Cathedral Ceiling Vs Vaulted Ceiling
The walls on both sides of the ceiling have equal slopes.
Cathedral ceiling vs vaulted ceiling. The sides of cathedral ceilings have equal slopes reach to the highest peak of the room and attach to the roof trusses whereas vaulted ceilings have unequal sides meeting at a room s high point. And remember that vaulted ceilings reduce the amount of livable floor space in the home. Vaulted like cathedral ceilings vaulted ceilings add dramatic height to a room with steep sloping sides that connect at a point.
While a cathedral ceiling has equal sloping sides that are parallel to the actual pitch of the roof a vaulted ceiling does not follow the roof s pitch with more styles to choose from. The ceiling need not be equal to the pitch of the roof. The ceiling does not usually run parallel to the roofline and is not attached directly to the roof rafters.
It is attached to or built according to the roof structure. The ceiling is usually equal to the pitch of the roof. So what is the difference between the two terms.
In describing anything other than a flat ceiling two terms are frequently used vaulted and cathedral. Arched vaults come in a variety of shapes from the basic semi circular barrel that runs the length of the ceiling from one end to the other to perpendicular. By architectural definition a cathedral ceiling is defined by symmetry with equal steeply sloping sides meeting at a ridge in the middle of a room and normally mirroring the pitch of the roof structure.
From a new home building viewpoint a vaulted ceiling is no more complicated than standard construction where the house is framed with two full stories but it does raise the cost of construction by 5 to 20 percent. Like its cousin the vaulted ceiling cathedral ceilings take advantage of height to make a floor plan feel extra spacious. Ventilation is not necessary for this application.
Ceilings vaulted or cathedral. It does not directly meet the roof s framework. You have multiple design options to consider when including a vaulted ceiling with your home s construction plans or remodeling project.