ᐅ Underfloor Heating vs. Ceiling Height: What Should You Do?

Hello,
I’m starting a new topic for this because it’s so important to us that it will affect our purchase decision.
I’ve already created two threads about the property:
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/kosten-komplettes-haus-sanieren.30258/
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/bitte-meinungen-zum-altbau-grundriss.30321/

Today I received the cost estimate. Although we requested underfloor heating, the engineer planned with radiators. When I asked about this, I learned the following: Currently, there is a floor construction/screed with a height of 6cm (2.4 inches). (This would be completely removed for underfloor heating, right?) According to him, underfloor heating requires 10cm (4 inches), and if we want a centralized mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery, it needs 15cm (6 inches). We don’t need impact sound insulation on the ground floor because there is only the basement below.
The building plan specifies a floor-to-ceiling height of 2.65m (8 ft 8 in). Adding the removed screed would make it 2.71m (8 ft 11 in). Subtracting 15cm (6 inches) for the underfloor heating and mechanical ventilation, plus about 2cm (1 inch) for the floor finish (we want tiles), I calculate about 2.54m (8 ft 4 in) remaining. Is that still an acceptable ceiling height? We currently have 2.56m (8 ft 5 in) plus a few millimeters. Would you notice a 2cm difference?
Is my calculation correct, or are there additional centimeters to consider?
We would have to somehow adjust the stair step height and raise the door openings, but that’s worth it to us (up to a certain amount).
Of course, I will ask the engineer again, but I would appreciate your opinions and advice!
Thanks 🙂

The exterior door and the patio door would also need to be adjusted.
All the windows then feel about 10cm (4 inches) too low.
Will the structural integrity still support all of this?

Tassimat schrieb:
Does the structural design support all of this?

Good point, I will ask about that as well. I hope to get a clear answer and not just be referred to a structural engineer... When I first inquired, the structural design was not mentioned at all.

Tassimat schrieb:
The windows then feel about 10cm too low

Are there standard heights for window sills? In the kitchen, I would actually prefer them lower anyway, so they merge with the countertop 🙂
Nowadays, door heights are quite a bit taller than 2m (6 ft 7 in), at least in new builds around here, so I don’t think raising the doors is a bad idea at all.

Regarding the clear ceiling height, I don’t think I would have any concerns. In our case, we would have started with about 2.57m (8 ft 5 in) and then made it correspondingly lower, which is why we decided against it.

Niloa schrieb:
Nowadays, door heights are quite a bit higher than 2m (6 ft 7 in), at least in our new build house, so I think making doors taller is not a bad idea.

The new build standard is probably 212.5cm (7 ft), while older buildings often have about 200cm (6 ft 7 in). Changing interior doors is apparently not such a big effort (relatively), since the width of the lintel is fairly manageable.

I’m currently looking at the old building plans and just noticed that there are two different cross-sections: one with 2.65 m (8 ft 8 in) and one with 2.50 m (8 ft 2 in). However, the plan with 2.65 m (8 ft 8 in) has a stamp from the building authority, so I assume that’s the version that was actually built? We measured the ceiling height in the house, but unfortunately, I don’t remember the exact value 🙁 although I would have definitely noticed if it were under 2.50 m (8 ft 2 in).

caddar schrieb:
Changing interior doors is probably not such a big effort (relatively), since the width of the lintel is manageable.

It always looks easy on Zuhause im Glück 😉