Standard Ceiling Height | Ceiling Height | Average Ceiling Height | How Tall Are Ceilings | Typical Ceiling Heights | Standard Height of Residential Building

Mike Mahajan
6 min readJan 27, 2023

--

Standard Ceiling Height | Ceiling Height | Average Ceiling Height | How Tall Are Ceilings | Typical Ceiling Heights | Standard Height of Residential Building

What Is Ceiling Height?

The clear distance between the top of any floor to the bottom roof or slab is called “Ceiling Height”.

It is a fact that each room made with the required or minimum height and size ensures that there is good ventilation, lights, and comfortable living inside the room.

The Standard Ceiling Height in the house vary depending upon the location of the house or it varies from country to country as per their local building by-laws and regulation.

However, if there is no rule to follow contractors and development (both public and private sectors) tend to reduce the size of dwellings being developed whilst trying to avoid any reduction in value.

Bye-law for standard floor height residential building and size standards allows well planned and systematic construction of house and towns, and provide proper utilization of space.

Read More: The Standard Room Size & Location In Residential Building

How? Ceiling Height Is Residential Building Is Decided

Human Height in Different Positions

Standard Ceiling Height

Human Height in Different Positions

Before deciding the minimum ceiling height, we need to understand human height in different positions in a room. As seen in the figure, the average human height is around 5 feet 5 inches. But, we raise our hand upward it’s around 6 feet 6” maximum. So, considering this fact the minimum height is taken as the standard ceiling height of a house.

Standard Ceiling Height

Standard Ceiling Height

Minimum Ceiling Height

As we know that the minimum height of door height is about 7 feet for all doors in the house. Each door of the house must have a minimum height of 7 feet. This is because of the fact that human average height is about 5.5 feet and when we raise hand upward is about 6 feet 6 inches. So, there must be a gap between our hands and the door frame bottom of the top frame.

Nowadays, Architects and engineers keep the floor-to-ceiling height about 10 feet in most cases. Again let’s understand this fact also. So, the standard height of the ceiling is 10 ft for a normal residential house.

The standard ceiling height from the floor is about 10 feet. Deducting the thickness of the slab becomes 9 feet 6 inches.

Let’s, consider fan handing from the bottom of the ceiling is about 1.5 feet downward side and when any men raise their hand toward the ceiling straight his height becomes 7 feet.

So, the gap that remains between men’s hands and the bottom of the ceiling fan will be

= 9 ft. 6 in. — 7 ft. — 1.5 ft. = 1 ft. or 12 inches.

Therefore from the above fact, we can conclude that the average ceiling height for a residential building should be at least 9 ft. 6 inches for any habitable room.

Read More: How To Draw A House Plan By Hand

Minimum Ceiling Height in Sunken Slab of Bath and W/C

Generally, the Sunken slab for bath and W/C is about 1 to 1.5 feet sunken below the slab. So, if the total ceiling height is about 9 feet 6 inches then the space left below will be around 7 ft. 6 inches.

Therefore, the Minimum Ceiling height for the bath and W/C sunken slab should be 7 ft. 6 in.

Standard Ceiling Height In Residential Building

Following are different types of rooms with their standard height or standard height of a house.

1. Living Room/Drawing Room

The living room of any house is a place or area where the homeowners and family members gather to spend time together. It’s an area designed for recreation but also for entertainment, a space where guests are welcomed when visit. The living room is also termed a drawing room.

The minimum or average ceiling height for the living room from the top of the floor to the bottom of the ceiling should be not less than 2.75m or 9 feet 6 inches.

In the case of an air-conditioned room, the minimum height should not be less than 2.4 m or 7 feet 8 inches measured from the top of the floor to the lowest point of the AC duct, or a false ceiling should be provided.

2. Kitchen

The kitchen is the most important and essential room in any house because it is the center of your family’s day-to-day living. Everyone’s day starts in your kitchen with a cup of coffee or energizing breakfast to start your day. Kitchen space is used to make meals for your family in your kitchen and probably even eat in your kitchen.

As the kitchen area is a continuously used area of any house, its ceiling height should not be less than 2.75m or 9 feet 6 inches.

3. BedRoom

A bedroom of any house is a private room where people usually sleep for the night or relax during the day. It is estimated that humans spent one-third of their life sleeping and most of the time we are asleep, we are sleeping in a bedroom.

The minimum ceiling height of the bedroom should not be less than 2.3 m or 7 feet 6 inches measuring from the top tiles to the bottom of the ceiling.

4. Store Room

The Store Room sometimes attached to the kitchen is the place for storing grains, foodstuff, and/or junk in the house for their ready availability and use in an emergency.

The minimum ceiling height of the Storeroom should not be less than 2.3 m or 7 feet 6 inches measured from the top tiles to the bottom of the ceiling.

Read More: Building Bye-laws And Standard Dimensions Of Building Units

It is an area sometimes attached toiled and often a bathtub and a shower.

The minimum ceiling height of the bath and Toilet should not be less than 2.3 m or 7 feet 6 inches measured from the top tiles to the bottom of the ceiling.

6. Garage

It is a place where the house owner’s vehicle is repaired, perked, serviced, and also used for storing used parts and accessories of the vehicle.

The minimum ceiling height of the garage should not be less than 7 feet. But generally, it is kept more than 7 feet.

7. Mezzanine Floor

A mezzanine floor is an extra floor between two main floors, and therefore it is not counted on the main floors of any building.

The minimum ceiling height of the room with the mezzanine floor from ceiling to top flooring of the ground floor is about 14 feet 4 m.

8. Minimum Ceiling Height Basement

The minimum ceiling height of the basement should be at least 7 feet to 10 feet.

FAQs:

What Is the Standard Height of a Room? The standard ceiling height from the floor is about 10 feet. Deducting the thickness of the slab becomes 9 feet 6 inches. Standard Ceiling Height The standard ceiling height is 10 feet for residential houses. It can be reduced to 9 feet 6 inches for first-floor and second-floor construction. Are 10 ft Ceilings Good? Yes, 10 ft to 12 ft ceiling height is considered to be good if you are in a larger room area. But, Mostly standard height of the room is around 10 ft in a house. Ceiling Height The clear distance between the top of any floor to the bottom roof or slab is called “Ceiling Height”. It is a fact that each room made with the required or minimum height and size ensures that there is good ventilation, lights, and comfortable living inside the room. Average Ceiling HeightThe standard ceiling height is around 10 ft for different types of buildings and the average ceiling height for a residential building should be at least 9 ft. 6 inches for any habitable room.

Watch Video: Minimum Ceiling Height Standards For Residential House

You May Also Like

- The Standard Room Size & Location In Residential Building

- Building Bye-laws And Standard Dimensions Of Building Units

- Construction And Building Materials With Market Price

- What Next, If Concrete Cubes Failed After 28 Days

- What Is Vaulted Ceiling | 8 Types of Vaulted Ceilings | Best Vaulted Ceilings Types

- 50 False Ceiling Design | False Ceiling Design for Hall | False Ceiling Design for Bedroom | False Ceiling For Hotels & Restaurants

- 8 Types of False Ceiling for Home

- Water Leakage From Ceiling | Water Leaking From Ceiling | How to Stop Water Leakage From Ceiling | Ceiling Leak

--

--

Mike Mahajan

Bhushan Mahajan who himself is a Civil Engineer by profession is also the main author and maintains the civiconcepts.com website himself.