On the minimum ceiling heights the IRC requires habitable spaces and corridors to be a minimum of 7′-6″ and bathrooms, kitchens, storage areas and laundry areas can have ceilings at 7′-0″ minimum.
(a) Every habitable room and bathroom shall have a minimum ceiling height of not less than 7 feet, 0 inches for a minimum of 50 percent of the room's floor area. The remaining area may have a ceiling with a minimum height of 5 feet, 0 inches. Minimum height under dropped ducts, beams, etc. shall be 6 feet, 4 inches.
In an effort to stem heating/cooling costs, houses were constructed with less interior space by shortening ceilings. Home insulation and heating/cooling systems have vastly improved since then, and eight-foot ceilings are now considered outmoded.
Most homes have kitchen cabinets that are 32 or 36 inches tall, with an interval of 1 to 2 feet between the tops of the cabinets and the ceiling.
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.
Lots of people think 8 feet is the minimum ceiling height because that's a common height in most homes, but it's actually 7 feet according to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI Z765). Technically ANSI says it's okay to have a ceiling height at 6'4″ under beams though.
It is absolutely more desirable to haveif you 9' ceilings, and will more than pay for itself in value added to the home. Consider choosing more economical finishes like counters and bathroom floors that can be upgraded down the road, ceiling height is forever.
Ceiling height cabinets are not easy to access as they are very high up in the ceiling. Anything up there at the top of these cabinets is quite hard to access hence you will need to have something to step on in order to reach these things. This also poses some very serious safety concerns.
Ceiling Height
A general rule of thumb is for wall cabinets to be mounted so the bottom edge is 54 inches above the floor, which means that an 8-foot-tall ceiling creates 42 inches of available space for wall cabinets, while a 9-foot-tall ceiling has 54 available inches.
They further explain that the National Kitchen and Bath Association recommends 42 inches of space between islands and cabinets or appliances. If you will be sharing cooking duties with a family member or roommate, you might wish to leave 48 inches instead.
Homes built before the advent of efficient heating systems and proper insulation often used fireplaces both as a source of heat and a place to cook. Lower ceilings and smaller rooms were much easier to heat with fireplaces, therefore many period farmhouses were built with a seven-foot or so ceiling height.
Most lofts can be converted but what is crucial is that there is enough achievable headroom. Ideally you need a minimum of 2.3m (7 feet 6 inches) to start with from the existing ceiling joists to the apex of the loft.
As per OBC, the bedroom height should be 2.3 m over at least 50% of the required floor area.
The ideal upper cabinet height is 54 inches above the floor.
That is, the bottom edge of the upper cabinets should sit 54 inches off the ground.
42” upper cabinets are a very common selection for 9' ceilings. You will have 12” of space above 42” cabinets; if you want them to meet the ceiling you will have to install 12” of crown molding.
An interior soffit is the drop-down box that runs along the ceiling that often hides plumbing, ducts and electrical wiring. With today's taller ceiling heights, the potential space above standard upper cabinets has become larger and we have to decide how far up we want our cabinetry to go.
In reality ceiling height is only one part of the package when it comes to buying a home. For instance, 10 ft ceilings sound like an asset, but if they're found in a home with a terrible layout, they might not command a premium at all. So just because they are there does not make them inherently valuable.
A typical ceiling height in an apartment is 8 feet, but newer construction (built after 1995), can have ceilings 8.5 to 9 feet+. If you live in a historical building (i.e. pre 1940s) that was converted into apartments (such as an old warehouse or school), you can see ceiling heights of 14 feet+.
Higher ceilings mean higher construction costs.
It also requires more materials than a standard nine-foot ceiling, including drywall, primer, and paint, which translates to more costs. Raising a standard-height ceiling in a 20-by-20-foot room to a height of 11 to 12 feet can cost anywhere from $18,000 to $25,000.
The standard for ceiling height has changed over the centuries. Medieval buildings, for example, had very high ceilings. Ceilings were lowered during the Victorian era but were still much higher than the standard 8-foot ceilings of post-war American homes. Nine-foot ceilings are the norm as of 2021.
Ansi aside, market expectation for ceiling height in most areas are 7 feet or higher (8 feet average). So 6 feet is a deficiency/funct obsolescence . The bedrooms exist so report them, but also report, analyze and adjust for their limited use and obsolescence.