I think a 4' vault will look squatty. I would go with the taller vault. Is there going to be a flat area on the top, or beams? Just wondering how you will hang light fixtures

I'm just planning on beams with tongue and groove boards in between the beams. I am exactly concerned about the possible squatty feel that you mention, but don't want to feel like we're in a cavern, either. That's why I bring up the ten foot walls - certainly they will contribute to a taller feel already, even at 6:12, right?

I just can't imagine a vault going up only 4 feet. Particularly with beams - which will take it down a foot or so. 6' is not much higher but would feel much better to me. I have been in too many bad renos where they try to vault a ceiling and it is not high enough.

Our master bedroom has a tray ceiling - but our architect does the tray from the edges. It is 16' with 10' ceilings and doesn't feel tall. If you bring it to a point, you have much less height on the sides as well.

I'll try to find a picture. I don't have one of mine but there are several on the web he designed so if I can find it I will post it. It is not the tray ceiling you think of - a little more elegant.

I'm not sure what the room will end up looking like, its hard to piture.

we have 8'6" ceilings our MB is 13X18 with the vault on the 13. the top of the vault is 12'. we have a 2 ft flat on the top.

I know some people are saying that a 4ft vault sounds small, and I'm not sure one way or anther on the 17, but am wondering if it is going to look weird for a room that is significantly taller than it is wide.

If anyone can post pics it would be really helpful! I go to houzz but can't find any that seem to be close examples of what this would look like.

And thanks in advance and also for the opinions already - feel free to keep 'em coming!

mjtx2, just want to give you a laugh, which you probably need given the thousands of decisions it takes to build a house.

When I read your post I thought omigosh, they're putting a vault in the MBR (as in a safe to keep your jewelry in). Then I read the vault was to be 17 feet long and had to pick my jaw up off the floor -- Wow, how much stuff does this lady have? Anyway, now of course I see you're talking about a vaulted ceiling. Guess I've been away too long. We're considering building another home, so I'll be back early and often no doubt.

Good luck on your build!

Well, if it will help any, you can think about the angle at the top and try to compare it to photos you see. If your wall is 17' across and the rise is 4', your angle at the top is about 130 degrees which looks like this:

On the same note, here is the 5'6" rise and 115 degree angle:

This picture is not of a bedroom, but the angle is pretty close to 130 degrees, and it has beams which someone mentioned, so maybe it will help you visualize.

Here is how close the angle is to being correct - I layered the 130 degree angle and rotated it to match up.

Okay that's extremely useful! Now, imagine the side walls in the photo to be 10' tall (instead of the 8' they appear to be), and with the 130 degree, 4 foot vault on top. Does that look okay?

To me, the photos look good and not like a tiny, forced vault. Do you all agree?

On that same note, this ceiling almost matches the 115 degree angle.

{{gwi:1430371}}

If you have something to take advantage of the extra height and cost does not matter, go for it. If not, I think actually prefer the 130 degree angle, especially for a bedroom. I think either one of them will look just fine.

Ok, I am going to try to help...I have a 16x17 master with 10' ceilings and a vault which seems to me, almost too high. Our master is on the ground floor, but it is in a wing with no second floor above. In the plans, it was drawn with a 10' coffered ceiling. Dh decided that we should take advantage of the fact that there was nothing above and vault the ceiling ALL the way up. Wow. I don't know the exact height and dh is out of town, so I can't ask him...but it is so high. I think the pitch would have been fine in a larger room, like the family room...but it definitely does not make for a cozy master. And, not sure what your flooring will be, but hardwoods plus nosebleed ceiling=echo, major echo. Not the best thing for your master, if you catch my drift. I have one pic in photo bucket, but doesn't show the top. I will take one tomorrow.

nini, were you able to get a picture, or to ask your husband what the exact height is at the peak? It seems you come closest to what I'm talking about so I am hopeful you can get a picture on here. Thank you in advance.

And aa62579, thanks for posting the examples. It helps a lot. I'm just hoping to find one with 10' side walls. I've looked on google but so far haven't found a relevant photo. I can't believe with all the popularity of 10' walls that there's no picture out there of a vaulted ceiling!

Why are we mis-identifying a cathedral ceiling as a "vaulted ceiling"?
A true vaulted ceiling is some form of arch, not a peak with linear sides.
Casey

This is a narrow pic that I already had...I never got around to taking a new pic today, hopefully tomorrow. Dh thinks it might be a 7:10? Is that such a thing? It matches the pitch of the roofline on the outside of this rear wing of the house.
Room dimensions: 16x17
Ceiling height 10'
This pic is very narrow, and I don't think you can see the top...but maybe it will give you an idea til I can take another.

Here's another view:

I looked at those other pics posted, and those rooms are much larger than ours. I think you have to keep scale in mind, ceilings seem taller in smaller rooms. My 10'ft tall powder room seems like an elevator shaft! :)

THANK YOU, nini -- and just to confirm, you're saying the wall (like the wall behind the bed) is ten feet tall, and the vault (or cathedral) starts from there? I'm such a bad judge of scale, but to me the wall behind the bed looks to be 8 to 9 feet, so that's why I'm asking.

By the way, love the look.

Walls are definitely 10 ft tall and vault rises from there. Our entire 1st floor is 10 ft ceilings. Our bed is really tall, plus I think this angle is funny...maybe it looks lower in the photo? When we rented a house with 8 ft ceilings during our build...the tops of the bed posts almost touched the ceiling! It is hard to get a feeling for how tall that vaulted ceiling feels from a photo...it has a nice look, but I really think I would have liked it better with a coffered ceiling.

I just tried to take a couple of photos so you could see the top...I don't have my friend's wide angle lens so not sure these are even helpful... I spent a lot of time looking at the beams to see how tall they are...and 7' on each side of the peak really does seem like the best guesstimate. So it is a wider angle and a less steep pitch than some.

This feels like a message in a bottle thrown into the ocean 10 years ago. Just the info I needed!