We bought our holiday house in France earlier this year. We are replacing our kitchen probably with an IKEA one. I have seen posts on this site that are a few years old and was wondering if I could have an update from people who have a secondary home that like mine the house will be empty over the winter months. Do Ikea and similar particleboard kitchens survive the winter? Thanks
I would think Ikea units should be ok as long as you keep damp/humidity out. I leave radiators on “anti-gel” over the winter just to keep it dry inside.
It’s too general a question. Houses vary so much from one to another, you cannot generalise. When my house was a second home it got locked up for long periods of time with the water and electricity switched off and was always fresh and dry when we returned. Friends living living very close had to leave heating on to stop mildew damaging their staircase. It’s got more to do with the building than what you put in it.
We have had to put in a dehumidifier draining to the kitchen sink to keep our holiday house dry but it works well.
I am considering putting a ventilation system in which will withdraw moisture automatically from the whole house.
We switched our heating to electric radiators only so they could easily be left on a frost setting and would not require a traditional boiler & radiator set up. If doing it now I would consider putting in infra-red radiators as they are way more efficient apparently.
We are visiting the house a great deal more than we originally envisaged even in winter so we are also considering putting in a wood burner.
I fitted a standard Ikea kitchen into our stable block 10 years ago. Apart from a couple of scratches it looks good as new today! No heating, no insulation and temperature ranges between -20C up to +40C - however, no dampness.
When we had a second home in the centre of France (where it can get seriously cold in winter) we fitted an IKEA type kitchen and, when leaving, would drain down the rads, switch off the electricity and water and leave the house. The kitchen looked fine, there was no swelling of the units nor distortion. Depends whether you have a damp problem already, I guess.
Thanks everyone for your replies. It is good to know that when we install our kitchen we will get many years use from it. We only bought our house in Feb, there was a small damp patch in a bedroom but that was bad gutters outside which have been fixed. The house hasn’t ever smelt damp either. Thanks for your tips.
L