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How Tall Is a 2 Story House? (Read This First!)

A classic duplex construction with two stories or levels is referred to as a “2-story house.” It usually consists of a kitchen, an inner hall room, a dining room, and a drawing room on the ground level, as well as all of the bedrooms on the second floor.

However, many people nowadays want the master bedroom to be on the ground level and the other bedrooms, including the guest room, to be above.

Let’s look at how tall a two-story home is, as well as some other crucial details regarding this duplex architecture.

How Tall Is A 2 Story House?

A two-story home measures between 20 to 35 feet tall on average. However, the optimal height of any two-house in the United States of America is between 16 to 20 feet. Apart from these measurements, the height of the two-story house might vary depending on the unique preferences of the homeowners.

The traditional structure of a two-story home was originally established about 3000 BC during the Minoan civilization. That was the era when bricks were first used to construct structures.

Although many of us think of two-story houses as a recent concept, they really evolved from ancient times to their current design and are the consequence of building structure evolution.

Let’s take a look at the heights of two-story houses with attics, roofs, and gambrel roofs.

With attic:

The majority of building codes in the United States of America specify an attic height of 7 feet. This attic area may differ in height with respect to the overall height of your two-story home.

As a result, the final height of your two-story house, including the attic, might range between 23-26.5 feet (8.07 meters, 0.0080772 kilometers approximately).

With roof:

When it comes to selecting the most sophisticated roof for your two-story home, you have an array of choices.

However, the typical height of a two-story structure, including the roof, will be between 20 and 25 feet (7.62 meters, or 0.00762 kilometers approximately).

The pitch of the roof, on the other hand, has a big impact on the total height of your two-story structure.

With gambrel roof:

Many of you may be hearing the term “gambrel roof” for the very first time. So, first and foremost, let us define what a gambrel roof is.

A gambrel roof is a symmetrical roof with two successive slopes on each side of the roof (1st slope: 300, 2nd slope: 60o). During the Dutch colonial period, this roof style was introduced by Dutch architecture.

A two-story building with a gambrel roof is typically 20.5-26 feet (7.9248 meters, 0.0079248 kilometers approximately) tall.

How tall is a 2 story townhouse?

The building codes of townhouses vary from place to place and country to country based on various factors. However, in the United States of America, the ideal height for a 2-story townhouse is 16–18 feet, or sometimes 20 feet in height.

Townhouses are a series of several houses all standing in the same row, side by side. In these kinds of houses, the ground floor is basically the garage, and the upper floor comprises the main living spaces with bedrooms as well.

On the very top floor, some townhouses have a tiny terrace instead of a standard roof. However, in the case of two-story townhouses, the traditional roof is often much more visible in modern times.

Every townhouse establishment has a simple rule: you can’t expand the roof of your house more than 3–4 feet higher than the townhouse next to yours. Therefore, it is preferable to keep the same height as the other townhouses next to yours.

How tall are most two-story houses? What is the average height for a 2 story house?

At a minimum level, most two-story houses are at least 16 feet tall. Even in several states, Americans choose this as the minimum height range for any two-story house.

A 2-story house, on the other hand, has an average height of 20 to 35 feet. This height, however, may vary depending on the owners’ personal tastes as well as the country’s or region’s construction regulations.

Furthermore, there are several environmental constraints in various parts of the world. Earthquakes and other natural disasters are a common occurrence in some countries.

As a result, the average range of height for two-story residences can vary significantly depending on a variety of circumstances.

What can affect the height of a two-story home?

There are a number of factors that have a substantial impact on the total height of a two-story house. Let’s take a look at some of those aspects. The following are some of them:

For the variation in ceiling height:

The ceiling height variation in both residential and commercial 2-story structures has a considerable impact on the total height of the 2-story complexes.

However, here’s an intriguing fact: the second-floor ceiling height is 1-2 feet lower than the first-floor ceiling height.

For example, if the first level of a two-story house has a ceiling height of 10 feet, the second floor will have a ceiling height of 9 feet. As you can see, the second floor’s ceiling height is one foot lower than the first floor’s ceiling height.

Similarly, if the first floor’s ceiling height is 8 feet, the second floor’s will be 7 feet. If the first one is 9 feet tall, the second will be 8 feet tall, and so on.

As a result, the overall height of a two-story structure can be approximately 19 feet, 20 feet, 21 feet, or 25 feet.

Thus, variations in the ceiling heights of both stories in a two-story house can have a significant impact on the overall height of the house.

The type and design of the roof:

The design and kind of roof used in the construction of your two-story home may have an impact on the building’s height.

As per the characteristics of a variety of roofs, the design and type will either make your 2-story house taller or keep the total height of the structure unchanged. Steep roof layouts such as mansard, gambrel, gable, saltbox, and A-frame roofs, for example, will increase the height of your two-story structure.

Furthermore, the flat roof designs, on the other hand, are commonly employed in formal institutions such as commercial 2-story buildings and have no substantial impact on the total height of the structure.

Even though some countries’ legal building codes do not bother about the highest peak of the roof in a 2-story building, make sure you don’t break any building codes by choosing the wrong style of roof for your two-story structure.

As a precaution, take certain care while estimating the total height of your two-story structure.

Variations in the attic space range:

Many of the two-story dwellings have an attic area. For their own reasons and preferences, some people do not prefer attic spaces.

Thus, the inclusion, absence, and variation of attic space may all play a role in determining the total height of a two-story house.

The ceiling height is expected to be retained up to 7–7.5 feet on average, which is around half of the total floor surface in the entire attic space. The builders have also been told to be cautious with any completed elements in the ceiling.

Thus, if the starting height of your two-story structure was 20 feet, the ultimate height of your two-story building would be 26 feet or 26.5 feet with the attic height (with 1 foot depth in the ground).

What size ladder do I need for a 2 story house?

The ladder should be 28 inches tall for a two-story home. To be on the safe side, an extension ladder is the best option for a ladder for your two-story home.

Since an extension ladder may be used in a variety of ways, you may use it at multiple establishments and adjust the height as per your requirements.

As a result, if you get an extension ladder for the maintenance of your two-story home, you will be completely stress-free from the hassle of the long or short height of the ladder while working with it.

A ladder is an essential item for every home’s maintenance. Because a ladder is used for inspecting gutter pipes, fixing windows, painting the home, mending sidewalls, and even cleaning. Therefore, it is a very significant and necessary tool.

As a result, even if purchasing a ladder for your two-story home may seem superfluous, you will undoubtedly use one at some point.

If you can’t afford a 28-inch ladder, have a 24-inch ladder on hand for any emergencies or emergency repairs following natural catastrophes.

Final Thoughts

The typical height of a two-story home is 20 to 35 feet. However, this may vary based on the ceiling height and the roof construction. Again, as people have varied tastes when it comes to their homes, they might make some modifications to the height of their two-story homes to suit their needs.