only you can decide if you think its worth 25k. would i do it? no way. its not easily done.

FWIW ---- My one experience through this whole ordeal, whatever price I get, double it... so you might think about what would be the next thing on the list to wait.... even if they come in at that price, there is going to be something else before it is over.

Boy that sure stinks. Sorry that happened. But 8 foot isnt all that bad is it? What do you have now? Do you need your A/C where you live or for health reasons?

Only you can decide what you can live with or without, and while I see postponing some things, for me I think I would just want to get done.... but that is only because we are pushing 9 months to get done, might even be 10 or more ... so I am past ready to get done. So my decisions now are based on.... what is the quickest :-)

But as we discussed in another thread, it really is just a small blip in time when compared to the big picture.

Whichever you decide, you need to just move past that decision. Accept the decision that is made and move on. I made the decision to lower our safe room ceiling, thinking we wouldnt use the space except in a storm, and when I realized we could use it, I really beat myself up for it. Same way with my decision to not put in an arch window over the door. I really could kick myself for those decisions but now I am trying to just accept that this is the way it is and LOVE everything about my house! :-)

Do you have a large open floor plan, which would look really odd with eight foot ceilings? If that was the case, it would add more weight to the pro side of the equation.

If the rooms will not look out of place with eight foot ceilings, it seems like an awful lot of money for a nice-to-have.

What does your architect have to say about the situation? I wonder if it would be covered under his Errors & Omissions coverage, provided he has it?

I would rather have AC and flooring than an extra foot of ceiling height.

I also can't imagine that it would only cost $25k at this point. I would also be concerned that the house will be as structurally sound after they basically tear it apart.

Thank you for your responses. We do have an open plan. It is an L shaped room. Kitchen and Den area is 30' x 18' and along with that is the the dining room which is 15' x 15' (all open to each other).

The Architect lied to us. He hoped that we would use his General Contractor to build the house. He knew our budget so he wanted to build the cheapest house so we still had money left over to pay his GC!! He lied about the height restriction. Even if he was correct he should have advised us to lower the roof. Thankfully, we did not us his GC!!

I know I should be very grateful for what we have. I never expected to ever have a brand new home. I just hope I wont regret it in a few years.

We have 8 ft ceilings on our second floor with 10 ft on first. We couldn't do the 9 feet we wanted on the second floor due to height restrictions - so we have all kinds of architecturally interesting ceilings instead - vaulted, high trays, barrel vault, etc. We love the second floor now! Why don't you see what you could do with this type of thing, at least for the upper floor - it surely would be less $$ than what you are otherwise contemplating....

Thinking about resale. What do most houses in the area have? If your house will be one of the few with 8ft ceilings, that might be a problem. We will be buying soon and we will not consider a house with 8ft ceilings on the first floor. It might be ok on the 2nd floor, but it would depend on the house.

For $25k and all the extra delays, I'd forget about the idea of having an extra 12 inches of height to each room unless you and your family members are as tall as Shaq. Not to mention the possible structural integrity issues involved with doing something like that (despite a good contractor's best work, I'd imagine it's generally better to not lift and alter framing).

Save the $25k for something else.

So lets see...
architect lied to you..read that both times in post.

it would cost $20,000 and all the difference would
be is 1'.

would require undo and redo of first floor with second
floor and roof already built

would builder even agree to do this?
seems to me he would just wait it out until you and architect work it out between yourselves.
where I live the decent builders locally would all walk away from it, the ones who would take it own would prolly hork it up pretty badly.
and it would have a direct effect on the subs for the rest of the build
plus would it ever be as structrually sound as before..

no flooring no a/c

I think you need to resolve your issues with the architect.
It isn't ecomimically or realistically fiesable to give up so much for the extra foot that this will provide you.
IMO to spend this kind of money for so little benefit is
not the best choice you could make.

In the end it is your choice, and if you were set on this nine foot height it, is a bitter pill to swallow.
There will be other costs that you may wish you would have had this $20,000 for down the line.

Some times it just is what it is
his fault or not its done.
what you choose to do from here on is what matters

sorry for the whole mess
but
best of luck

Do you have a basement? Have you thought of lowering your family room? There might be a natural area to have a step down. It wouldn't be the whole 1st level but it may be a more reasonable option.

If you did increase to 9ft. there could be other hidden costs. Like would you then feel you need 42" kit cabinets?

You might be able to raise the floor over part of the central living space and create a raised ceiling with beams. That has worked well for me before.

The basic concept is to group the existing 2nd floor joists together so they act as beams farther apart (3 to 4 ft) and set some 2x6 or 2x8 joists across the beams. That dimension is more a matter of the height of the step up from the 2nd floor than anything else. This can create an 8-10 to 9-0 ceiling height between the beams and still allow recessed lighting. Sometimes I wrap the beams with wood but if the drywall is going to be "blueboard" (or the drywaller is unusually good), I just wrap the beams with gyp board and use crown molding at the ceiling. The molding is essential.

Height should not be the goal. I have seen 9-0 ceilings that are not impressive or comfortable although that height does allow the window heads to be higher which brightens up the spaces but you can also make the windows wider is necessary.

Macv's solution would be fantastic, we have tall ceilings in our house and we are looking in to adding faux beams for design reasons.

I'm going to assume you are like the majority of us. You will have a mortgage on the house. In the current lending environment the lack of flooring will send up a red flag to underwriters. They want a finished house, and the lack of flooring will be noted in an appraisal. Without flooring it's pretty likely you will jeopardize the final approval of your mortgage. It's been my recent experience that the lack of flooring, even if a house appraises, can turn a mortgage approval into a big "no."

I doubt you could get the upper floor raised a foot for the price range quoted. Raising a floor more than a few inches requires that the first floor studs somehow be made continuous from sole plate to top plate (by building code) and that usually means replacing all the studs. In the mean time the upper floor has to be lifted more than a foot requiring a lot of jacks and cribbing. Then there is the exterior sheathing, weather barrier and siding to repair and patch and the windows are all a foot too short (taller windows is the primary reason for higher ceilings IMHO) and the stairs need to be redesigned or completely rebuilt if already in place. It might help to raise the floor in increments of the stair riser height instead of a foot.

Talk to a structural engineer and the local building inspector before making a decision. You'll need the engineer to sign off on the method used whether the inspector requires it or not.

If you were to add 2x8's across the entire second floor, would it be possible to raise the attic floor (or whatever forms the ceiling) a foot (or even 6 or 7 inches) without moving the roof rafters?

I have found that an 8-6 ceiling height is a surprisingly big improvement over an 8-0 ceiling height. There is nothing magic about a 9-0 ceiling dimension except to real estate agents.

My house is 120 years old and has 9' ceilings. My neighbor's 250 year old house has 8' ceilings. A friend's 50 year old cape has 7' ceilings.

I seldom notice the difference between my house and my neighbors, except in one room where a ceiling fan is hung from a beam, so it really protrudes. They are both (if I may say so) beautiful spaces. So I think both 8 and 9 foot ceilings are fine. OTOH, my other friend's cape is also lovely, but I really notice the 7' ceilings.

I would be very upset in your shoes, but rather than spend the money to gain the foot (which I'd do in a 7' situation, but not 8'), I say it's time to make lemonade. Consider the 8' height a design feature (I know, it's a hard pill to swallow), and work with it to make the best of your space. Get a different architect to do some room elevations with you; play around with window and door height/placement/proportions. Make sure all your built ins go to the ceiling. No 6' bookcases with gap at the top. Same for kitchen cabinets; no gap, just crown. If they get the balance and proportion of the existing space right, it will look beautiful, and plenty tall.

When you move in, pay careful attention to how you handle window treatments. That will make a huge difference too. An 8' room with treatments properly done will look fabulous. A 9' room with the wrong window treatments will look really dumpy. (I should know, some of my curtains are too short, but I'm working on it :-)

If this constraint forces you to make more consideration about balance and proportion throughout your house, it may wall end up looking better than had you blithely forged ahead with 9' ceilings. Some of the best designs are born from constraint.

Also, in at least one room, especially a room with deep-colored walls, try painting the ceiling the same color as the walls, or even slightly darker, and if you're really brave, in glossy paint. It will recede and look stunning.

Here is a link that might be useful: Getting windows right