Vaulted Ceiling Guide: Pros and Cons of Vaulted Ceilings

A vaulted ceiling refers to any ceiling that angles up toward the roof to extend higher than the standard eight- to ten-foot height of average flat ceilings. Among the most common types of vaulted ceilings are arched, barrel, cathedral, domed, groin, and rib, each with its own unique structure. While in traditional architectural design, the term “vaulted ceiling” originally referred to ceilings with a self-supporting arch, it is now often used to describe any angled, high ceiling.

While incorporating these high ceilings into your floor plan can make your living space feel larger and allow more light into a room, they can increase construction costs and require more energy to cool or heat than a standard ceiling.

Here are the most common types of vaulted ceilings:

1. 1. Arched vaults: The term “arched vaulted ceilings” refers to any type of vaulted ceiling that is arched rather than straight. Arched vaulted ceilings feature a curved, self-supporting structure rather than just straight beams.
2. 2. Barrel vaults: Barrel vaulted ceilings follow a simple curved slope from wall to wall, similar to one half of a circular barrel.
3. 3. Cathedral: Cathedral ceilings have narrow, sloping sides that are unarched. The straight lines in this vaulted ceiling usually run parallel to the roof’s pitch, creating a mirror-like effect.
4. 4. Domed vaults: Domed vaulted ceilings are arched ceilings that narrow as they reach the center point, forming a sloped dome shape.
   
5. 5. Groin vaults: Groin vaults are a complex type of vaulted roof structure in which two barrel vaults intersect to form an intricate, curved x-shape. Groin vaults aren’t common in home design and are usually reserved for complex architectural projects like cathedrals.
6. 6. Rib vaults: Rib vaulted ceilings feature a series of exposed beams set along central focal points to create a unique, structural look along the vaults.

Vaulted ceilings can have many benefits:

• Create more visual space. Vaulted ceilings draw the eye upward in a room, emphasizing a large amount of open space that can make a room feel airier and more spacious. This visual space is beneficial for smaller floor plans since vaulted ceilings can create the illusion of a large room even when the floor space is relatively small.
• Can serve as a design centerpiece. Vaulted ceilings can look especially impressive and serve as a visual centerpiece for an otherwise plain room. Some designers use vaulted ceilings in a living room, dining room, or family room as a built-in, attention-grabbing design element.
• Offer more opportunities for natural light. Since vaulted ceilings create extra surface area on opposing walls, they offer additional space for large windows—especially floor-to-ceiling windows or transom windows. (A transom is a horizontal beam that separates the framing of a door or window from the wall. A transom window sits above that beam, typically for decorative purposes.). In addition, many vaulted ceilings follow the roof pitch, which means homeowners can add skylights directly into the ceiling.
• Flexible with most interior design styles. Vaulted ceilings can fit any interior design style. For instance, vaulted ceilings with exposed beams, joists (a beam that supports a flat surface), or roof trusses (a framed structure that supports the roof) can blend in with a farmhouse-style design. Arched vaulted ceilings with crown molding can give a home an antique gothic cathedral look.

Vaulted ceilings have a few disadvantages for homeowners:

• Can increase utility bills: Since vaulted ceilings increase the volume of a room, it can be much more expensive to heat or cool a home with exceptionally high ceilings. In addition, since warm air rises, vaulted ceilings can draw warm air away from the living space on the ground and trap it near the rafters, making the room drafty or cold, even when the heat is on.
• Creates the illusion of space: Even though vaulted ceilings are an effective way to make a space feel more open, they don’t add to the liveable square footage of your home. If you need additional space and want to expand your home, increasing your ceiling height may be an expensive design choice without enough payoff. However, if you purchase a house with a vaulted ceiling and need additional space, you can potentially convert the ceiling into a loft space.
• Increase construction costs: Vaulted ceilings are costly to build. Due to increased design and labor costs, a vaulted ceiling can make a home-building project between five and twenty percent more expensive. Vaulting can be even more costly if it’s part of a remodeling project rather than a custom home-building project since the difficult task of removing the existing ceilings and repurposing the attic space is very labor-intensive.
• More difficult to maintain: Vaulted ceilings can make regular home maintenance more complicated since you’ll have a difficult time reaching the ceiling to dust ceiling beams, change lightbulbs, maintain ceiling fans, service chandeliers, or other light fixtures, or repaint.

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