# raising ceiling on first floor



## highlandarx (Dec 31, 2007)

After searching the forums, I could not find similar queries to mine, simply because I am not sure whether anyone has approached something so crazy, or because it is downright impossible. But I was wondering if it is possible to raise the ceilings on the first and second floor of a 3 story house (basement, 1st, 2nd, attic) from 8' to 10' feet. The house is your typical NJ suburban home, with a garage, dining, living, family, office, kitchen, 1/2 bath, and all the foyer space and hallways in between all that, and 4 bedrooms + a master suite on the 2nd floor, with the master suite being on top of the garage. Based on my limited knowledge...I would imagine this would require some really extensive work, possibly to the point of even having jacks in the house to hold up the supporting beams and whatnot while the work is being done on the house. Regardless, I was wondering if such a job is really THAT crazy or if anyone has any stories of such a job being done...thanks in advance.


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

> I was wondering if such a job is really THAT crazy


Ayuh,........

Considering that the Floor of the 1st floor is the ceiling of the basement,+ the Floor of the 2nd floor is the Ceiling of the 1st floor,........

I see it as Stupid Crazy.......

It would be Cheaper,+* Much Easier* to just Crush the Whole House,+ Start Over..........


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

highlandarx said:


> After searching the forums, I could not find similar queries to mine, simply because I am not sure whether anyone has approached something so crazy,...


Bingo



highlandarx said:


> ...But I was wondering if it is possible to raise the ceilings on the first and second floor of a 3 story house (basement, 1st, 2nd, attic) from 8' to 10' feet...


It is possible, but it would involve ripping off the 2nd and 3rd floor levels. Then re-framing, or installing new framing for the first floor to the ceiling height desired. Essentially, you'd end up with probably just your foundation intact, and starting new from there. Hope you have someplace else to live for about 9 months to a year +.



highlandarx said:


> ...I would imagine this would require some really extensive work, possibly to the point of even having jacks in the house to hold up the supporting beams and whatnot while the work is being done on the house...


What you mention, cannot feasibly be done....as you described.

The closest thing that comes to what you want to do, we were involved with on a job close to Boston last summer. It involved using aircraft cables to support the "shell" of an existing (improperly framed structure). Once that was done and everything on the shell was properly supported, then EVERYTHING on the inside was ripped out and gutted. It involved opening up a large area of the foundation to bring lumber and equipment in, then later on, sealing up the opening. There was much planning, oversite, and onsite adjustments made, and the whole project cost a premium. It actually would have cost much less to have ripped it all down and start new. The reason it was done this way is because the structural issues were not discovered by the company managing the project until after it was started. The house/home was located in a historic district and it would have taken years to get the paperwork and approval to demo and start new. By leaving the exisiting structure in place, the project could go forward, though, more expensively....

So with that in mind, I would suggest that you might want to consider shopping for a "new house"; one with the ceiling heights that you want...


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## highlandarx (Dec 31, 2007)

how about just raising the ceiling on the second floor from 8' to 10'. Above that is just attic space that i can sacrifice. That's realistic right?


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

highlandarx said:


> how about just raising the ceiling on the second floor from 8' to 10'. Above that is just attic space that i can sacrifice. That's realistic right?


That too, would involve, ripping off everything above that 2nd floor; the entire roof structure, and everything else attached to it. Then raising the wall heights (if inspections show that they it can be structurely done). Then putting on a new roof, etc... If you are willing to entertain that, contact some local contractors to further discuss it.


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## LawnGuyLandSparky (Nov 18, 2007)

Uh... why?!


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## Joe Carola (Apr 14, 2006)

highlandarx said:


> how about just raising the ceiling on the second floor from 8' to 10'. Above that is just attic space that i can sacrifice. That's realistic right?


That's more realistic and I do that all the time. The only thing different about what I do is we don't take off the roof. We just raise the ceiling to a height that's structurally sound and you will have a clipped ceiling. Meaning that if you raise the ceiling to 10', you will have part of the rafters showing on an angle. The bottom of the rafters will be sheetrocked.

If you have existing 2x6 rafters around here they will have to be beefed up to 2x8's or furred down to minimum 2x8 thickness for insulation.

There are many ways to raise the existing ceiling and many different scenarios, but it's done all the time without removing the existing rafters.


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## highlandarx (Dec 31, 2007)

LawnGuyLandSparky said:


> Uh... why?!


my main reason for asking about all this is because although my house is quite modern and the rooms are well-sized...i would like to make the house even more grander and as nice as the other more expensive houses in the area which are the same size as mine but simply have more volume because they have 10 ft. ceilings as opposed to 8 ft. I believe this is the only inevitable feature of the house that keeps it from perhaps being my dream home. is there anything else that can be done to the 1st floor ceilings to increase the height? perhaps tray ceilings?


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

> is there anything else that can be done to the 1st floor ceilings to increase the height? perhaps tray ceilings?


Ayuh,........

Just Where is this Extra 2' going to Come From,..??..??

As noted,..... You can't utilize an extra 2' of Space if it Doesn't Exist.......



> I believe this is the only inevitable feature of the house that keeps it from perhaps being my dream home.


Maybe it's time to Move.........


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## Joe Carola (Apr 14, 2006)

highlandarx said:


> is there anything else that can be done to the 1st floor ceilings to increase the height? perhaps tray ceilings?


How in the world will a tray ceiling increase the first floor ceiling height without moving up the second floor, floor joists?

There are houses that are detached from the foundations and raised up and moved off the foundations and set aside or moved to a different location every day. In even saw a show where they took a Ranch house and jacked it up enough and built a first floor underneath it and then set the house back down on the new first floor.

If you really want to increase you first floor height 2', call in a pro and they can come in and they would have to support your whole first floor so that they can release all your second floor joists from the first floor top plates, siding, sheathing, plumbing, electrical, hvac..........etc. After that's all done they jack the second floor up high enough and you can frame you 10' walls.

You can't just add a 10' kneewall, you have to cut into your top plates on the first floor and add 10' studs or microlams designed by an Archite4ct or Engineer.

Anything can be dun, it's just a matter of how much you can afford.


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## LawnGuyLandSparky (Nov 18, 2007)

highlandarx said:


> my main reason for asking about all this is because although my house is quite modern and the rooms are well-sized...i would like to make the house even more grander and as nice as the other more expensive houses in the area which are the same size as mine but simply have more volume because they have 10 ft. ceilings as opposed to 8 ft. I believe this is the only inevitable feature of the house that keeps it from perhaps being my dream home. is there anything else that can be done to the 1st floor ceilings to increase the height? perhaps tray ceilings?


You cannot change the laws of physics. Builders don't build houses with an 8' ceiling and then a floor above it and then 24" of nothing in between just in case the HO wants to raise the ceilings.

If you want a house with taller ceilings, sell yours and buy one.


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## kiwi54 (Dec 10, 2007)

highlandarx said:


> how about just raising the ceiling on the second floor from 8' to 10'. Above that is just attic space that i can sacrifice. That's realistic right?


No, (chuckle)......only my opinion but if I was looking for 10' ceilings then they would be in my main living areas, kitchen, family room etc. I wouldn't be as fussed about bedrooms. The living areas are on the first floor and it's those rooms that potential buyers first look for the height, maybe the master bedroom as well...

Buy another home with the heights you desire. It's not physically or financially feasible to even contemplate the idea. Save yourself a lot of heartache and money.


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## highlandarx (Dec 31, 2007)

Joe Carola said:


> How in the world will a tray ceiling increase the first floor ceiling height without moving up the second floor, floor joists?
> 
> There are houses that are detached from the foundations and raised up and moved off the foundations and set aside or moved to a different location every day. In even saw a show where they took a Ranch house and jacked it up enough and built a first floor underneath it and then set the house back down on the new first floor.
> 
> ...


perhaps this is the solution. I assume its not very feasable and economically speaking, im better off buying a new house. How much would a job like this be (ballpark price)?


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## Joe Carola (Apr 14, 2006)

highlandarx said:


> perhaps this is the solution. I assume its not very feasable and economically speaking, im better off buying a new house. How much would a job like this be (ballpark price)?


The only person who can give you that answer is to have a professional who jacks up houses for a living come out and look at it, no one her can possibly give you an answer without looking at it. If your heart is dead set on this house and you have the time and money to spend on it, then go for it. If not go buy a house with 10' ceilings and be done with it.


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## LawnGuyLandSparky (Nov 18, 2007)

highlandarx said:


> perhaps this is the solution. I assume its not very feasable and economically speaking, im better off buying a new house. How much would a job like this be (ballpark price)?


Minimum $150,000.00


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## wendylorraine (Jun 8, 2011)

*raising ceiling height on 1st floor of 2 story house?*

I realize this is a 4yr old post but I have the same issue with our ceiling height. So my question is not if I can raise it 2ft but rather can I tear down the drywall, expose the existing beams and somehow make it presentable by staining/painting beams and giving a rustic more open feel to the room? If that is possible, would that make walking upstairs extremely loud due to lack of insulation? Has anyone ever tried this approach? Thanks so much


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## hyunelan2 (Aug 14, 2007)

If you tear out the drywall, you will probably see some wires, pipes, and ducting overhead - basically like an unfinished basement. You may or may not run into some code issues where certain items need to be protected, and/or fire protection issues (drywall is a fire barrier). If you did do it, I don't know if you would have a "rustic" feel, but probably more "industrial" feel. 

I do have a friend who finished his basement and left the ceiling as it was. He got a paint sprayer and some flat-black paint and shot everything on the ceiling (joists, ducts, pipes, etc) flat black. It turned out decent, and went well with the "sports bar" theme of his basement.


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## Justin8152000 (Jun 8, 2011)

Joe Carola said:


> That's more realistic and I do that all the time. The only thing different about what I do is we don't take off the roof. We just raise the ceiling to a height that's structurally sound and you will have a clipped ceiling. Meaning that if you raise the ceiling to 10', you will have part of the rafters showing on an angle. The bottom of the rafters will be sheetrocked.
> 
> If you have existing 2x6 rafters around here they will have to be beefed up to 2x8's or furred down to minimum 2x8 thickness for insulation.
> 
> There are many ways to raise the existing ceiling and many different scenarios, but it's done all the time without removing the existing rafters.


Joe that is exactly what I was looking for. I am wanting to that exact process in my master bedroom. Where can I find more info on that? Can I screw,nail or bolt the 2x8s to the existing 2x4s? There is some cross bracing that comes down from the rafters and goes to the 2x4s in the ceiling. After adding the 2x8s will I still need the cross bracing once the ceiling is raised? I have been wanting to do this for some time now. I might start on it late summer/early fall. I dont have any overhead ducting or pipes to relocate. It seems like the ideal situation in my case.
Thanks in advanced Joe


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

wendylorraine said:


> I realize this is a 4yr old post but I have the same issue with our ceiling height. So my question is not if I can raise it 2ft but rather can I tear down the drywall, expose the existing beams and somehow make it presentable by staining/painting beams and giving a rustic more open feel to the room? If that is possible, would that make walking upstairs extremely loud due to lack of insulation? Has anyone ever tried this approach? Thanks so much


Hyunelan2's flat-black suggestion is good, and I have seen it mostly in 'loft-style' living. Electrical might have to be in conduit or shielded cable depending on your local rules.

Chances are there isn't any insulation b/w the floors anyway. But I could see how this could make things seem louder. 

Unless you know you have no or few wires/pipes/ducts, I would worry about this feeling 'industrial' and not 'rustic' 

What about coffered ceiling to make it feel more open?


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