Our bathroom isn't finished enough for you to get a good visual but here is a rendered picture so you can get an idea of a vaulted bathroom. I put a soffit over the sink area so that wall wouldn't be so high.

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Your DH is correct. Think about how you will heat and ventilate the bathroom before going for either one. It's no fun to be freezing in your shower or tub, or to have condensation forming on your ceiling.

I agree with Chisue. The ceiling over our master bedroom could have been as high as 15'. We dropped it in the bedroom to about 12 and in the master bathroom to about 10. In the shower we dropped it to 8. And I am glad we did.

Here's a question. If a cathedral ceiling is peaked in the middle, and a vaulted ceiling peaks off center, what do you call a ceiling that is two stories high, but is flat?

Queen of funky ceilings here. Alot of ours are sloped due to the steep roof lines. This is my kids bathroom with slopes on both sides (flat in the middle)

The flat part is 9' high

Our Master Bedroom was called vaulted by our builder but it doesn't come to a point like your builder described. It's also flat on top.

I would think whatever you choose you wouldn't want it too high for the reasons stated already. (too cold)

Hi,

Just wanted to add to the consensus that high ceilings in bathrooms can result in chilly temperatures when all the heat rises to the top. Of course, much depends on your climate/location (I'm in NY and it's currently FREEZING!) Our last house had a very high bathroom ceiling and the bathroom was practically unusable in the winter.

Good luck with your decision,

robyn

You can always google it and/or find construction terms dictionaries online. But often tradespeople mean different things. Safest thing to do is have him draw a sketch of what HE means, where the "peak" will be in relation to the floorplan, etc.

We love a warm bathroom and I'm concerned about our ceilings being too high (9' and flat, in a 12 x 12 room). Builder is trying to help us hold down costs, so suggested we not drop that room's ceiling. However, we will have infloor hydronic radiant heat, which will help. Also, we always use a forced-air electric space heater in our bath. Instead of that, we're getting a heavy-duty, 220-volt, partly recessed in-wall heater to give us a fast warmup capability. It's safer and less in the way than a space heater on the floor. Still, I'm worried about getting that master bath warm enough.

sue36 -- What you describe sounds like a shoebox on end. LOL

lindybarts -- Your beamed BR gave me an idea for a way to cozy-up my guest BR w/cathedral ceiling -- it's that or just plain lower the ceiling to 9 feet. I hate it at 16.

pinktoes -- That may be overkill. We have Nu-Heat in the floor of our master bath, and two floor registers from the gas-fired forced air furnace. This is a north-facing room with a roughly 66-inch X 80" archtop window (north) and two additional windows (west). The floor area is 11 X 14 and the ceiling angles from 9 feet to a flat that is 12 feet high. We're in the far north suburbs of Chicago -- haven't seen the ground since the beginning of December with ice and snow.

My Ultra-Bain air tub has a heater and our shower is glassed, but open a couple of feet at the top (not totally enclosed like a steam shower). A friend in AZ had a walk-in (no door) shower that was so 'breezy' she showered in the guest bath.

We'd be in real trouble in our master bath without the floor heat because the HVAC guy was a dope. We'd planned for the Nu-Heat there, but ended up adding a small boiler and tubing under the other north-facing rooms because the ducted supply was inadequate. I really think the Nu-Heat is doing almost all the work in our bathroom. Could you just wire for that space heater and add it only if needed? Will the bathroom floor heat be on its own thermostat?

While we're talking warm bathrooms, let's not forget to put DOORS on our bathrooms, folks! (And heat vents in the toilet rooms.)