how high are the ceilings in your house??

mc0226 · August 2011

We are planning on building a house. We got our price quote and need to cut a few costs. House is built with 8' ceilings. My DH seems to think we need to upgrade to 9' ceilings where I don't think it is a big deal to have 8' ceilings. Just wondering if any of you ladies have an opinion on this? Thanks!

nealbl · August 2011

We actually have 9.5' ceilings and I love them. We live in a small house 1100sq ft. It makes it seem and feel so much bigger than it really is. Plus I was able to get a tall Xmas tree in the living room

LuckyNo7 · August 2011

My husband loves tall ceilings, especially in the basement. We'll have 9 foot ceilings when we remodel.

MrsWindyCity · August 2011

Ours are either 9.5' or 10'. I love them Like pp said, they make the place look bigger.

dragon_chica · August 2011

I'm not sure how tall our ceiling is but it's at an angle and slopes up to the 2nd floor so you could probably imagine how tall of a ceiling that is. I do like it because I've never liked those 2-story houses where the ceiling is lower you can't see up to the 2nd level. I like standing on the 2nd floor and being able to look down into the living room. It is a pain to try and clear any cobwebs and sometimes DD will lose a balloon up there and that's a pain too. But I don't think 9 ft is a big deal. What's another foot, KWIM?

rinny25 · August 2011

We have 9ft ceilings and we love it! ILs have 12ft ceilings.

llc730 · August 2011

Unless this is a house that you plan on staying in forever I would definitely go with the 9 ft. Will make the house more attractive for resale.

Blackvelvet · August 2011

We have several hights from 7-9 depending on the room it's an older house and they built them with scraps here (think pallets not 2x4's) I would think adding the foot to the ceiling would be very expensive as most lumber is not 9'

anna7602 · August 2011

I like tall ceilings. They give a better feeling of space and openness. I would be willing to upgrade for higher ceilings in your case.

To answer your actual question, I'm not sure about our specific ceiling height, but it's pretty high compared to most NYC apartments. I would say it's probably about 9 feet since I can stand on a tall step ladder to get up to shelves and not hit my head on the ceiling until I reach the very top level (I'm 5'4). We also have ceiling fans in some of our rooms and you never feel like you're too close to the fans.

STAR15 · August 2011

8' is really low. I'm an architect, and 8' is the lowest we ever design to, and that's just when we have limitations where we can't go higher. My house has really high ceilings - I've never measured, but they're about 10 or 11 feet, and I almost feel claustrophobic in houses with 8' ceilings.

Temp36641187503164 · August 2011

All of the new builds in my area have 9' ceilings at least on the first floor, even in the cheaper homes. For resale, etc I would definitely spend a little more for higher ceilings. I personally think 9' makes a huge difference and makes the house feel so much bigger. We have 10' and a very open floor plan, so it does raise our electric bill a little. I would also spend more to have 42" cabinets, so much more storage and they look so much better (not that you asked about that, lol).

Temp36641187503164 · August 2011

Also, if it was my house I would cut costs with trim (crown molding), light fixtures, hardware, custom paint....these are all things that you can easily add/upgrade later. Get vinyl floor instead of tile and lay tile when you can afford it. Save money on cosmetics, not the actual bones of the house. Also, go look at some houses - you will notice a huge difference between 8' and 9' ceilings.

shihtzumomma · August 2011

We have 9 foot ceilings throughout the house except in our living room, which vaults up to 14 ft and in our bedroom the tray ceiling goes up to 10 ft.

I love the 9 ft ceilings, however with the taller ceiling in the living room it makes heating and cooling very expensive.

One way to cut costs, and I've seen it a lot lately, is to build the outside of the house with 8 ft walls and inside have the walls slope up to 9 ft. It looks really nice too.

jolibebe · August 2011

Our house is only a few years old and the standard minimum in our area for homes within the last 10 years has been 10'. We have a two story and one of our bigger rooms actually is 14'. Some go higher depdending on your staircase height, peaks in ceiling, etc. I say go with a min of 9'. Anything less than that will date your house.

water-fairy · August 2011

Our ceilings are VERY high. don't know exactly how much but it is high. In the living room they are actually as tall as both house stories. Do I ever clean the windows up there? No, we don't have a ladder that goes that high, not even half that high. We love how spacious it feels!

Want a personalized experience?

how high are the ceilings in your house??

Re: how high are the ceilings in your house??

Choose Another Board

Search Boards