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Old 05-15-2012, 08:49 AM
 
Location: Southlake. Don't judge me.
2,885 posts, read 4,633,854 times
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FWIW, we see "one story house" (or, for one Southlake listing we saw, two stories but the second is a LOWER level, essentially a walkout as the land slopes downward in back) as a positive. That estimated annual electric cost looms huge on the budgeting spreadsheet.

(As a note, a few of the houses we've seen listed have included prior years utility bills, so that plus comments on other threads have been good preparation for those high costs)
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Old 05-15-2012, 11:14 AM
 
6,758 posts, read 13,969,062 times
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My house was built in 1996 and it has the double high ceilings. I have never had a problem with cooling and heating since I have dual thermostats. The issue I do have is it is impossible to change the cheap light fixtures or Smoke alarm unless I hire someone or spend $300 for a 30ft ladder. It really opens my house up and I have no real complaints other than the ones I listed.

Reggie
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Old 05-15-2012, 01:24 PM
 
1,494 posts, read 2,716,068 times
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If there's no overwhelming demand for them I'm not going to hurt my resale chances by avoiding them, from the sound of it it doesn't seem like it's a "must have" for houses. I really don't like the look of double height ceilings even though it gives the illusion of opulence, then there's the maintenance issues and such that I mentioned before. My husband has 3 co-workers that really messed up their backs due to ladder accidents. My husband is clumbsy, too. So asking him to change a light bulb on a ceiling like that and... well.. not a good idea.

I was looking at 2 home floorplans, one was a single story and a 2 story- the latter was more space than we needed and it had the double height great room, but there was an option to have a playroom overhead instead. I'd rather have a nice coffered ceiling with an extra room upstairs (even if it's more space than I need). Luckily both floor plans had 12-14 ft ceilings throughout the rest of the home, so that's more than high enough for me.
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Old 05-16-2012, 10:43 AM
 
Location: DFW
219 posts, read 607,824 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheOverdog View Post
I don't really have any opinion on double height ceilings, but all the ceilings in my house are standard 8', and it feels really closed in. That is too low for a living room ceiling. I raise my arms and hit the ceiling fan.

Architecture best practices suggests different rooms used for different purposes need different ceiling heights and I'd agree. I would not buy another house with a living room ceiling below 10'.
I think this is right. A higher ceiling makes a room brighter and seem larger, thus improving resale value. The ceiling may not need to be 20 feet high but an 8-10' foot ceiling would likely feel a little claustrophobic.
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Old 05-16-2012, 01:26 PM
 
1,494 posts, read 2,716,068 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cmw2133 View Post
I think this is right. A higher ceiling makes a room brighter and seem larger, thus improving resale value. The ceiling may not need to be 20 feet high but an 8-10' foot ceiling would likely feel a little claustrophobic.
I'm not fan of ceilings that low either. My current apartment was built in the 1920's and has 10ft ceilings with old fashioned moldings so it's not that bad at all. Whenever I visit my friends in modern buildings they have the 8ft ceilings, and I'm always worried about bumping my head even though I have more than 2 feet of clearance I'd imagine that fans on a ceiling that low might chop your head off.
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Old 05-17-2012, 05:23 PM
 
383 posts, read 731,274 times
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McKinneyOwnr pretty much said what I would. They're not a problem if you take care of everything efficiency related - good quality newish windows, caulking, efficient venting, insulation, modern efficient HVAC *sized correctly*, high quality ducting, etc. Once you get all that right, which a lot of new builds still do not, if your bills are a bit much then think about a radiant barrier.

If you haven't got all the above squared away, then it is likely a double height ceiling will be a money sucker.

PS - how your house is situated is critical too. Lots of southern and western exposure + large windows is not ideal (and that's just a basic point).
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Old 05-17-2012, 05:50 PM
 
Location: plano
7,885 posts, read 11,363,627 times
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I agree that double high ceilings might be an issue but high single level ceilings might make good sense. They add spaceous ness to a home but arent as difficult to cool or heat as two story ceilings. Check into this option.
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