In construction, a story refers to any part of a house or a building with a floor where people can use it for living, working, or storage. Measurement for each story can be done from the floor, including its depth to the ceiling.
A story, sometimes, can be used as a unit to estimate the house’s height. However, is it the same height between the stories of a house? Then, how tall is a two story house? Explore our article below to have your most reliable estimation.
Knowing A Story’s Traditional Height
Before finding an answer to “how tall is a two story house”, there are things you should know about a story’s traditional height.
In common, a story’s height for traditional buildings is about 10 feet, including a ceiling of 8 feet and the infrastructure for the roof of 1 – 2 feet.
The measurement for a story can vary as different areas will have various story heights. Even each story in one building may bear a slight height difference. For instance, the building lobby could be higher compared to the rest of the house.
For certain demands, the building’s attic is about to be different in height from other stories.
How Tall Is A Two Story House?
How tall is a two story house? This might be a tough question for a lot of people. In fact, finding the actual height of two-story houses is pretty confusing if you are torn between UK English and American. Let’s continue reading to clarify the issue!
The Height Of Two-Story Houses In The United States
In the United States, a two-story house has a minimum height of 16 feet. Theoretically, you can have a standard two-story house with 18-20 feet in height. Meanwhile, the average height of a two-story house may range from 20 to 25 feet.
As a matter of fact, the height isn’t the same for all houses; it can vary in different places. Some stories of a house can be taller compared to the others.
As mentioned above, the height also differs in areas of a house. The living room where it is served for greeting guests, for example, needs a higher ceiling than the other places in the house.
The story height of commercial buildings is around 10-12 feet. Therefore, two-story commercial buildings can reach around 26-30 feet in total.
The Height Of Two-Story Houses In Europe
In Europe, a two-story house includes three floors that cover the ground floor, the first floor, and the second floor. Therefore, the height of buildings differs hugely in Europe in comparison to the United States.
Each story in a two-story house in Europe bears the same height as those of the United States. Hence, a two-story residential building in Europe is around 30 feet high.
Similarly, two-story commercial buildings will have the same height as those buildings in the USA, 26 to 30 feet, for example.
Factors Affecting the Height
We guess you now have a clearer answer to the question “How tall is a two story house?”, right? It’s time to discover some factors affecting the height of a two-story house. Scroll down to continue!
First Floor’s Ceiling Height
The first factor affecting the height of a 2-story house is the extra 1st-floor’s height. Builders allow the second ceiling to be one foot shorter compared to the first, which is essential for commercial and residential construction.
If the ceiling of the first story is 9 feet in height, the 2nd-story then is about to be 8 feet in height.
When the floor is 1 foot in depth, it brings the 2-story house to be 18 feet in total height.
Climate characteristics
The house’s ventilation doesn’t depend on each floor’s height but relies on whether convection flow is generated from it. For areas bearing tropical climates, the recommended height for each story ranges from 8 to 9 feet.
Arranging reasonably air vents and windows will benefit better ventilation. 10 feet or higher is fine for each story with a favorable climate, as long as it sticks to the rule of the story limit.
The Presence Of Attic Space
The attic space in a house with the ceiling height will also influence the two-story house’s final height. An average attic needs a minimum ceiling height of 7 feet for half of the area to meet most code requirements.
With the presence of an attic, the height of a two-story home is about to be 26.5 feet in height.
Construction budget
Building a higher ceiling will bring problems such as developed construction expenses. Also, high columns require more materials like brick walls, steel, and concrete.
The expense for operating and maintenance increases since the floor design is higher. Hence, when deciding the house’s height, homeowners should also consider their financial ability.
Conclusion
That’s it! Our today’s article serves as a guide to the house’s height. We hope this post helps you understand clearly the idea of how tall is a two story house in the USA and Europe.
Thank you for reading, and see you in our next articles!
