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Whats your opinion in the ceiling height of a house?

Is there a significant cost saving in 9' vs 10' ceilings? I've thought about the common items, sheetrock, doors, studs, window, cabinets. (Am I missing anything). Right now the plans call for 10', would we save any signficant money going to 9' in the bedrooms, baths, etc and leaving 10' in living, kitchen, and foyer?

12ft looks better.

I agree but 10' is my max. We will have tray ceilings in the living room and master bed.

Diverting from your plans original design may affect other things. Joist & rafter tie in's, ceiling lines connecting to other rooms. Better be careful, unless you designed it and have access to change it.

I think the real cost is not materials but heating and cooling that extra space over the life of the home.

From a sheetrock perspective, 9ft would be the max. You can get 54" sheetrock and still only have one in the wall. 10ft+ and you have multiple seams in the wall that all get finished, so your increasing the finish time. 9ft can be finished in the same time as 8ft, because you still have one seam. I've been out of sheetrock finishing for years, so unless there is 60" sheetrock now, the above still stands true.


No as far as look, 10ft looks better to me. Think back to old homes, higher ceilings made the climate "feel" better as the accumulated heat was above your head more or less with a 10ft+ ceiling. Tall windows that opened at the top also helped pull a draft through the home and allow the hot air at the ceiling to escape. With HVAC now, things have changed.

Heck....your savings will be to get rid of the tray ceilings. That's a lot of extra materials and labor. I'd do 10 or 11 ft without tray ceilings and put nice crown molding. It really matters on your floor plan too. you can't just drop the ceilings that easy if the roof line is a certain way....if that makes sense.

doors and windows don't change because of ceiling height.
- may want to check with your HVAC guy though, you may need more tonnage than you originally thought. As someone else noted it will cost more to heat and cool the house as there is more air.
- Wall insulation is going to go up, and if you are using closed cell then that number will add up quickly as well.
- you going to be using 6"studs now? I would.
- what about the exterior? more square footage for siding, stucco, or brick.