Tall Ceiling Height (11ft+)

blackn54 wrote: ↑ Not that I am building a custom house..but just curious why aren't tall ceiling more common?

I have 9ft ceiling in my house everywhere, except for the great room + foyer/hallway that step down, with 11ft ceiling.

To me the difference between a 9ft ceiling and 11ft ceiling is huge. The extra ceiling just makes the space feel much "nicer"

Why aren't taller ceiling done more often? Is the cost to go from 9ft to 11ft or 12ft ceiling huge?
I mean...on a $1.5m house, I probably wouldn't mind paying $30K more (2%) to go from 9ft to 11ft ceiling.

I am not in the trade, but to me, going higher ceiling simply means longer stud and 10-20% more drywall/paint/bricks.

engineered wrote: ↑ Most homes are built as cheap as possible by sub par builders. Most people can't even afford homes in the GTA, let alone an extra $30k. Also, I bet it's more than just raw materials. For sure builders are going to charge a big premium for any upgrades.

tonershop wrote: ↑ Most raw materials sold at home depot are 8ft in length (2x4, drywall etc.) So I would imagine going over 8ft will be expensive since they are not mass produced items.

But I agree, I would love higher ceiling - I would pay way more than $30k if I could get 11 or 12ft ceiling for my house.

blackn54 wrote: ↑ Not that I am building a custom house..but just curious why aren't tall ceiling more common?

I have 9ft ceiling in my house everywhere, except for the great room + foyer/hallway that step down, with 11ft ceiling.

To me the difference between a 9ft ceiling and 11ft ceiling is huge. The extra ceiling just makes the space feel much "nicer"

Why aren't taller ceiling done more often? Is the cost to go from 9ft to 11ft or 12ft ceiling huge?
I mean...on a $1.5m house, I probably wouldn't mind paying $30K more (2%) to go from 9ft to 11ft ceiling.

I am not in the trade, but to me, going higher ceiling simply means longer stud and 10-20% more drywall/paint/bricks.

thriftshopper wrote: ↑ Heating cost will be higher, much higher. Warm air rises and you have that much more to heat. Really high ceilings are great for places where it's hot year-round. Unfortunately it's not - even in the mildest climates (where I am) - in Canada.

TomLafinsky wrote: ↑ One thing for sure, with 11' one would need a small ladder to reach the highest cabinets in the kitchen

TomLafinsky wrote: ↑ Ha! Ha! Ha! That's funny!!! Last week I was wondering what people do when a light is burn in a family room opened all the way to the attic? I have a ceiling fan in my family room and decided it was time to clean it. So I got two scaffoldings from the basement to do the job. But few homeowners have scaffolding. So what do people do here in Canada when a light is burned 20' high??? Hire someone to change light bulbs???

TomLafinsky wrote: ↑ Ha! Ha! Ha! That's funny!!! Last week I was wondering what people do when a light is burn in a family room opened all the way to the attic? I have a ceiling fan in my family room and decided it was time to clean it. So I got two scaffoldings from the basement to do the job. But few homeowners have scaffolding. So what do people do here in Canada when a light is burned 20' high??? Hire someone to change light bulbs???

TomLafinsky wrote: ↑ Hey, stop talking about my house like that!

Seriously, you can't have it all. I noticed that very often in life what can look extremely stylish is often not convenient. My house is like a museum, it looks stunning. But I would never want to live here if I had children because you hear everything, sort of. Mine is open all the way to the attic (~20') in more than one place...

Heating/cooling costs are not bad... But cleaning the ceiling fan in the family room like I did last week requires 2 scaffoldings. Changing a burnt light would require 2 scaffoldings + a short ladder on top of the highest scaffolding or 3 scaffoldings. Not to mention furniture must be moved out of the way. Fortunately LED lights last a long time. Biggest pita is carrying all the parts of the scaffoldings from the basement to ground floor, putting it together and then disassembling and bringing everything back to the basement.

I guess many/most people live in houses with dirty ceiling fans and burnt lights

skeet50 wrote: ↑ We've done the double high ceilings and open to above rooms in previous homes. So over it. It looks nice, but not the greatest to live in. Depending on the room, you can have issues with sound and heating and cooling issues.

A relative just built a custom bungalow with 10' ceilings. At first I loved it, but having stayed in the home several times now, I feel it is a waste of space. It is more cubic space to heat and cool. In the kitchen, they had to install a run of cabinets to visually add to the kitchen. Looks wonderful, but I discovered that at 6'3", I cannot reach the cupboards. Can't imagine getting a ladder when I needed to reach them. Just not practical.

I have visited model homes with 11' ceilings. Just felt cold to me. I'll stick with my 9' ceilings.