Estimating Cathedral Ceilings

Cathedral Ceilings

Cathedral ceilings and other 'raised' ceilings are handled differently, depending on the layout of the building and the construction type.

NOTE: Besides the basic dimensions handled in this section, you'll probably also want to add some additional costs for the high ceilings (see page 374).

Remodeling Project

If the project is being handled on a 'room by room' basis, simply enter the ceiling height for each room. BidMagic will properly compute all dimensions.

NOTE: Be sure that you enter new wall framing between two new rooms into only one of the room cards. Remember that a 'cathedral' room may adjoin rooms both upstairs and down!

Entire Story Raised

If an entire story has high ceilings, there is no need to do anything special in BidMagic. Simply enter the high ceiling on the Basic Dimensions card or the Room cards, and everything will be calculated properly.

NOTE: If the ceiling is sloped, see page 375.

One Area Raised by a Floor Cut Upstairs

If the project has two stories or more, and some rooms have a raised ceiling because there is no floor above them, it 's also easy to handle. Follow these steps:

1. Enter the lower floor walls and floor areas as normal. For the ceiling height, measure from the finished floor up to the finished ceiling in the rooms that are beneath the upper floor (measurement 1).
2. For the upper story, enter the ceiling height, as measured from the finished floor to the ceiling above it (measurement 2).
3. For the upper story, also enter all walls that appear on the blueprints. This will include walls around upstairs rooms, plus the wall around the 'cathedral' portion of the lower floor.
4. For the upper story, enter the floor area that will actually have floor on it. Do not include the area that is open to the lower story.

This procedure will make sure that all surfaces are accounted for in BidMagic.

NOTE: To be precise, you can add to Interior Wall Area the 'band' of material between the downstairs ceiling height and the upstairs finished floor--although most people don't bother doing this.

One Area Raised, No Floor Cut Upstairs

On some projects, one or more rooms have a higher ceiling because the roof is higher, or because scissors trusses or open rafters are used instead of a standard triangular truss.

If the project is treated as new construction, an addition, or a gut/rehab, use a weighted average of the ceiling height for the story (see page 377). If the project is treated as a remodeling project, enter the average ceiling height for each room on its respective Room card.