ceiling height

[Steve]

In the late 70's our house was extended on the side with a garage downstairs and bedroom above.

We altered this in the early 90's to provide a living room in the old garage and a dining room where it was.

We never changed the level of the floor in the garage, so had to form two small steps down to the living room. The ceiling, however, is still at 8ft like the rest of the house, because the bedroom upstairs is lower than the other bedrooms (the stairwell is L shaped, with only one step on the short part of the L, the new bedroom has access from this half-landing, so its a step lower).

If we were to raise the floor level in the living room/old garage, the ceiling level would be about 7ft. Is this allowed? I'm sure I've seen newbuilds with similar levels.

What if the living room was split up as part of a new extension project on the back, and part of the 7ft high space was a "corridor" to other parts of the house? Are the regs any different with access areas than living space?

What is the minimum ceiling height allowed?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

What is the minimum ceiling height allowed?

The only reference to minimum ceiling heights mentioned in the Building Regulations is above stairs. therefore it comes down to what is practical so fill yer boots!

 

[Steve]

Thanks, FMT, another thing, how would I go about raising the floor level by a foot? Would a standard wooden floor do? It'd only leave about 3-4 inches under the joists. Is this acceptable? What other measures would have to be taken in the construction of such a floor? (Existing is concrete with DPM and insulation)