Three metres is a great height to have, but can be harder to heat. You also need to consider proportions with such a high ceiling, which most builders will never consider. The standard height doors always look out of proportion with 3 metre high ceilings. When the big project home builders do their display homes they always increase the internal door heights when they increase the ceiling heights which makes the home feel more open and spacious - but these extra height doors are usually charged as extras.

So if you raise the ceiling to 3 metres, do you also pay extra to increase the door heights? Do you increase the size of the windows as well to work with the extra height? What about the skirting and cornice sizes? Does the extra height cause any setback issues with your side boundaries?

From an aesthetic and design perspective an increase in ceiling height can have a cost flow-on to some unexpected areas so everything needs to be considered if you want it to look right. It is not just the extra labour in handling extra sheets of plasterboard, which is what your builder would allow for.

Best of luck,

Dr Retro

of Dr Retro House Calls

Hi Jenn, If the house design allows for it, why not look at a compromise and have high ceilings in the larger spaces or perhaps look at skillion roofs with sloping ceilings in the more prominent spaces. That way you wont change the roof line if that is already confirmed and the stud height could stay the same for the wall linings etc.

Don't forget though, anything that varies from standard will cost more and have extra things to consider - like Dr Retro mentioned. In a living room or master bedroom with high ceilings, window and door heads at 2000mm high look completely out of proprtion with the space and then what does that do to the outside appearance of the house and then extra cost for window treatments etc. The list of considerations goes on.

The reverse is the case for the small rooms. Do you want 3000mm high ceilings in the powder room and laundry etc? Whilst it might create extra storage oportunities, high storage is the least convenient to access. It might look great though for a full height library wall with an access ladder!!! The potential options are endless.

Also, if you want something non standard and a great quality home, is the builder the right person to be designing it for you? There are awesome builders everywhere but generally designing is best left to the designers if you want something a bit more than standard.

Good luck,

Christine.

If the ceiling height is 2590mm, can you also upgrade the door to 2340mm and will still look nicer? Our ground floor will be 2740mm in height and doors are 2340mm. Then 2590mm ceiling to first floor and I'm thinking whether to increase door heights from the standard 2040mm to 2340mm. Thanks