Is there a standard ceiling height in custom homes?

Q:

I’m dreaming about building a custom home, is there a standard height for ceilings in a custom home? I was told that most custom homes are 9 ft ceilings, is that right?

A:

In a custom home there are no standards when it comes to anything, that is why it’s called a custom home. But for economical concerns you should stick to 8 ft, 9ft or 10 ft high walls (the walls will set your ceiling height). That is the standard stud lengths, if you stick to 8 or 9 ft high walls then you can save money on the buying of your material. When you go over 10 foot walls you start to get more expensive for the material and also its installation. The higher the walls the higher the labour cost will be, higher walls require that framers do one of two things;

1. They build smaller sections so that less men can lift them,
2. They have more men onsite to lift the heavier walls.

If you are building a two story house then you have to consider what the height restrictions are for residential construction in your municipality. Most municipalities have height restrictions; if you have higher walls then you need to have a lower slope on your roof to be under the height restrictions for the peak of the roof. One of the first things building departments check on a new house plan that has been submitted for a building permit is the total height of the house. If your house is to tall your plan will be rejected and you will either have to re-draw the house plans or go through special meetings and hearings to get approval to have a house that violates the local height restrictions.

The major trend in custom homes these days is to have higher walls on the first floor and then down size the walls on the second floor. This allows you to stay well under the local height restrictions and keep the roof
slope to what fits the home the best.

Even though high ceilings are nice to have, making them too high can give the feeling of a cold unwelcoming house. High walls can be good and they can be bad, there are some rooms in your home that you don’t want to feel dwarfed, that’s the reason a lot of people have lower height ceilings on the second floor. Bedrooms are usually on the second floor so lower height ceilings help the bedrooms feel more warm and welcoming.

So in custom homes whatever you want for wall height you may have.

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc.