Is it worth it to raise the ceiling"

I just purchased the parlor level of a 120-year-old brick rowhouse that’s been converted into 4 condos. It’s lovely, but something about the height of its ceilings (a little higher than 9 feet) somehow seemed disproportionate, like it should be higher. Yesterday, I was putting some things in one of the closets (it was clearly added later), and I noticed that ceiling of the closet went up about 8 inches higher than the rest of the room, confirming that somewhere along the line, the ceiling was lowered. I know 9 feet isn’t “low”, but I’m wondering if I should look into raising the ceiling in the room? How big is a project like this? What kinds of costs/permits/headaches should I expect? And why would someone lower the ceiling? Was it fashionable to have lower ceilings at one time? Was it to save on energy costs? Any advice would be much appreciated!

iokaqznyn

in Renovation 8 years and 2 months ago

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wggqsudnnfoyce | 8 years ago

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just knock down the false ceiling nothing to worry about but the mess

agdipierro

in Renovation 8 years and 1 month ago

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Ceiling/floor assemblies between units in multiple dwellings have a fire rating. Make sure that you maintain it if you raise the ceiling.

farzanaakhi12 | 8 years and 1 month ago

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Ceilings were often lowered for two reasons; a) it was easier to suspend a new ceiling than to straighten out and repair the old one, and b) it does, in fact, reduce the energy to heat the space. – hot air rises, so with taller ceilings, the warm air sits up on top rather than down where you are (you just need to heat more air). Other comments about piping or electrical work are true, but often these were done because the ceiling was already lowered. The great thing about raised ceilings is that they make the room feel much more spacious. You may even find some original moldings, or wallpaper or something to indicate how the room looked in the past. You don’t know what you’ll find until you remove the new ceiling and it’s quite possible you will only face cosmetic repairs to finish the room.

AndrewPorter | 8 years and 1 month ago

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In the 1950s and 60s, many ceilings were “modernized,” especially in office building lobbies, with drop ceilings. I’ve also seen many older stores where those ugly tin ceilings were replaced with “modern” ceilings. Fortunately, many of those can be restored.

In my own building, two large one bedroom apartments on each floor were turned into 4 studios, with dropped ceilings. The original ceilings are 11 feet, including in the closets; the newer ceilings are maybe 9 feet. I don’t know if the original ceilings are behind the newer ones.

dmdesmond | 8 years and 1 month ago

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Go on amazon and get a boroscope, a small camera on a cord that hooks up to your phone or computer. They cost less than $30. Drill a hole in your drywall ceiling and stick the boroscope though there. You will be able to see how much space was taken, whether there is major plaster damage or anything else.

In my ceiling, I found it had only been dropped only a couple of inches to cover up crumbling plaster. It wasn’t worth taking it down but it was handy to know the plaster had originally been covered with molding and designs, now damaged or stripped out. We can either recreate the original designs on the existing drywall with Lincrusta or Anaglypta or restore the original plaster ceiling.

If there is a lot of room up in there. all they have to do is pull out the drywall, reframe closer to the plaster and rehang some new drywall. Easy-peasy and not too pricey. If you find elaborate beautiful plaster work under there you want to restore. that will set you back .

alicecfoster

in Renovation 8 years and 1 month ago

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My own experience with things like this is that there was probably a reason why – and you will discover this when you take the ceiling down, but possibly not until you are well beyond the point of no return. I agree with the earlier post – gas pipes, electric, failing plaster, water damage, use your imagination. If you decide to go with it, just be ready to deal with what you uncover, too. Regarding lower ceilings being more fashionable – I doubt that anybody would go to the expense just to lose ceiling height. Insulation is a good idea – even better is to put the new ceiling on sound isolation clips so the kids upstairs aren’t jumping directly on your ceiling.

cate | 8 years and 1 month ago

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Ceiling might also have been dropped to incorporate recessed lights. If so, it would be easy enough to get rid of them.

Arkady | 8 years and 1 month ago

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Please let us know what you decided/what you found.

dorkofwindsor | 8 years and 2 months ago

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possible new plumbing pipes could have been installed, but my guess is that it was for acoustic purposes. if you remove, you will find out soon enough if that was the reason why 😉

workisfun | 8 years and 2 months ago

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Consider the extra layer and any insulation as both a thermal and acoustic barrier.

housepoor | 8 years and 2 months ago

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Since you are on the parlor floor, what height is the entry hall? There is a chance that ceiling was left untouched, in which case you can figure out how much room you’ll have.

katdov | 8 years and 2 months ago

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I had to change the ceiling (it was sagging) on a top floor of a narrow row house – it was a horrible mess as the apartment filled with 100 year old black insulation dust, twigs and feathers- but it took only 3 or 4 days for 2 guys to do the whole thing, no permits required as none of this was structural, and I had 4 quotes that ranged between $7k and $16k.

slopefarm | 8 years and 2 months ago

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The upshot is that it is hard to know how much it will cost, what kind of condition you will want to restore to, or how much additional height you will gain without taking a few peeks into the space above the ceiling. the closet, even with a higher ceiling, may still have a dropped ceiling.

bliz | 8 years and 2 months ago

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Sometimes people will drop ceilings to hide old damaged plaster and lathe ceiling or damaged medallions, etc. It might have also been done to cut noise to/from upstairs. I have also seen houses with extensions on the parlor floor where they drop the ceiling and leave the extension uninsulated. It’s definitely worth cutting a hole to look before you tear things out.

daveinbedstuy | 8 years and 2 months ago

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I may have been unclear. The closet would be a good place to cut a hole in the wall to see what’s going on. But I agree with Bob, an extra 8″ probably not going to make much of a difference (unless maybe if you get some beautiful crown moldings) and pronbably not worth the expense.

BobMarvin | 8 years and 2 months ago

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My house is about the same age and has 11′ ceilings on the parlor floor; older row houses often have ceilings considerably higher than that.

Yes, it was fashionable to have lower ceilings in the immediate postwar years, so your ceilings might have been dropped to make the rooms look more “modern”. I’m not sure that 8″ would be worth all the expense of removing a dropped ceiling but IMO a couple of feet might well be. An exploratory opening might be in order. If you’re unlucky the ceilings might have been dropped to hide plumbing pipes, electrical wiring, etc. , which would raise the expense of restoring them.

daveinbedstuy | 8 years and 2 months ago

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Do you have HVAC registers in the ceiling or really anywhere? It may have been dropped to accomodate them or the trunk duct. Get a ladder and a flashlight and see what you can see from that closet. Perhaps also the crown moldings were in very bad shape but dropping the ceiling would be an expensive way of dealing with that. Removing it shouldn’t be a difficult or expensive job depending upon how it was constructed but it WILL be a mess.