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I've posted a few questions recently as I'm trying to help my parents choose a plan for their 'retirement' house. They just closed on the land and will begin construction as soon as they (and by 'they', I mean my mom) decide on a plan. We're down to four finalists (out of the original 140+ that I started with), but any of the four will require some degree of modification/customization to work.
One of the plans has vaulted ceilings in the great room, the master bedroom AND sloped ceilings in the second/third bedrooms which are side-by-side. Another has a vaulted great room and foyer and yet another has a vaulted master bedroom.
This will be a single-story home in the 1600-1800 square feet range. I know that vaulted ceilings create a sense of space and make the room feel larger than it actually is. I also know that they can be very beautiful depending on design elements (exposed beams, etc.) and colors used for the finish.
But I'm curious to know the construction cost difference between vaulted vs. regular ceilings? Unless there's a flaw in my logic, there would be trusses supporting the roof with a conventional flat ceiling. Vaulted ceilings would require additional reinforcements of some kind to compensate for the lack of typical structural support (trusses), correct?
What about heating and (especially) cooling costs? Am I correct in thinking the vaulted ceiling would create more space to heat and cool?
Their current house has 9' ceilings throughout. The only thing my mom wants is 10' in the master bedroom (and master bath if possible) and the great room/family room. I'm thinking that it would be a lot less expensive to pay for the house plan modifications (from vaulted to 10' ceilings) than to actually build them. Vaulted ceilings would also reduce/eliminate attic storage in and near those rooms, which is also important.
It also depends on roof framing. Its become almost standard to use roof trusses for framing. You can accommodate a vaulted ceiling with trusses- typically scissor trusses with a lesser vault at the interior than exterior. But their are also other vault/framing strategies. If it is a truss ceiling you will lose a lot and possibly the majority of the storage area anyway. A higher ceiling simply means taller framing and taller gyp board but will not affect roof construction.
I think going to 8.5' or 9' high before you vault the ceiling also helps with proportions. Rooms get a little goofy if the vault has more height than the adjacent walls. Similarly I would not put 10' ceilings in a bathroom because the room becomes way to vertical. And if the bedroom is not that large a 9' wall height with a tray ceiling (think of a vault from all 4 sides) typically lends a better proportion.
I think going to 8.5' or 9' high before you vault the ceiling also helps with proportions. Rooms get a little goofy if the vault has more height than the adjacent walls. Similarly I would not put 10' ceilings in a bathroom because the room becomes way to vertical. And if the bedroom is not that large a 9' wall height with a tray ceiling (think of a vault from all 4 sides) typically lends a better proportion.
Absolutely true!
While we do have one room with a vaulted ceiling, I don't particularly care for them. They are often problematic in regards to insulation and anything that goes wrong with the roof (water infiltration) immediately impacts the interior, finished room.
We have a neighbour who's vaulted living room roof is the first to melt snow and I can see where the rafter joists are by the strips of unmelted snow. You're in GA so heat loss might be desired.
Modern insulation techniques mostly solve any problems with vaulted ceilings.
Absolutely agree. Any construction team (worth their salt) can build most anything that does not defy the laws of physics. Our house in NH has 27-foot ceilings in the kitchen, and the entire house has vaulted ceilings. The only people we were all over during construction were the plumbers and electricians. (I don't think the electrician was too happy when I followed him around to make sure he did exactly what I wanted, miles beyond the electrical code, and the plumbers weren't allowed any shortcuts)
Not that this is relevant to this thread, but one house I have was built in the late 1800's, and they didn't know about insulation (or didn't care, as there are six fireplaces) but the quality of building then vs. now is dramatically different. There are more timbers in the attic supporting the roof than there were in Noah's Arc ;-) Not one thing 'fake'... the double-walled brick siding allowed me to fill the gap with extremely high R-value foam (as it was balloon construction), and as such, this snow-belt NY home is pennies to heat (and the cistern in the basement was transformed to a wine cellar, by us).
So, in summary, don't worry about the modest price difference for high ceilings. The biggest hit you will take is for the new construction, which the depreciation will dwarf the heating/cooling expenses.
We are kind of in the same situation plans. Or quite finalized before engineering. We can have great room vaulted or stay with 12' ceilings. It's a very big room. I'm thinking vaulted would be too much extra $ but from these posts maybe not? Thanks
We have 10-12 ft ceilings, but our house is economical to heat and use air conditioning. Its all about insulation, we do not have real attic space (just crawl space)since our roof is low (prairie design) I love the ceilings high it gives the room of feeling bigger than it is. But having said that we have to use a ladder to change light bulbs, and to shut off smoke detectors. We had them go out after 7 years, they just kept chirping. We were able to get them down and eliminate noise. Will your parents be able to climb a ladder? Just something to think about.
We also didnt care about attic space since we have a garage lined with floor to ceiling cabinets that can hold anything we can't keep in the house including Xmas decorations.
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