“How Tall Is A Two Story House ?” A comprehensive Analysis

Table of Contents

1. The traditional height of a story and its composition
2. The height of purpose-built buildings
3. How to estimate the building height when you only know the number of stories[+]
   1. 1. Office building
   2. 2. Residential/Hotel
   3. 3. Mixed use
4. FAQs[+]
   1. How tall is a 1 story house?
   2. How tall is a 2-story building in feet?
   3. How high is the second floor?

Story, or story, is commonly used to indicate a level part of a building with a floor that could be occupied by people. In addition to that, many people also utilize it as a measuring unit to describe the height of a particular building as well. However, depending on the cultural norms, construction material, and local law, the height of a story could vary greatly from time to time. So how tall is a two-story house? By taking a good look at the information listed in this article, you will be able to come up with an appropriate answer.

The traditional height of a story and its composition

Most of the time, the height of the story is roughly around 10 feet with 8 – 9 feet of ceiling height and 1 – 2 feet of infrastructure thickness. Of course, there is no such thing as a fixed number, different places shall have different story height definitions. Stories within the same building could have slightly different heights as well, for example, the building lobby is often taller than the rest.

As the number of building story increase, the higher levels could have a bit less floor area than the ones right beneath them. The building attic, or loft, tends to have an entirely different height compared to other floors in order to match specific owner demands.

The height of purpose-built buildings

Nowadays, residential buildings often have a ceiling height of 9 feet per story though older ones could still use the 8 feet design. For typical office buildings, the average ceiling height ranges between 9 and 10 feet, retailing stories would be a few feet taller though. Office buildings normally require extensive air conditioning, wiring, and plumbing arrangements, these would take up to 18 – 24 inches between the stories.

​The use of insulation material could have a considerable influence as well. Effective and efficient insulation layers are often thicker than entry-level products. However, the maximum and minimum heights of a building are still under the control of the local zoning code.

​Ceiling height is very important in the real estate industry, it must not get out of proportion with the rest of the place. If the ceiling height is too low then the place could make you feel cramped and uncomfortable. In contrast, if the ceiling height is too high, the place would be unnecessarily exposed and that is not exactly a good thing.  For example, a close​t with a 15 feet ceiling height is very similar to an elevator shaft. As a result, there has been a trend over the past decade for the usual story to move toward to the 9 feet ceiling height.

How to estimate the building height when you only know the number of stories

In case you are interested, here are a couple of formulas to help you guess the height of a multi-story building. Again, there are a lot of factors that can impact the building height and they could change from one case to the other. As a consequence, the results you receive using these formulas should be treated as references only. The number does provide you with a pretty good idea of the building’s approximate height though.

1. Office building

Assume that the floor-to-floor height is 3.9 meters, a mechanical floor every 20 floors, and a total roof height (ceiling height + roof mechanical system) of 11.7 meters

H = 3.9 x S + 3.9 x (S/20) + 11.7  

H: Height of the building

S: Number of stories

2. Residential/Hotel

Assume that the floor-to-floor height is 3.1 meters, a mechanical floor every 30 floors, and a total roof height (ceiling height + roof mechanical system) of 7.75 meters

H = 3.1 x S + 1.55 x (S/20) + 7.75    

H: Height of the building

S: Number of stories

3. Mixed use

Assume that the floor-to-floor height is 3.5 meters, a mechanical floor every 25 floors and a total roof height (ceiling height + roof mechanical system) of 9.625 meters

H = 3.5 x S + 2.625 x (S/25) + 9.625    

H: Height of the building

S: Number of stories

Conclusion

And that is pretty much it, not too hard to take in, right? “How tall is a two-story house?”, it may be difficult to provide an exact measurement when you don’t have a clear understanding of the story dimension. But with the help of this article, you will be able to come up with a good estimate.

If you found this article useful, be sure to check these articles as well:

5 Different Roof Types for Your Roof Replacement

Building vs Buying: How to Tell What’s Best for Your Next Home

FAQs

How tall is a 1 story house?

Most of the time, the story’s height is roughly around 10 feet, so 1 story house is about 14 feet tall, cons`ID`ering the thickness of the floor and roof.

How tall is a 2-story building in feet?

A 2-story building is 20 feet high minimum and up to 30 feet high max.

How high is the second floor?

Most of the time, the height of the story is roughly around 10 feet. This means the second floor is 10 feet high.

Thank you for reading!