Raising The Ceilings

propain

Hello all;

I have a question. I own a High Ranch built on a slab. The 1st level is not below grade even though they call it a basement.


The ceilings on the first level are 7.6 Feet and 8 feet on the second level.


I would like to move the Kitchen and living room down to the 1st level of the house but the ceilings are kind of low.

I would love to raise the ceilings to 8 feet on the 1st floor. Ive heard its possible to raise the 2nd level.

Anyone have any feedback on this?

I dont think it would be to code to dig out the slab so the only way to acomplish this would be to raise the 2nd level 6 inches.


Is this possible?


Thanks for the help.

manhattan42

To get 8' ceiling on the first floor, you would need to either raise the entire house and increase the height of the foundation or excavate the basement so that it is 6" lower.

Raising the house will be very costly (many tens of thousands of dollars) and would not increase the value of your home accordingly.

You might be able to lower the basement floor instead by demolishing the existing (presumably) concrete slab, removing 6" of soil, then installing a new slab.

propain

Interesting idea...


I would leave the slab alone where the house is being supported on and dig the rest out and pour a new slab a minimum of 6 inches lower.


The problem would be I would get 6 inches of concrete on the inside walls because the exterior slab would still be higher.


I guess Nothing an 8' board couldnt handle with mason nails on the bottom.


The removal could be expensive....


Hell its probably not worth it...



What is code for a kitchen minimum ceiling height?