Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Common House Ceilings

[Willie Schreurs (Willie]

> From: Paul Kilduff <LibertyPaulMary [at] webtv.net>
> Subject: Common House Ceilings
> Date: Monday, April 20, 1998 11:10 AM
> 
> from Paul Kilduff, Liberty Village, MD, where we are about to sign with
> a general development contractor, and look forward to the first houses'
> being occupied by November.
> 
> What advice do people with common houses have about ceiling height?  How
> high is your ceiling?  If you had it to do again, would you make it
> lower, higher, or the same?  What else would you change?
> Why?

At Greyrock Commons, we tried for the best of both worlds with a stepped
ceiling (see cross-section diagram below, which will be really messed up for
those reading with proportional fonts).  It starts at a conventional height
(~8') and goes up to about 18' at the peak (my guesstimates).  We used slats
with gaps between them in the stepped portion of the ceiling; putting these in
was a community project during construction, as was the cleaning of the maple
floorboards which had been retrieved about 2 years earlier from a roller rink
that was being demolished.  The stepping and slats were for sound absorption,
which is partially successful in my opinion.  At the peak of the ceiling we
have clerestory windows, which light the common house interior wonderfully and
provide ventilation in the summer.  Indirect evening lighting is provided by
lights on the ledges above the ceiling overhangs.

I think I speak for most Greyrock residents when I say that we absolutely love
the looks; the sound control could be better but it's not as noisy as a smooth
cathedral ceiling would've been.

---------------Cross-Section Diagram--------------

* : Roof line
- : Ceiling slats
@ : Lights
] : Clerestory windows
                                      *   
                                      ]   *
                                      ]     ^ *
                                  *   |     |     *
                              *       |_@_  |         *
                          *,--------------  |
                      *    |       ^        |
                  *        |_@_    |        |
              *,---------------    |        |
          *    |       ^           |        |
      *        |_@_    |           |        |
  *   ,------------    |           |        |
      |  ^             |           |        |
      |  |             |           |        |
      | ~8 ft         ~10 ft      ~13 ft   ~18 ft
      |  |             |           |        |
      |__|_____________|___________|________|_________________


    /\                        Willie Schreurs                        /\
   //\\ <Willie [at] Greyrock.org>(H) <WSchreurs [at] vines.colostate.edu>(W) 
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