Ceiling Height - Opinions?

jessie87 · Aug 05, 2010 11:58 pm

Helyn

Getting a bit away from the original topic (and onto another well worn path, hey,donuts

) we have standard doors and window heights with 2700 high ceilings; our old house built in the 1950's with 9 ft ceilings was also like this and so are many other old and new houses that I have seen.

By all means, upgrade to higher doors and windows as well if that is your preference, but house will still look perfectly normal if you do not.

Me personally I thought that it was weird when I saw the door higher... so we have gone for the normal like you....

its all up to personal choice

higherdestiny · Aug 22, 2010 9:44 am

Great response to this thread

I'm still looking at going a moderate 2550mm height. I saw a version of my home with both 2550 and 2700 ceilings and liked them both. 2700 is nice, but also costs a fair bit more, and I'm right down to the line already with costs! (It aint easy building on your own!)

Now, do I upgrade my internal doors to fancier ones or not.. hmm..

jessie87 · Aug 22, 2010 10:57 am

Thats a good comprimise

We were going to but we went to a display (we are in SA) and the high end builders started putting plain doors in the house so we went with that

But we chose that because we kept quite modernish and I wanted clen cut lines..... So I think that could be another thing you could possibly save on

emlet01 · Aug 22, 2010 12:51 pm

We are keeping the standard height (2400) because I ended up choosing between higher ceilings and c/s benchtops and I couldn't go past something I could actually *use* rather than something that was kind of for show (although I do understand the benefits as well). Plus, my DH is quite tall, so he doesn't use a ladder to change light bulbs, but we would need to buy one if we had taller ceilings!! LOL

Helyn · Aug 22, 2010 2:10 pm

Quote:

We are keeping the standard height (2400) because I ended up choosing between higher ceilings and c/s benchtops and I couldn't go past something I could actually *use* rather than something that was kind of for show (although I do understand the benefits as well).

Interesting point of view.
My thoughts are that higher ceilings have many benifits other than just appearance (although I do like the spaciousness as well) and that C/s benchtops are really just for show, you could use a laminate benchtop just as well.

Not knocking your decision - just interesting how our rationalisation is so different

Dove · Aug 22, 2010 5:04 pm

We went for high ceilings and doors. Added over head ceiling fans with built in lights to living areas. Also deleted all the down lights thru out the house. Will live in it for a while and then work out which batten lights and standing floor lamps work best. We like Art Deco and Antiques so it will be interesting to see how it will all fit.

IMO the higher ceilings give a more spacious look to the house. Having said that all we have is a dirt block with pipes in it, and the biggest crushed rock truck access I have seen.

Hopefully we will have a slab in the next week and then things might start to move?????

thespot · Aug 22, 2010 6:24 pm

We changed out std ceiling height of 2.4m to 2.7 and it looks heaps better... It really opens up the house and you really dont comprehend it until you really see it even though house is only at lock up stage

... Admittedly though, I totally forgot about increasing the door sizes, but imo doesnt look strange or anything so I'm pretty happy... To sum it up with all the variations I did with my house including C/S benchtops, panel lift garage etc I'm most happy with the increasing ceiling height, I highly recommend it if you can...

RoadkillNZ · Aug 23, 2010 12:36 am

Quote:

We are keeping the standard height (2400) because I ended up choosing between higher ceilings and c/s benchtops and I couldn't go past something I could actually *use* rather than something that was kind of for show (although I do understand the benefits as well). Plus, my DH is quite tall, so he doesn't use a ladder to change light bulbs, but we would need to buy one if we had taller ceilings!! LOL

Fair enough, but you also have to remember that you can replace a benchtop later, you can't raise the ceiling later

emlet01 · Aug 23, 2010 6:42 am

Ummmmm my DH is going to ban me from this forum today....I brought up ceiling height with him last night and am calling the builder today for a quote LOL
I'm still not sure if we will upgrade but at least I will have the figures.

higherdestiny · Aug 23, 2010 8:32 pm

emlet01

Ummmmm my DH is going to ban me from this forum today....I brought up ceiling height with him last night and am calling the builder today for a quote LOL
I'm still not sure if we will upgrade but at least I will have the figures.

haha what have I done!! :O

Hopefully this has helped some decide on ceiling height

For me, I'm sticking with the moderate height of 2550 - unless there's an unexpected load of cash left over after the soil test (not likely)

I walked through a display home with 2400 ceilings on the weekend and didn't even notice until I measured it with my reach - so it completely depends on the house (this was a lighter coloured breezy house).

Either way - I'm just looking forward to my own home!

rocketleaves · Sep 02, 2010 2:48 pm

I previously stayed (renting) in a double storey house with ceiling height 2690mm downstairs and 2590mm upstairs. The heating bill was enormous as it takes quite a while to heat up downstairs. When I built my house (single storey), I upgraded standard ceiling to 2590mm. It certainly adds a more spacious feel to the whole house, esp after visiting friends place with standard ceiling height (felt closing-in). The few grand extra to push the ceiling height to 2590mm is definitely worth it, and add value when you resell house later on.

Arena537 · Sep 02, 2010 3:02 pm

My boyfriend and I are building in a development where 2700 high ceilings are a covenant along with 25 degree roof pitch - so i guess the decision was made for me!

It's great to see so many pros and cons for both standard and higher ceilings - lots of points I had never considered.

Estim · Sep 02, 2010 4:00 pm

When it comes to ceiling height I think standard is the way to go, but if you have to have them only do them in the main living area and have a bulk head over the kitchen. Really looks the goods and isnt incredably exspensive. If you want the height in the entry get your builder to cost a recessed ceiling.

With doors you cant lose with flush panel doors. They look great, never go out of style and best of all there is nothing to dust. They are also very cheap.

Miss · Sep 02, 2010 4:51 pm

We will have higher ceilings (2710) in our main living area (family/dining/ kitchen) as well as the entry but standard ceilings (2435) for the rest of the house.

To be honest it wasn't something I gave a lot of though to. When we were making decisions I was more focussed on the layout, number of rooms and locations of windows etc. People who have commented in this thread are right though.....you really need to consider the fact that this is one of those decisions that can't be altered down the track. Although I am not unhappy with our decision- I don't think I gave it enough thought at the time.

My husband actually requested higher ceilings for the main living area and toyed with the idea of doing it throughout the house but I was focussing on other things at the time and let him make the decision. At the time I naively didn't think it would make much of a difference and to be honest the additional money was also a big factor. I could see other areas I would prefer to spend money on-but as other posters have pointed out they are probably areas that could "theoretically" be altered down the track.

Our framework is up (so we can't change our minds) but I recently went through a house that is being built that is at the same stage as ours. They have the higher ceilings throughout. Now although OUR house is larger (square meterage wise) the other house 'appeared' more spacious....and I began to regret our decision not to have high ceilings throughout. I later returned to our place and I am pretty confident that we have made the right decision....Where we have lower ceilings (in my studio and in the kids the bedrooms and kids activity room etc) we want it to have a 'cosier' feel and I think the ceiling height will help achieve the 'feel' we are after.

I'm not unhappy with our decision but I do wonder if the outcome may have been different if I actually spent a bit more time weighing up the options.

1sthome · Dec 06, 2010 9:02 am

I live with 2500mm ceilings now in a unit. It's tall enough but I wouldn't want 2400mm.

Our new place, 1950s house, will be around 2640 after flooring is laid.

blueblueblue · Dec 22, 2010 2:20 pm

2.7m ceilings are a must. I can't stand 2.4m ceilings

bashworth · Dec 22, 2010 5:38 pm

Another advantage of high ceilings is that its better for ceiling fans which can save on both heating and cooling costs

Nancymerimba · Nov 26, 2018 11:22 pm

joles

Go the 2700. We did and I am so happy every single day. The differece between the 2550 and 2700 is quite noticable. You'll be glad you did it.

Wow thanks

Nancymerimba · Nov 26, 2018 11:23 pm

[quote="blueblueblue"]2.7m ceilings are a must. I can't stand 2.4m ceilings :([

/quote]
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