Room Height
Rooms with higher ceilings always seem lighter and more spacious.
They can feel cooler in summer as the heat rises above your head, not so good in winter though!
They are better for fitting ceiling fans, probably the cheapest form of mechanical cooling. (see this link: Ceiling Fans)
There is more choice of light fittings for tall rooms.
Most builders will normally provide a 2.4m ceiling height as standard. However there are a lot of people who are willing to pay extra for a 2.55m, 2.7m, or even 3m ceilings.
So what are the issues?
- According to the Building Code of Australia (BCA) there are certain minimum height regulations.
- For most Habitable Rooms (for definition see this link: Habitable Room) – The minimum height is 2.4m
- For the kitchen (which is also a habitable room) 2.1m is the minimum allowed. Considering how much time we spend in the kitchen I think it’s strange that this should be considered different to other habitable room.
- For Non-Habitable Room – For example bathroom, laundry, hallway, garage, cellar, storeroom then the minimum height is 2.1m.
- You do get some dispensation for attics where you are allowed to have a bedroom with a sloping roof as long as 2/3rds of the floor area has a ceiling height of 2.2m. However you are not allowed to include in any floor area calculation any area with a ceiling height of 1.5m.
- It can add significantly to your budget when you are Choosing a House or going through the Selection / Pre-Start. For every 300mm that you want to increase the ceiling height for a typical house you can expect to pay in the order of $8,000-$10,000 in 2020 prices. That covers the cost of extra courses of brickwork additional frame cost, and dry lining.
- It can affect the Outside appearance of the house. (See this link: Outside Appearance for more information)
- Although you can fit a ceiling fan in a room with a ceiling height of 2.4m the fan blades will then be at a height of 2.1m, so you will need to be careful about waving your arms in the air! See the following link for more information: Ceiling Fans
Some builders quote ceiling heights in brick courses so the post on Brick Dimensions explains how to compare brick courses with ceiling height
See Guide to Choosing a House . . . for help picking your new house.
Or the ‘Selection / Pre-Start Guide’ for assistance with all the details