Vaulting A Flat Ceiling

View of the existing attic over the common area looking northeast.

Vaulting a flat ceiling. In nearly all cases vaulted ceilings are built during new construction rather than remodeled into homes with conventional flat ceilings. It costs between 18 000 and 25 000 to vault an 11 to 12 foot ceiling in a 20x20 room. If you have a stick framed roof it is much easier for professionals to complete the job.

Depending on how steep your roof pitch is vaulting a 20 by 20 foot room creates a new ceiling that s 11 to 12 feet high at its peak. Vaulting the ceiling would require completely changing the roof structure in this part of the house which originally looked like this. Third check for mechanical.

The creation of the vault allowed ceiling heights to extend higher than a flat ceiling and take advantage of unused roof structure space. Vaulted ceilings have plenty of complications that require serious thought before you pull the trigger on building a home or addition with one. Anything less than 5 inches isn t deep enough to insulate sufficiently.

How to vault a ceiling first head to the attic. Reaching the upper areas of the vault for dusting may require a ladder. Substantial structural issues must be taken into consideration before beginning any tear out project in preparation for constructing a vaulted ceiling.

If you have a drop ceiling a drywall ceiling or a flat ceiling the cost to vault it won t change dramatically. The price isn t low though. Most flat ceilings hide gorgeous open rafter cathedral ceilings.

If your home is a modest size single story tract home with standard 8 foot ceilings it s an ideal candidate for vaulting a ceiling. The cross supports for most flat ceilings have the structural function of providing thrust against which the roof rafters stand. The conventional way to insulate a vaulted ceiling is by installing fiberglass batt insulation between the rafters leaving at least an inch of space between the top side of the insulation and the.