New home construction window height with 9ft ceilings

[JMER817]

Getting ready to dig the basement for our new home! Going over the final details of my print. We will have 9ft ceilings thru-out the home and am debating on what height to set the top of the windows. The plan shows the top of the window at 18" from the ceiling. My framer is suggesting 24". Most windows are 5ft tall which would leave 2 or 2.5ft from the bottom of the window to the floor. I think that I will like the look with the windows set at the higher point (18"). Anyone know what is standard?

 

[kenmac]

Not sure what the standard is. If It helps..... I have 8' ceilings. I have 6' windows. the finished window opening at the top to the ceiling is 13.5 ''

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Unless it is some sort of a view window, you really don't want your window sills any lower than 36". Unless you like looking at furniture through the window from outside.

Std header height from floor to bottom of header is 82" in a std 8' wall. Assuming you will now be going with 8' doors? :confused3: Match the window height to the doors. It typically looks best to have the horizontal lines line up, not jump up and down 6"-12".

 

[HillStreet]

Windows are available in a lot of sizes. With a 9 foot ceiling height you probably should take the builders advice and go with the 24 inch. Also think how they look from the outside--- depending on truss or rafter overhang/fascia depth--- you want to have some space between the top of window and soffit.

 

[boggen]

think of it as a rear sliding glass door. drop it to the floor with a little bit of rise to it, so you can do trim boards.

if you are a tall person or tall folks in your home. get them to stand against a wall. and measure there eyes, and say top of window 1 foot above that.

if you are going to be making a "bench" per say so you can lay down in front of the window. or sit in front of it. then figure out what is a good height for a bench wood be. with a cushion. so you can either set at bench with back to window or lay down on the bench, with a pillow under your head and look out the window.

your overhang / sofit for your roof may play a big roll and perhaps wanting to drop the window down some.

if ya going to have a small shelf to place little things (drinks, nic nacks, etc...) maybe better to have more waist high.

if ya getting windows it is not that bad to "custom order windows" to fit any size you want. though there are set standards of pre-manufactured windows that might be cheaper, and it may vary some from manufacture to manufacture. and year to year it may change.

if you have dogs/cats. myself dogs, than you might want to raise window a couple feet off floor. so the wild animals that they can be, don't go charging through a window. and more likely a screen in the window. "i keep a childs/pet gate in front of one window. due to it seats right at the floor minus some trim work around the bottom. on other hand. the pups love to sun bath, and catch them laying in front of the given window many times.

does the yard slope up wards? does it slope down wards? if it slops downwards (your up on a hill) place it down, if looking up on a hill place it higher.
if it is a bed room, adjust it a little lower than bed, so you can open windows up and get a breeze going, that actually goes across the bed.

================
basement and you need 9 foot ceiling due to tall folks in family. you might want basement a little higher, to deal with say a drop down ceiling. so you run central a/c or heating, along with wires, plumbing etc... and still be able to get to the stuff from the basement.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I've got a question. I was in a house once that had a 9 foot first floor and an 8 foot second floor. The difference in the way the two floors felt in terms of comfort and homeyness was enough that I said I would never build or live in a house with 9 foot ceilings. The 9 foot ceiling felt very formal and stiff. Not me at all. My question would be "What are your reasons for building 9 foot ceilings?"

 

[riptides]

I've got a question. I was in a house once that had a 9 foot first floor and an 8 foot second floor. The difference in the way the two floors felt in terms of comfort and homeyness was enough that I said I would never build or live in a house with 9 foot ceilings. The 9 foot ceiling felt very formal and stiff. Not me at all. My question would be "What are your reasons for building 9 foot ceilings?"

We did it for the space. IMHO, a room with nine foor ceilings feels more open and looks bigger.

 

[dave1949]

Yeah, low windows are hard on furniture placement. Southern low windows allow a lot of sun penetration in winter which is hard on wood finishes and upholstery fabrics. Then you end up closing the drapes which defeats the purpose of the window.

There may be some code specification also that windows below a certain height from the floor are required to be made with safety glass. Even if you don't have codes to conform too, that is something to consider.

We like our 8'-6" ceilings.

 

[rtimgray]

I've always used the rule of thumb that door and window height is the same (i.e. 6'-8" finished), but that is always subject to owner/builder whims. I like windows, but something to consider is that they are holes in the wall and the bigger the hole, the more energy it lets out (in terms of insulation). Do be sure to consider what it looks like from the exterior - it may look fine inside, then you see it outside and say "yikes" - or maybe not - personal preference.

This reminds me of the story when a couple of fellas went to look at a new home being built by a lake. The entire front of the home facing the lake and it's breathtaking view was windows. One of the fellas looked at the other and said "Man, I hope this house has a lot of lights." to which the other fellas said "Why?". The first replied "Cause those big windows are gonna let in a whole lotta dark!"

Good luck and take care.

 

[SPIKER]

Never been a fan of 9' ceilings myself (but done drywall for years) and the suggestions on how the outside landscaping and pets are both good. Placement of furniture inside with LOW windows is a pain as nothing can go in front of them if window is a foot off floor. I agree with person said these must be BIG windows, think about HVAC on windows this size & cost factor to Heat/Cool when windows (even best ones) are way less efficient than wall space. (Then having 9 foot high is also wasteful in HVAC regards.)

That said looking from outside having all the doors, windows at same height is very important to ascetics of the building on outside. It will also affect resale value and assessed value of the home. Having the 9' basement is great too as workout rooms or HVAC and Utility equipment takes up some height. The ability to lift something over head is great in a work out room & think about an outside evacuation door for storm liability issues (can get out if building is damaged by storm.)

Mark

 

[randy41]

i think its code that windows be a certain distance from the floor to keep kids from falling out. this may apply to second story windows only. i bought the windows for my house from a window factory outlet store and then framed to fit the windows. saved a lot of money on windows that way. with 9' ceilings you have a lot of room to work with and might be able to save some money.

 

[dmccarty]

We have 10 foot ceilings in our house. 9 feet is just too low.

Line up the top of the windows with the top of the doors. We have 8' tall doors.

I really dislike windows that go to the floor since furniture covers up the window. As a local radio station advert says, "It just don't make sense." Our windows are 5' and 6' tall with most being 6 so we have at least two feet of space from the floor to the bottom of the window. Two feet is a good compromise distance. Three feet would provide too little of a window for us.

HOWEVER, you are in The Great White North and I hear it gets cold up that way and stays cold. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

I designed our house to handle hot weather not cold. It is supposed to cost more to cool a house than warm a house and we usually have more hot weather days than cold. The 10 foot ceilings move the heat away from us which is great in the summer but not so much in the winter. If the humidity is below 60% we do not run the AC until the house temp goes over 84. Buildings in town built around 1900 have what looked to be 16 foot tall ceilings. We thought about putting in 12 foot but that was too much for a variety of reasons.

Windows are holes in the wall. I am sure we would be warmer in the winter if we had smaller windows but this is subjective as well. We heat with wood and most of the time the living room will be 80-82 with the bedrooms furthest from the stove being at 70-72. Even on single temperature days which seldom happens the bedrooms will still be in the mid 60's. If we were up Nawth where cold weather is an issue our house would be designed differently and we would not have the number of windows nor the size of the current windows. Each major room has one window that is 8'x6' and usually a secondary window as well. The living room has a 12'x6' window. I don't think we would do that in a cold climate.

If you have wide windows you need to be mindful of header size to support the structure over the window.

An advantage to higher ceiling heights is that you are not hitting the ceiling fan with ladders and such when you move through the house. In fact, we don't even notice the fans at all since they are above our line of sight.

Later,
Dan

 

[tallyho8]

My house has 9' ceilings with 5' windows 18" down from ceiling and 2 1/2" from floor. This fits perfect in our home since most of our furniture that goes in front of windows (tables, dressers, etc.) is 30" tall and does not block the windows.

 

[/pine]

i think its code that windows be a certain distance from the floor to keep kids from falling out. this may apply to second story windows only. i bought the windows for my house from a window factory outlet store and then framed to fit the windows. saved a lot of money on windows that way. with 9' ceilings you have a lot of room to work with and might be able to save some money.

FWIW...I know this not germane to the OP's query...but most building codes state that any window/fixed glass etc.. that is less than 18" from the floor has to be tempered glass...

 

[fordmantpw]

To the OP, I will try to remember to measure tonight what ours are. We have 9' ceilings with 3x5 windows. They are technically 5'-6" tall.

I've got a question. I was in a house once that had a 9 foot first floor and an 8 foot second floor. The difference in the way the two floors felt in terms of comfort and homeyness was enough that I said I would never build or live in a house with 9 foot ceilings. The 9 foot ceiling felt very formal and stiff. Not me at all. My question would be "What are your reasons for building 9 foot ceilings?"

We are putting 9' ceilings in our house for two reasons:

1) It makes the room look more open and larger (as riptides mentioned).
2) It allows us to have brick above the windows on the outside. A standard 8' ceiling and you only have room for the soffit to go above the window and it almost looks unfinished. With 9', we get the more finished look.

 

[JCByrd24]

FWIW...I know this not germane to the OP's query...but most building codes state that any window/fixed glass etc.. that is less than 18" from the floor has to be tempered glass...

I had to look this one up. It has to be a pane greater than 9 sq ft. for this to apply. IRC also requires tempered/safety glass at certain locations near swinging and sliding doors, and tubs/spas.

IRC also now requires 24" minimum between floor and window bottom on second floor unless it is guarded or has fixed glass so children cannot fall out.

 

[/pine]

I had to look this one up. It has to be a pane greater than 9 sq ft. for this to apply. IRC also requires tempered/safety glass at certain locations near swinging and sliding doors, and tubs/spas.

IRC also now requires 24" minimum between floor and window bottom on second floor unless it is guarded or has fixed glass so children cannot fall out.

Without looking it up...one thing I remember about "size" of windows is...unless a bathroom has at least "so many" square feet of opening a "fart fan" was required...

 

[Wnc3]

I've got a question. I was in a house once that had a 9 foot first floor and an 8 foot second floor. The difference in the way the two floors felt in terms of comfort and homeyness was enough that I said I would never build or live in a house with 9 foot ceilings. The 9 foot ceiling felt very formal and stiff. Not me at all. My question would be "What are your reasons for building 9 foot ceilings?"

Interesting, I'd never want to live in a house will less than 9' ceilings, preferably 10'. 11 is too high.

I would match window and door headers as Long as it looks proportional.
In other words, set the window headers where it looks best. Don't let the top of window hit the freeze board. If it is a brick house you will want a course of brick, rollock i think, above windows.

 

[efam3300]

You have to set the bottom of your windows to meet egress requirements of your building code. When I retired from carpentry 5 years ago it was 18" off the floor. I think a taller window with 9ft ceilings would be more aesthetically pleasing.

 

[roadhunter]

Might want to consider your siding and trim as well. Matching the door height makes the siding and trim look better IMO.