Drying outside during good weather and still drying during bad weather. It makes laundry as economic as possible throughout the year. With kids and school uniforms, I can't afford to get a backlog on laundry. Its always drying time that slows things down.

[@cosmicsman666]

Dont be afraid.. you will breeze it. We love you for being you. x

[@csatlantic2748]

Really enjoyed that. Your amazing personality just radiates from the screen. Thanks Alanna.

[@stumccabe]

I grew up in an ex-British country in Africa and our voltage was 240 volts like the UK. There were no sockets/outlets in the bathrooms - I guess there's a good reason for it. I agreed with you about the character of the buildings - there are so many really old and amazing buildings near my home - a pub that was open when Shakespeare was alive and a little further down the road, a pub that opened in 1320, to name just two.

[@janr2133]

Wow I can't even imagine living with such history, America is such a baby compared to England! Hey ya'll from Texas!

[@millomweb]

@@janr2133 I bet there's many mind-blowing concepts in the UK for you. Streets with no sidewalks - so you have to walk where the cars drive, houses where your front door is 12 inches away from your neighbour's. Main roads that go between farm buildings and where there are hedges both sides of the road, you can 'stroke' the hedge either side with your mirrors! UK roads are classed A,B, and C. A roads are the best roads (only bettered by dual carriageways and motorways) but where there is only one road between two places, it is always designated an A road even if 2 vehicles can't pass each other going in opposite directions. Imagine a cross-street in a city and you're planning on turning left or right - it's a tight bend. We have bends that tight on roads in general because our roads go round things - whether buildings, farmer's fields or to deal with natural features like rivers. I'm in an industrial town - built about 150 years ago. The houses are in long terraces, the streets weren't designed for cars as no one had a car (nor horse and cart!) people walked everywhere.

[@ZainabProductions]

pmailkeey are you joking?

[@millomweb]

@@ZainabProductions I'm not joking about any part of that. Which bit are you thinking I was joking ?

[@ZainabProductions]

pmailkeey Streets with no sidewalks(pavements)?

[@ephales]

Great comparison video, I always find them very entertaining. Great job fellow Canadian.

[@JimpZee]

Everywhere that I have lived in the UK has had a washer/dryer combo (because it saves space). Sure, you can't dry things at the same time that you are doing a wash, but you can get clothes washed and dried in one go (while you are out, or asleep) because you don't need to move the clothes from one machine to another.

[@JimpZee]

I just looked more closely at the clip of you in front of wour washing machine and it looks like an Indesit Ecotime. Are you sure that it's not a washer dryer? It has the word "Dry" written on the soap drawer as one of the set of presets, and the Indesit web site shows a washer dryer (6105) that looks exactly the same as yours.

[@millomweb]

@@JimpZee Yup, I looked at that and came to the same conclusion. - Is this where we say 'typical woman' didn't realise she had a dryer in the place ;) We're on our 2nd washer-dryer but so rarely use the dryer to cut costs.

[@scottwebb1978]

Driveways ? Some houses don't even have a front garden lol it be like them houses on the itv soap coronation street where your front door is basically right on the public pavement/sidewalk 😂

[@q3b26]

New builds don't even get pavements anymore 😂😂😂

[@eattherich9215]

@@q3b26: you don't get much of anything in new builds. Want a window in that shower room, are you some kind of fanatic?

[@stephenparker6362]

Hi, Alanna, interesting video. You are definitely right about lack of basements here, not many houses have them. Even when you have a washer / dryer or a dryer I think clothes always smell fresher when dried outside so it's nice to do that when the weather permits. Looking forward to your live q and a on Thursday, I'm sure that'll be good. Looking forward to your next normal video soon as well.

[@darkfuhart9626]

I’m a Canadian living in England for 1 year now (I’m from Bradford Ontario and live near York) but I fully related to all the things you said in this video keep up the good work and this channel is really good to watch because I can relate to it a lot 👍🏼👍🏼

[@_ellipticalpxin_2543]

Omg, I used to live in Bradford aswell!!

[@galaxywhispers1787]

Cool video Alanna. Looking forward to Thursday 🙂

[@michaelpoole587]

You have a lovely way of explaining things, You make everything most interesting, a real talent. Good luck for Thursday,.

[@rafo6577]

You can have sockets/electrical outlets in the bathroom here in the UK but you will only find them in large bathrooms as they have to be a certain distance from the basin, shower and bath etc. (3m away from zone 1) As the average home is old or has a small bathroom, the average person probably wouldn't know. I won't go into the zone specifics.

[@Alanabanana0711]

As a Canadian living in London now, I can totally relate to everything you're saying! I was shocked when I found no screens on the windows in my new flat, I was like "omg but the bugs!?!" forgetting of course that Canada has way more bugs flying around in summer. Still trying to get used to having no electricity outlets in the bathroom! Trying to figure out how to blow dry my hair early morning in the bedroom without waking up my husband 😆 Oh and the lack of A/C may kill me! haha jk (oh the privilege!) Love your videos!

[@timo72455]

In Oklahoma, we kind of use the terms alternatively. Like someone will call the first floor the first floor, and another would call it the ground floor. There are even signs that say its the ground floor then followed by 1st and second. Then ya have some buildings that say Ground floor which is also the first floor in which they skip straight to the second floor because the first floor and ground floor are the same floor. And yes I used floor a lot.

[@brentwoodbay]

I think you may have missed the point AFB. Yes here in Canada as in Oklahoma we will call the lowest floor of a building, like a hotel, office building or an apartment block either the 'Ground' floor , or the 'First' floor. In the UK however, the Ground floor is NEVER called the First floor. The first floor in the UK is what we here in North America call the SECOND floor! So in a THREE storey building in the UK, the TOP floor is the SECOND floor! ( Notice also the different way of spelling storey as in a building)

[@paulwhitear4983]

In UK the floor at street level is the ground floor and the floor above is the 1st

[@barnstar2077]

There are no words for the kind of week I am having. God bless you for cheering me up!

[@rebeccasimantov5476]

I feel the same!

[@rebeccasimantov5476]

Fractured my (right) wrist on Sunday, nephew's funeral yesterday...

[@lesleyallen7379]

Dryers are expensive to run and not environmentally friendly so I only use mine when I really have to. Enjoyed your video .

[@autumn5852]

Lesley Allen do other people use them when they don’t have to?

[@krashd]

@@autumn5852 Yes, because putting clothes on my line often means stepping into the shit minefield laid by my dogs so into the dryer they go.

[@venturesintoglory5353]

When I go to Belgium, I am always delighted that not one single house looks the same in appearance. Here in Guelph, Canada, all the houses on my street look very similar. One house is identical to mine!

[@bordersw1239]

Last year my Canadian cousins FaceTimed us to show us their new house. They planned to a magnificent white building 400 metres away surrounded by fields. My daughter exclaimed ‘wow your house is beautiful ‘, my cousins laughed, ‘ oh, that’s the stables for our horses’.

[@terryomalley1974]

Are you sure it was 400 meters, not 4oo square feet? I ask because, in Canada, we still measure real estate properties in square feet and yards/acres, etc...

[@johnorchin8567]

Hi Alanna, Another great video. The reason a lot of our housing in this country has no off street parking, is that cars were not commonplace at the time the houses were built, hence people now turn their front gardens into driveways. Of course this is not possible without a front garden. You always seem so so sensitive to the small nuances that make our country different, which is charming to listen to. Looking forward to Thursday's live stream.

[@timsummers870]

Clothes lines are great for your clothes!! Dryers will most times ruin them, not to mention shrink your T-shirts and jeans.

[@rebeccasimantov5476]

I totally agree...also clothes dried outside on the line have a much nicer smell! Btw I'm from Australia and rarely use a dryer...maybe just in winter when it's v. cold and rainy...

[@colinfarrow9971]

Try buying better quality products

[@colinfarrow9971]

Hanging clothes on a line is so much effort. You have to choose a day when its not going to rain. They sometimes end up smelling of bonfires or barbecues. Far more hygienic to use a condenser dryer.

[@JB-ux7ql]

But then your clothes dry weird like you have to take the time & effort to iron. Dryers all the way

[@chelsal]

Good luck on Thursday , question if you have time - do you think British culture has changed you at all?

[@FrenchieDogMum]

Out and about videos would be brilliant for you to do. Showing the different style houses, in the street and parking, etc etc

[@TheCorek1949]

That would, for her, be a bad idea. Too many of the people subscribing are maybe stalkers and this would reveal where she lives. If you want to see out and about use Google maps street view.

[@archstanton1628]

4chan users tracked down that guy from the terrible transformers movies using star charts. If someone wants to find you, they will 😁

[@FrenchieDogMum]

Clive Powell I’m from the UK so I don’t need to see this stuff but others probably would like to. Talking about how things are is one thing, seeing it is another. Anyway Alanna wouldn’t even have to film where she lives. She could do random videos of places not even where she lives. Plus I’m not stupid, I know she couldn’t film where she lives. She could do them on location somewhere.

[@SafehandsX]

LOL, when you started talking about 'closets', I was initially thinking 'lavatory' :) Interesting what you said about the architecture.

[@judybage4083]

Generalisation or not, you got the comparisons spot on. I’ve lived in UK all my life. Bathrooms didn’t even come inside for the working class until early 20th century. When I was a kid, no bathroom at all but a toilet outside at the end of the back yard. (I’m 56) 🤣🤣

[@kadams3029]

I read somewhere that in the 1950s, something like 1/3 of British homes still had outdoor toilets. As an American who grew up in an "old" house (1920s) built with both indoor plumbing and electricity (though it was originally heated with coal), that really blew my mind.

[@millomweb]

@@kadams3029 We still have a functional outside toilet. I'll tell you what, it never needs flushing twice ! Not only that, it's much easier and reliable to flush than the modern inside one ! And yes, it has a chain - with a porcelain 'handle' with the word 'PULL' written on it.

[@kevinbarr2095]

Don't worry about the stream you'll do great, we'll all be here to support you

[@vickytaylor9155]

Closets are called wardrobes in the UK and they are usually a separate piece of furniture sometimes with drawers underneath.

[@kentix417]

That's a bit like saying our kitchens are a piece of furniture. A closet is a room. A very small room, (or sometimes large, there are walk-in closets as large as a North American bathroom), but still a room.

[@roberttreborable]

Hi Alana, I agree with your observations. One thing I liked in Canada (BC), is top loading washing machines, so if you had missed putting the odd pair of socks in, there's No Problem just open the top and throw in the socks, which we (in the UK), can't do with our front loaders … I missed not having a washing line although the dryer was much quicker.... I loved my time in Canada and felt totally at home, I hope you feel the same way here in the UK ...

[@Onmysheet]

You should upload a remix video of when you say "Hi everyone it's me" and "Byye" from all your videos.

[@hairyairey]

Not forgetting "without further ado, let's go!"

[@lonetreejim]

🇨🇦 Thanks For this video Alanna, I found your comparisons very interesting. Keep the great content coming!

[@brianjones4387]

Hi Alana, you alright mate? My Canadian relatives have told us that things in Canada are bigger and better, and that's no problem. But an American once said that things in the US are so much bigger. He criticised the size of our potatoes. So I said that, here we grow them to fit 'our' mouths. Still loving your vids, and youkeep em comin xx

[@Sparks127]

Plus they'll never have Jersey Royals. The best potatoes in the world (in season)

[@oliviastreet7032]

The other week I noticed that someone in my area had sold there back garden and the council are building houses on it now. Honestly I think they will build houses anywhere in the UK.

[@calvincroftavfc4431]

Theres a b and b down the road from my house. They sold their back garden and 3 2 bed houses have been crammed into the space. Its madness the lengths people in the UK will go to get more houses

[@paulwhitear4983]

The houses I've lived in have always had space for a dryer. Most modern houses do.

[@spencerwilton5831]

Paul Whitear modern homes are actually significantly smaller on average than those built in the past. Houses are shrinking every year! The difference is new homes / kitchens are designed with space for a dryer, even though that usually means something else is sacrificed - a cupboard for example.

[@ukfmcbradioservicingTango21]

regarding electrical power points in bathrooms.....when I did my electrical training back in 1979, UK regulations do not allow power points in bathrooms. However, those shaver points have an isolation transformer inside & usually offer both 230 & 110v options with a current limit of around 25W. Richard (UK)

[@jimbegin6554]

I’ve just had a holiday (vacation😉) in Canada, and found the homes in the coastal areas of Nova Scotia to be very unsterile and charming. I know you were only generalising as the big towns & cities tend to repeat styles - it’s the same the world over. Hope the live stream goes well.

[@q3b26]

My primary school teacher was from Nova Scotia, she always said she preferred England and couldn't ever move back

[@jonadabtheunsightly]

We do use the term "ground floor" in North America (not so much for houses, but for larger buildings with more floors), but "first floor" and "ground floor" mean the same thing. Elevators in larger buildings with 4 or more floors (hospitals, etc.) will often label the ground floor as G, so the elevator buttons might be in an order like this: B, G, 2, 3, 4. (B is Basement.) In big cities, I've also seen P used for the level with access to a parking deck, when that is different from the ground floor (it may be one or two levels below the street), and hotels sometimes use L for the lobby level, regardless of what number it would be. So in a large hotel or convention center, you might have elevator buttons like B, P, G, L, 3, 4, 5, ... or P, L, G, 2, 3, 4, ... or some such combination. If a house doesn't have a driveway, how do you get from the garage to the street? Do you just drive across the yard, or what?

[@GamingMattStyle]

Most houses that lack a drive will lack a garage also. Some people decide to pave over a front garden either partially or fully to create a driveway, just as other households decide to convert a previous drive into a front garden. Again - space is a premium so it comes down to personal preference, but many houses lack one, the other or both. On newer estates shared driveways are also common - essentially a wider drive either where each property has an unmarked 'space' reserved. If there are a block of garages your space is usually in front of your garage. Also of interest is that the garage within the block attached to the deed of a property on a shared driveway doesn't necessarily align with the order of houses. Eg a house A,B,C,D assigned corresponding garages 1,2,3,4 may find that despite the order of houses on the street being house A,B,C,D from left to right, the according garages in the block from left to right might be 3,1,4,2 or something similarly random.

[@mattinfullvision9598]

Live Q&A sounds great, I'll be watching

[@millomweb]

Yeah, me too - when is it ?

[@mattinfullvision9598]

@@millomweb it's already happened, she did it yesterday evening

[@millomweb]

@@mattinfullvision9598 I knew that - as per my other comment of letting us know BEFORE she does it next time !

[@mattinfullvision9598]

@@millomweb she did let us know on this video saying when she was going to do it and she sent us a notification for it like a day or two before she went live., although I think some people said they didn't get the notification

[@millomweb]

@@mattinfullvision9598 I only came across her channel yesterday !

[@sandinamia]

UK: I was told that the no power outlets in the loo was because they don't want you electrocuting yourself with a hairdryer dropped into the sink basin. You also won't find regular power outlets (only the ones for shaving or electric toothbrushes) in hotel rooms in the UK. I was also told that there should be two doors between the kitchen and the loo for hygiene reasons. And most rental flats in London come fully furnished. Basement flats in London usually open out to a garden. US (some places, like Texas): don't have basements, either. I believe that's also the case in many coastal areas where the sea level is low. Side note: quite a few Spanish residential (apartment) buildings have a floor level called an "entresuelo," which is between the ground floor and 1st floor. And some of the historical buildings have lifts with benches for you to sit on.

[@Jaichbinhier]

As someone from the midwest USA, it was interesting to me That many of your homes in Canada are similar to what I see. :) (I'll be honest, I started watching this video so KZbin's algorithm might recommend More vids with thumbnails containing that facial expression... but I enjoyed and stayed to the end.)

[@PrezidentHughes]

I'm from the Caribbean and I can DEFINITELY relate. Home life in England is nearly like roughing it, ESPECIALLY if you're renting. Because of the lack of space it is hard to take advantage of buying wholesale because of the lack of space. Makes living even more crazy expensive than it already is.

[@raymonddowd3245]

In Colorado my mother hung clothes outside even in winter and we had a drier but she hung sheets outside. Sure at times they froze but they thawed a few days later.

[@jkprez]

She is describing typical suburban Ontario homes, which I spent my formative years in as well. However, there are lots of older towns and cities with 'older' architecture from 1800s or so throughout Canada. I think the amount of condos going up in major cities will have many urban Canadians living more like those in the UK living in smaller accommodations.

[@rafo6577]

No different up north... it's tha age of the area, large proportion of the housing and infrastructure predate the car... so no driveway, garage and alike.

[@hufflepunkslitherclaw7436]

Love your videos! I'm from BC Canada, but I lived in West Sussex for a year when I was 18 and I definitely noticed alot of these differences too! I think you forgot to mention staircases , they are crazy in some of the older homes. Another thing I noticed was the obsession with fire escapes and fire doors. I did think the topic of the cookie cutter houses in canada was very funny and very true. And, while that can seem really sterile and boring, it is also comforting and you know what to expect. I ended up buying a house that it almost identical to my childhood home and it took me a while to realize that's why I liked it so much. Anyways, great video, very relatable

[@Meowlynemeowjoh]

The closets u where talking about are called airing cupboards

[@willwong1234]

I have different houses in my neighbourhood in Markham because the builders made sure that the same layout and elevation only alternates after 5 houses or so and, like always, luuuve your videos!😍

[@Ajf_24]

Great video! As Kiwi who has been in the UK for the past year (and lived in Canada for a year back in 2012) a lot of this resonated with me. I love how much personality the UK has, even down to the layout of the buildings or the buildings themselves. I'm still trying to figure out what an 'estate' is though, as I've lived on two (one in Scotland) and I'm none the wiser. Also, Tesco meal deals are life.

[@davew4998]

There are two types of estate; a country estate owned by toffs and a housing estate on which I assume you lived. The latter is usually a number of adjacent streets where all the houses were built at about the same time, usually by the same builder and all in a very similar style. An estate is often bounded by a road circling it. You get them on the edge of towns where some countryside has been taken for house building, and also in large cities like London where old houses or tower blocks have been cleared to make room for newer ones. Housing estates are iften given a name to identify them.

[@Ajf_24]

@@davew4998 Many thanks, mate! The one in Scotland must have been a country estate as it had a massive house in the centre owned by a Lord and I lived in one of the many cottages surrounding it. The second one definitely sounds more like the housing estate though. Lots of houses that looked very similar, all positioned around a small series of shops and a sort of village square

[@Ajf_24]

@Craig Murray Cheers, Craig. The one in Scotland was a bit poncy, so I think it was probably a country estate. The other one sounds very similar to what you described though. I did have a bloke try to sell me coke the first day I got there and walked down to get some groceries, so that would make sense.

[@davew4998]

@@Ajf_24 My pleasure Abe.

[@pumkineater7219]

Ok ... homes in England are like me. Small but full of character! As someone from South Africa, I found the same things you have done. Sizes of houses, number of rooms, types of rooms, sizes of gardens, driveways etc ... all the same. BUT NO CHARACTER! Now in Spain and we are building a huge five bedroom house with pool and 10,000 sq metres of garden! Happy days! 🇪🇸😉😎😍

[@ThatchyWalnut]

I just found out Canada isn’t real. Turns out it was all mapleleaf.

[@h.calvert3165]

LOL Canadian! 😂

[@vickytaylor9155]

There are houses with basements, but for some reason especially where I live in the UK, they tend to be older houses and ones near rivers. My cousin lives near the Thames River and their basement floods every time it rains really hard. Most houses outside of a city have driveways.

[@GFSLombardo]

Must be why its called "rising damps" as in old Britsh sitcoms. If a dwelling was built long before the advent of the automobile there is not likely to be a "driveway", as we know it today. However if its really old it may have stables for horses somewhere close by...

[@quietlife6956]

In Australia and New Zealand we have multiple electrical sockets in the bathroom & en-suite and the power is the same as the UK. Australia and New Zealand sound a lot closer to Canada in the size of housing, although here homes are built to last 100 years plus but brick homes in England are meant to last 200 years plus ( I read in an article once that it is 1000 years but that seems crazy) I miss the history of England as you don’t realise that there are so many old buildings with character until it is gone. Generally we don’t have central heating in Australia/NZ but air conditioning and reverse/ heat pump is common place with even underfloor heating more likely than central heating. Keep up the good work, I enjoy the content and look forward to the live stream.

[@ianmcrae8860]

We have houses in my small town (pop 30k) that are over 1000 years old and churches that are even older. I read that one village in Yorkshire in the north of the UK has more protected sites than all of Canada. BTW Voltage doesn’t kill .... current does however ....

[@MichaelJohnsonAzgard]

My house was built around 70 years before UK homes were fitted for electricity. The ground lease for the house was 999 years from the 1890's, so I'm hoping it'll last that long.

[@Frazpas]

Our house is about 600 years old, the first in the village to have electricity: apparently it was a big event in the village to see a light switched on. Imagine. It was build before glass was used in windows: just shutters. Some character.

[@Knuckle_Sandwich_Hand_Wraps]

My parents (before i was born) immigrated to Canada from Greater London area, they sold their tiny tiny 3 bed town house and managed to buy a new build 4 bed house in Cambridge (just outside Toronto) with a double garage underneath with a huge garden for about the same price. The house they got in Canada was over twice the size of the house in the Uk. The house in the UK had no garage or off street parking with a tiny back yard. Space is of a premium in the UK.

[@smitha1994]

I actually did grow up with a utility room with our washing machine in it so it isn't a completely unheard of thing here - but I guess it does depend on the size of the house as you said.

[@millomweb]

Yeah yeah - an outbuilding containing wash tub, dolly and mangle - the room next to the outside loo and shed.

[@smitha1994]

@@millomweb I don't really understand what you're trying to say here...

[@millomweb]

@@smitha1994 That old 'utility rooms' were an outbuilding and washing of laundry was not done in the house. So in effect, many houses had the equivalent of a utility room but called it a washhouse.

[@lyndseypearson5752]

i’m from Alberta moving to England at the end of Feb so i am watching your videos religiously!! ♥️🇨🇦

[@millomweb]

why the move ?

[@s12michael]

7:30 - my favourite part of the video by far when you gave the camera a thumbs up 😂😂

[@LadyLocket]

We don't have Closets here we have cupboards, as others have said the one on the landing is an airing cupboard (used for the water heater and was often used to air your clothing and sheets as it was dry and warm) and the understairs cupboard (which was just us not wanting waste such valuable space). Many of our houses were built before the modern idea of built-in storage, space was tight and bricks/building materials were VERY expensive and we built homes designed to retain heat. So we built small and sturdy. We then bought or made furniture for storage (depending on your income level or skills) as there wasn't space to build what is, in essence, extra mini rooms which you couldn't move around to change the function or layout of your spaces when needed. You do find in the further out into the country in the older cottages and homes there are often small built-in closets, nooks and spaces as they had a little more room to spread.

[@alastairvergara4228]

I live in Texas. Our houses are huge. Idk why I'm watching this 😂

[@onyxstewart9587]

Our houses definitely have a lot of character. I'm in southern England and live in a row of Victorian terraced houses and in just this one street there's 6 or 7 different styles of house. Lots of them are painted different colours, too, so it's a rainbow of colour.

[@voodooacidman]

you are not complaining, just comparing :) another great vid my friend :)

[@MaggieMMM]

I've always had a tumble dryer & so does everyone I know. I use a washing line on warm dry days & this is better for the environment, I use an airer in the colder months for delicate items that I don't want to tumble dry.

[@amandalewis3898]

Had several tumble dryers over the years my electric bill was always through the roof 😱

[@johnclarke2997]

Wind is free, so use it.

[@lovelearnersofaredhead892]

I actually agree with you about the character of homes. I was born and raised here in Canada and there are some old buildings and homes here that are revered as heritage homes or buildings, but tons get knocked down in place of a mall or some other new building. It is sad but I truly appreciate the older ones in fact I live in one and the funny thing is that it wasn't built with closets they were added in time by the ppl that owned it before our landlord. Hmm new can be nice but tradition and age can be beautiful.

[@MrPaulw6692]

10:10 trying to explain that the GROUND floor is the first floor in Canada with out calling it the ground floor, you had me cracking up lol

[@GaryHayward]

It's not always the first floor at the top of the ground floor first flight of stairs-could be the mezzanine. :)

[@jeanpage3]

Good luck for Thursday! I'll be watching. x

[@afloatingpineapple6170]

About the home size difference, you probably already know this but houses are usually larger and more spaced out depending on where abouts in the UK you live. For example, houses in the Lakes or Penrith area or usually cheaper and much larger than London or Newcastle. I actually live in a house in Lancashire with a barn and an indoor pool. It is surrounded by many fields. I’m guessing you weren’t purposely doing it but it sounded as though you were generalising the entire of England or UK to be small and cramped when in reality it really isn’t.

[@oliviastreet7032]

I thought that too. I live in a fairly big house in England. In my area there are houses that are tiny but most of them are a good size. She was also comparing it to her parents house who are obviously going to have a bigger house as they're older so most likely have more money than her.

[@billroberts7881]

In view of the fact that the standard voltage in the UK is 240VAC it's understandable that the outlets always have a switch on them and they don't typically have outlets in the bathroom...BUT I don't understand why they don't have an outlet or two with a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) in the bathroom like they do in Canada and the US. That would make the higher voltage much less a risk in the bathroom.

[@crcomments8509]

Bill Roberts Actually not all mains outlets in the U.K. have switches on them ( although most tend to nowadays). Even with a GFCI, you could still potentially be killed if you are in a bath and an electrical item dropped in (in fact there are still quite a few deaths from this in countries that do allow it), Whilst most houses built since the 1990’s do have RCD (residual circuit breaker) trips, many houses still have good old fuse wire. Unlike the USA, our electrical circuits are rings so there are multiple sockets powered of a single trip/fuse, hence we have additional separate fuses in our plugs, rated at 1,3,5 &13 amps depending on the device. The shaver specific socket for use in U.K. bathrooms, have mains isolation transformers built in and are only rated to power something like an electric shaver or electric toothbrush.

[@S.p.a.c.e.C.o.w.b.o.y]

Just think of the hoovering, a small house gets clean quicker :o)

[@f3aok]

And cheaper to heat.

[@southernmamajones7411]

Is hoovering the same as vacuuming? 💙

[@S.p.a.c.e.C.o.w.b.o.y]

@@southernmamajones7411 Yes but in the UK we had a company call Hoover so it was known as hoovering :)

[@southernmamajones7411]

Lol ok I figured that is what it meant. We use to have Hoover's in the states as well. We still might. Mine is a Bissell. 😂💚

[@amandalewis3898]

Southern Mama Jones mines a dyson but I call it a hoover and I say I’m gonna hoover up or I think I’ll hoover the stairs or I’m hoovering 🤣🤣🤣🤣all branded vacuums are called hoovers 🤣

[@athro10]

One of my uni houses (in Manchester, UK) had a basement. It was a dark, brick walled, damp, dusty room......completely empty other than one onion positioned in the middle of the floor. Said onion gradually became more and more rotten throughout the term........until one infamous house party when some dirty git ate it, leaving the room completely empty. That's my basement story. Keep up the good work Alanna!

[@millomweb]

That'd be a cellar rather than a basement.

[@Biddyjohno]

Great idea the q&a. You'll breeze it no worries

[@RGC198]

Hi Alanna, thanks for sharing another interesting and informative video. The one thing that I notice about the UK homes is that many are two stories and are joined together. I realise the reason for that is shortage of land. Just by coincidence, in our older suburbs, we have similar homes here in Australia. I visited a work colleague living in a home like that and I found it really interesting. It was very comfortable and cosy among other things. We use clothes lines and rotary hoists here in Australia in our back yards. The main problem is that the electric bills are very high priced and this discourages using clothes driers. You would love the power outlets here with three prongs. Two of the prongs are angled anti-clockwise and clockwise horizontally and below that, is the third prong, which is vertical. We have inbuilt wardrobes in the bedrooms, closets in the hall and the other rooms, we had to buy portable closets and add them in. I wish we had basements here. Our neighbours dug under their home and added a basement, but it floods when it rains. Our prior home in Sydney was split level and had several storage rooms underneath. Like you, I have had to cut back on collecting things, due to no space. We have a drive way here in Melbourne, but our Sydney house had no driveway at all. Everyone parked in the street and if we were really lucky, no one stripped the car while it was parked there. LOL. House styles tend to different here, though the older suburbs have similarly designed houses. Anyway, wishing you the very best. I hope all goes well with your live stream, in case I miss catching it. Take care. Robert.

[@erinjones2004]

Have moved from Australia to the north of England and can relate to everything you said! 😂

[@HighHoeKermit]

And the north welcomes you, G'day Erin.

[@millomweb]

Were you from Darwin and is your house still empty ?

[@TheShadman47]

I'm a Brit who lived in Canada for seven years. It seemed most houses had a double garage - and big ones at that. Incidentally, that's why we mostly have pull-strings to turn the light off and on in bathrooms - wet hands and light switches! Shame you forgot to tell us that houses normally have ductwork for central heating rather than radiators. Ducting is great because you can put the air conditioning through it too. And that's another thing: a lot of houses have air conditioners in Canada; you certainly need it in the hot summers.

[@shlibbermacshlibber4106]

The UK has some of the smallest homes in Europe, and yes I do feel clostrophobic, I'd love bigger rooms

[@shlibbermacshlibber4106]

@@ukisbeggar8462 you can feel claustrophobic if you want I'll stick to clostraphobic

[@michaels1422]

Enjoyed yet another of your videos. Unfortunately I'm working Thursday evening so will miss you killing it live on You Tube. Best of luck!👍👍👍👍😎

[@MrMassivefavour]

Notice how many storage companies are popping up in the UK. That's because we make shhittier houses with no storage, unconvertable attics, less space between propertys, with tiny gardens, with plasterboard internal walls and no parking on the street....but don't worry....The prices are the most expensive they've EVER been. It's the old ripoff Britain less for more double whammy!!!

[@jimjungle1397]

About the only part of England I know is Kent, because I've been there a few times on the train from France. I didn't realize it was a more expensive part of England. People there are super friendly, which I wasn't expecting. Being from the US, Toronto seems like an American city, but Montreal is a bit different, with lots of space, but housing and apartments crowded together. I couldn't believe how close to together the doors and windows are in Montreal. in both UK and Canada women (and men) are expected to have their legs covered, with hose or trousers for any, "business situation". In the US that is only a rule for very formal occasions, such weddings and funerals. People in townhouses in the US bring their trash cans inside until trash pickup day. In Canada, I see townhouses that have covered porches, which is a bit different from the US, and the trash cans are kept on the front porches. Some British bathroom lights, especially in older houses, have a string hanging from the light fixture, because a switch on the wall was considered a shock hazard. We have those fixtures in the US, but they are to avoid having to wire a separate switch, just to be cheaper or easier to install.

[@ganges4763]

I'm always happy to learn something new : ) Ps. Canada seems to be pretty cool !

[@TheCorek1949]

I think you mean Canada seems pretty cold.

[@ganges4763]

Nice one Clive !

[@drawde_064]

Ground Floor, First Floor, etc are only usually for large public buildings like shopping centres. Houses are usually Downstairs, Upstairs and Upstairs, unless your talking about the second upstairs, then the first upstairs might be middle floor. Although lots of houses only have 2 floors.

[@FormulaProg]

Half of us don’t even have gardens and you lot get massive houses with AC

[@MoviesNGames007uk]

And massive basements that can be converted into games rooms

[@FormulaProg]

My parents have a utility room and basement (cellar we call them) but it is proper rare to see it in houses under £250,000 (Up North/Wales)

[@shlibbermacshlibber4106]

And when we open the window, there's a big cloud of insects waiting to rush in like a crowd waiting for the winter sales

[@jonesste84]

Another great video Alanah.hope your well

[@sijones458]

Up north we have tumble dryers.. The no electric sockets in the bathroom really is an British thing, I guess it's to stop American hugging a toaster while getting a bath ;)

[@cogidubnus1953]

Personally I reckon it's to stop me chucking in the hairdryer while the missus is in the bath...

[@jonathaneves5847]

Alanna. Another charming post, loving your energy. I couldn't agree more, the majority of houses here are tiny. I was fortunate to live on the 'Ground Floor' of an old victorian mansion for many years, so beautiful, 12ft ceilings, full of old fixtures and fittings, panelled walls, ornate plaster work, appropriate for each room, dining etc. Three enormous marble fireplaces, 10ft high windows all w/wooden shutters, a real sense of history, my present terraced two b,droom house would easily fit into just one of the four large rooms I had (plus two smaller rooms) Driveway, front and back gardens. Anyhoo! So looking forward to Thursday 7pm, best wishes to 'The Queen of Tech' No gremlins! As always. Greetings from Liverpool.

[@derekc6445]

Please explain "no screens on windows, be careful not to fall out". I'm English btw. Thanks.

[@lucyk2634]

Exactly mate.

[@ConfuciousSaigh]

Great video my Manitoban wife agrees with the mudroom screen on windows closets she's been living in England for over twenty years. Says you are truly Canadian as you are apologising all the time.

[@peterb2286]

Yep. I still get confused over ground floor/1st floor.

[@eattherich9215]

I don't know how you can have a house without a ground floor unless it's built on stilts.

[@izzym8162]

i live in kent and it’s very true our houses are expensive especially down south, for not much size

[@rossdear1]

I'm so English I don't know what a screen on the window is 😑 but if it keeps the flys out I need one!

[@johnj3577]

I need one on my patio door to keep the neighbour's manky old cat from wandering into my house.

[@brentwoodbay]

It's a fine mesh to keep out flies , mossies and our great Canadian word for 'midges' - 'No see ums' !

[@AlexDarko1991]

My family home is in Birmingham (UK) and has a utility (with washer and dryer etc), plus a two room cellar (basement), and a five car driveway. Houses like that do exist but they are generally expensive (and I know I am privileged to have had one as my family home).