ᐅ Urban villa – top ceiling

Hello everyone,

We are currently in the design phase of our (dream) city villa. It will be built without a basement, with two full floors and, of course, a hip roof.

My question now is whether we should pour a concrete slab for the upper ceiling, that is, the ceiling from the upper floor to the attic, or not.

My father-in-law recommends pouring concrete for both ceilings...

What do you think? Is that common practice?

Thanks & regards
Lexus

Hello,

Lexus schrieb:
Now my question is whether we should cast the upper ceiling, meaning the ceiling from the upper floor to the attic, or not? My father-in-law advises casting both ceilings...

Older generations tend to prefer that

As a general rule, two-story buildings are equipped with a concrete ceiling above the upper floor; this is partly for structural stability and partly for airborne sound insulation. The latter is achieved through mass and density, and concrete or precast concrete ceilings are particularly well suited for this purpose.

More detailed information on how the ceiling should be constructed can be found in the structural engineering calculations.

Kind regards

Lexus schrieb:
Hello everyone,

We are currently in the design phase of our (dream) townhouse. It will be built without a basement, with two full floors and, of course, a hip roof.

My question is whether we should pour a concrete slab for the upper ceiling – that is, the ceiling from the upper floor to the attic – or not?

My father-in-law recommends concreting both ceilings...

What do you think? Is this common practice?

Thanks & regards
Lexus

Hello!

Well, that’s how we did it. However, you should consider that a concrete slab does not include insulation. Insulating above an unheated space is generally not recommended, so we added a screed layer on top.

This reduces the ceiling height and increases costs – looking back now, I’m not sure this was the best solution.

Basically, I would consider a shed roof as an option – better usable space, less expensive… but less attractive.

Best regards,
Tomtom

Thank you very much for the quick response....

We are currently building a townhouse, and the friendly gentleman from the Association of Private Homeowners advised us to install insulation loosely laid on the upper floor ceiling!

Häuslebauer2012 schrieb:
We are also currently building a townhouse, and the kind gentleman from the Private Homeowners Association advised us to install loose-laid insulation on the upper floor ceiling!

Hello!

The question was about the ceiling, not just the insulation.

You probably have a concrete ceiling; mineral wool insulation is quick to install and inexpensive. However, the fiber dust is not suitable for everyone, and there is no top layer for walkability—likely OSB (oriented strand board), right?

Best regards,
TomTom1