They don't patch 8' lumber, they use 10' and cut them. 8' studs result in higher than an 8' wall. Ours are 8'3" (finished), I believe.

I did 10' walls . My framer said he would not charge any extra because it would
just be a 10' stud instead of a 8' . So the only cost difference was in the lumber.
My home is an open floor plan with very large rooms , so 10' walls were perfect .
Depending on the size of your home - I can't imagine that it would take that
much time or cost that much to cut down 10' studs . The framer should be able to tell you what the difference would be .

Pre-cut studs for 9' walls are readily available. Drywall is often hung horizontally, so it doesn't much matter. Builders tell me the extra cost of going to 9' over 8' is very minimal.

We are building with 9' ceilings in the main house, almost 11' in the garage. None of the builders who submitted proposals even hinted at difficulties or higher costs. A couple said they preferred 9' ceilings and hardly built anything with 8' ceilings anymore.

I really want to avoid wasting material- such as cutting a 10' stud to 9'- I just have this thing about waste! 10' ceiling could be an option though. I didn't know 9' studs existed. If drywall goes up horizontally- then would have a 1-2' piece on top- depending on if ceiling was 9 or 10'. I don't see any 8' ceilings in any of the new model homes here- most seem to be 9'.
Just something for my mind to think of- thanks!

The horizontal drywall filler piece doesn't have to be at the ceiling. It can be in the middle where it is easier to tape and mud.

Drywall also comes in 12' lengths. A good framer won't have much waste.

Almost forgot, make sure you have enough space for the staircase. My designer messed up and designed the house with 8' ceilings on the first floor (was supposed to be 9'). We didn't catch it (not sure how, dumb on my part) until the foundation was already in. The extra foot required an extra step and that pushed the stairs too close to the front door for my taste, so we ended up with 8'3" ceilings (which I'm fine with even though I would have preferred the 9').

ilmbg If you are ageist wast than building wall 9 foot are out.
Yes you can get some materials cut to the right size. But you still would be wasting resources if you are not 8 feet tall.
The framing will not be much more but it is sold by the foot. More likely than not your builder will charge for 10 foot stock and cut to length.The one foot cut off will end up as fire wood for one of the workers.The sheet rock will not be much more again sold by the foot. The sheet rock sub will more than likely will start with a full sheet on the bottom then put a full sheet on that. Then cut a foot off one side of a third sheet. He will use a one foot cut off the side of that sheet and cut the center 2 feet up and pitch them in the dumpster. (The hanger gets paid by the sheet)The siding will not be much more again sold by the foot. It will only be a one foot strip all the way around your house. Unless you do 9 foot ceiling on the second floor as well then it's a 2 foot strip.You wont need to many more sheets of sheathing for that extra foot of wall height. And don't forget the insulation also sold by the square foot. Oh yes that foot has to be painted and depending on the size of the house it may only be a few extra gallons.
Now we can get on the the heating due to the extra foot of ceiling height you will need more BUTs to heat your home. More BTUs means that you are going to use more fuel.
Don't get me wrong 9 foot ceiling are nice but they do have a cost associated with them.

You can buy drywall in 4.5' wide sheets. Then there are no more seams than with 8' ceilings.

there is no waste and there is no cutting 10ft studs down. you simply purchase 104 5/8 precut studs and that gives you your 9ft. for the drywall there is no cutting a 1 foot strip either. you simply purchase 54in drywall then there is only one seam. there should be no additional labor costs at all.

Do you live in the south?
It is not only about spending some dollars in wider drywall.
Your house will feel a lot cooler if you are in a warm state, in other words, you could save some money in air conditioning.
If you are in a colder state you will spend extra money heating the house in the winter.

As a personal preference, no matter where the house is, 9' ceiling is worth it.

Don't worry about material waste. The costs of going to 9' or 10' ceilings will not be in the frame labor, but in material. Usually when engineers look at taller ceiling heights, they require smaller stud spacing, and/or fireblocking between studs. The studs are not cut to 8', 9', or 10' heights, but smaller to account for the bottom plate and double top plate to acheive 8', 9', or 10' heights. Remember if you change an 8' plan to 9' or 10' there are many things to consider, especially if you want it to look scaled to the model you looked at to reference your purchase including windows and doors, headers and products. Imagine this, if your 8' plans call for 7' header heights for your front windows, that means their is 12" from the ceiling to the top of the window. Now if you raise the ceiling you now have 24" or 36" from ceiling to window, which will look funny. So you will have to raise your header height or purchase taller windows to maintain the scale. Your exterior material will also go up, brick, stucco,siding. Just things to consider, but I feel it is definitely worth it, especially for resell value.

Our framer found a use for all most all of the scraps from the studs. I was impressed by how good our framers were at using every piece of wood and we ended up with very little waste. Ask you framers what they would do with the scraps? I bet they would get used.

silly question but would not 10' studs work for 9' finished roofs once you have all the in roof stuff to encase prior to boarding?

10/8 = 1.25 You'll have 25% more air space to heat and cool.
That's a bigger factor than the one time up front cost.

As far as heating the home, we moved from an 1700 sq ft older ranch with new double pane windows using propane to a new 3ksqft $400k quality construction executive home with 20ft cathedral ceiling using natural gas in the great room. Our heating bills were the same or better with the new home.

This thread is from 2009

dekeobe, these people kill me by digging up these 5 & 6 year old posts.........

Let's keep this alive for a full decade.

and beyond