ᐅ Upper floor lintel and ring beam

@Bauexperte The clear structural height is usually measured from the top edge of the raw subfloor, right? I wanted to ask about the floor construction after the first post...

I still don’t understand this. The 2.75 m (9 feet) is measured from the top edge of the unfinished floor (so without underfloor heating, ventilation ducts, and screed) up to the beams of the upper floor ceiling. From this 2.75 m (9 feet), we would then need to subtract an estimated 18 cm (7 inches) for the floor construction and a few centimeters at the ceiling for the battens and drywall—although I don’t know exactly how much. The battens and drywall can extend beyond the ring beam, so they don’t affect the window height. However, if I estimate about 58 cm (23 inches) for the ring beam and window lintel, only just under 2 m (6.5 feet) would remain for floor-to-ceiling windows, and I think that might be too little. Is there any way that the ring beam and window lintel could take up less space?

Best regards,
Sabine

The 18 cm (7 inches) includes impact sound insulation, underfloor heating (including screed), and possibly ventilation—but maybe Bauexperte has a different understanding.

Do all two-story buildings necessarily require a ring beam and additional lintels? That would surprise me a bit.

Good morning,

Bieber0815 schrieb:
@Bauexperte the clear structural height is usually measured from the top of the unfinished floor, right?

Curly schrieb:
I don’t understand either. The 2.75m (9 feet) is from the top of the unfinished floor (so without underfloor heating, ventilation pipes, and screed) up to the beams of the upper floor ceiling.

BeHaElJa schrieb:
The 18cm (7 inches) include impact sound insulation, underfloor heating (including screed), and possibly ventilation – but maybe Bauexperte has a different understanding.

You are all right; I don’t know what I thought I had read. Sorry for the confusion caused.

Regards, Bauexperte

I just looked at some 360-degree views of different townhouse model homes. On the upper floor, they all had less than about 60cm (24 inches) of space between the top edge of the window and the ceiling—I'd estimate around 30-40cm (12-16 inches). Are there differences in construction here? With shutter boxes and ring beams at such heights, the standard windows would only be about 1.10m (3 feet 7 inches) tall, which seems far too low.

Best regards,
Sabine

Just to clarify my understanding... I would appreciate an explanation.

Our new build (we had the topping-out ceremony a week ago) has a half-hipped roof. The ring beam on the gable side is at the same level as the wooden beam ceiling. Below it is a lintel of about 4 cm (1.5 inches). Below the wooden beams, there will be a drywall construction of the same thickness, approximately 4 cm (1.5 inches) – this is an estimate.

I believe the roller shutter box is 26 cm (10 inches) high, so the window starts 26 cm (10 inches) below the drywall ceiling. With a windowsill height of 90 cm (35 inches) and a room height of 250 cm (98 inches), the window could be 134 cm (53 inches) tall.

Question: Why is the ring beam in a city villa not positioned "within the ceiling"?