Ideal Minimum Headroom

[masochists-r-us]

The walls of our 2 storey 17th C farmhouse were raised in victorian times and the thatched roof was replaced with a slate one. This was due to the farmer,his wife and two servants being replaced by two families, their lodgers and many children (in all 16 occupants) and so the attic space was required to be put to good use. Later in the 60's, the house was still split into two, but families were smaller and there was the holy grail of the 7 foot 6 inch ceiling height so the original spine beams and joists were removed and replaced with a modern ceiling not strong enough to support the bedrooms and en suite bathroom we want to put up there now.
So, we have re-installed oak spine beams which are bigger than the originals would have been to comply with current building regs.
Having got used to 7'6" ceiling height,the 6'3" minimum which is the underside of the 10" wide spine beam (6'9" to the underside of the joists) feels a bit on the low side and whilst we could raise it further, this will only reduce the headroom in the attic space and scupper our plans so not an attractive option.
I'm sure 6'3" won't be the lowest headroom out there, but I'm interested in objective views as to whether we have cut it too fine or not.
All views appreciated.

 

[Moo]

One possible question to ask yourself is how much time you will be spending standing on that floor as opposed to being horizontal in bed.
If it were a sitting room, on the other hand ...

 

[AMc]

We have decent ceilings 7'3" but the doors are all 6' which means I have to duck through every one. Mostly that's OK but when I do bang my head I curse a great deal. There is a corridor with a sloping ceiling that meets the wall at 6'3" which at 6'2" I would find oppressive as the main ceiling height. I would sacrifice some ceiling height in the upper floor for space in the lower one but only you can really judge - a lot is going to depend on how tall you are!

 

[JohnB]

The only original ceiling in my house is 6' 6". Unfortunately, the joists aren't big enough and the upstairs floor bounces. A neighbour has told me there used to be a supporting beam across the middle, but I won't know until I remove some plaster. I'm 6' 2", so allowing for shoes and socks I would have to duck under any new beams I install!

Living in a motorhome where my hair brushes on the ceiling, I'm fine with low ceilings, but not keen on brain damage!

 

[Feltwell]

6'3" sounds OK to me - but then I'm 6'2" !

Seriously, low ceilings are often part of the character of older properties, and you're only talking about 1 point being that low. You'll get used to it very quickly I reckon.

I baulked at one house that had a bottom of joist height of about 5'8", that was just too low - I couldn't stand up straight even between the joists. But if I had to duck to go through doorways or go under 1 beam, and could walk about elsewhere without risking bashing my head, that personally wouldn't bother me. At 6'3" you're not going to have many visitors that will hit their heads, I'm assuming no one in your immediate family is that tall.

All down to personal opinion though.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I can't speak from personal experience as I'm 5 feet and the ceilings here are 8 feet 8, but I think you'll get used to it too. Chris has to duck for the doors in the downstairs section and has stopped banging his head - even on the littlest doorway, a very cute 4 feet 8.

I do wonder what will happen to cute low ceilings; people are getting so enormous.

 

[Pford75]

Our ceilings are 13ft 6 in most rooms and 14ft 8 in the oldest rooms. Haven't yet worried about banging my head, although my eldest son is growing at a rate which suggests he might soon have to duck.

As others say, it's personal opinion. But for me...6'3" is a little on the low side and if I had the option to increase it (without too much cost or inconvenience), I would

 

[Penners]

masochists-r-us - I honestly think this question is virtually unanswerable by anyone but you. Only you know (a) how tall you are (!) and (b) how the 6ft 3in ceilings will make you feel.

If they're high enough for all occupants to avoid head wounds, and the room doesn't feel claustrophic, then there's probably not too much to worry about.

 

[Ushy M]

Hello masochists - have PM'd you. Our ceilings are currently 6'6" to the underside of the nasty modern joists, and 6' to the underside of the original spine beam. Our intended repairs will bring the ceiling heights up to approx. 6'9". We don't find this a problem (Mr M and I are about 5'6") and our tall visitors get used to the idea very quickly! Mr M's sister looks after a house which has a ballroom with ceilings of about 30' (you could fit our entire house into this ballroom!).

 

[AMc]

If you have access to a bit of cardboard/hardboard/thin ply can you mock up a section and see how it feels? That was invaluable sorting out the kinked entrance into our bedroom and choosing the right size of TV.

 

[masochists-r-us]

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments. We've decided to stick with the 6'2" minimum on the basis that as people have said it really isn't much different to our at best 6' doorways. We just didn't want to do nothing whilst we still have the opportunity and potentially regret in later. We're 5'7" and 5'9" so it won't affect us at all and as Joce pointed out, it is after all an area of the house where much time is spent in the horizontal.

 

[Jill]

Are you are thinking of this height for your ensuite? You need to think about the height of any shower cubicle and tray. You might find they won't fit.

 

[mivec]

Reading this has prompted me to get the tape measure out.

Downstairs in the original part of our cottage the main beam is 6’2”. We gained 2” when we removed concrete over the original brick floor. The 2’ does make a big difference to the sense of space in the room.

Upstairs most of the beams were removed and the ceiling height increased to about 6’5” (in the 1930’s we think). The couple of beams that are left are 5’6” so it’s probably a good thing really.

Our lowest door is 4’8”, which isn’t as bad as it sounds; it’s fairly obvious you have to duck. It’s the doorways that are about my height (5’ 10”) that catch me out.

I agree with Feltwell, being able to walk around rooms unhindered is key, the odd doorway or beam that needs ducking under isn’t too bad, you get use to it very quickly.

 

[yamin]

Never thought about it! Husband and I both 5'5" so never been an issue, but would have thought ducking through the odd doorway is fine, but constantly worrying about brushing the top of your toupe on the beams would get a bit of a bore after a while!

 

[JohnB]

Some years ago I looked at a lovely little cottage in South Devon. The floor level in half of the sitting room was several inches lower than the rest of the room, and that's the only bit I could stand up straight in. The kitchen had a heavily beamed ceiling, and I spent some time trying to see if I could stand in all the places I'd need to, with my head between the beams! I didn't buy it!

I also looked at one in South Somerset where my head just brushed the downstairs ceiling, but it would have been ok, but I couldn't stand up in the bedrooms! It's fascinating that it had been made out of two cottages, and the other cottage was fine, both upstairs and downstairs.

 

[Chris1roll]

I've just got the tape measure out too!
Our ceilings are all around 6'4 ish (both they and the floors are a bit "variable"!) and the beams are about 6' , lower in some places.
The lowest doorway, between my parents living room and their kitchen is 5'4".
As another poster has said, its obvious you need to duck for that one, the one that always gets me is upstairs, between two sections of landing, is is 5'9" but then has a 6" step immediately after it (to give headroom on the staircase underneath), so the effective height is 5'3" but you don't realise it, going down the step isn't too bad, but stepping up too early, esp in the middle of the night in the dark, has made me see stars a few times.

I'm not conscious of how low everything is, but people coming to the house for the first time, its one of the first things they comment on.