Heights and levels
Updated 9 min readWorks without an account
Each floor has a storey height, floor to floor with the slab, and every wall has its own height. Raising the storey height does not change the walls already drawn, so raise the storey first and then the walls.
Every length here shows in the project’s units. Ranges and defaults are given in centimetres, with the US value where the region changes it.
Make a floor taller
- Step 1: Open the storey height
Press ⌥9 for the Floors panel and click Floor settings… under This floor. The same field is in Project settings (⌥1) and in the Plan summary (⌥3); see the table below.
- Step 2: Type the new height
Type it in Storey height and press ↵. It runs from 100 to 2000 cm. A value outside that shows a hint and goes back.
- Step 3: Select every wall
Right-click an empty part of the plan and choose Select by type › All walls.
- Step 4: Raise the walls
Press ↵ for All properties. In the walls section, headed with the count such as Walls (12), type the new Height and press ↵. The field reads Mixed while the walls differ; one typed value sets them all in one step.
| Place | How to get there | Field |
|---|---|---|
| Floor settings… | Floors panel (⌥9) › This floor › Floor settings…, or the floor menu in the top bar › Floor settings… | Storey height: “Floor to floor, slab included” |
| Project settings | ⌥1, under Floor and design. It changes the open floor. | Storey height: “Used to stack floors in 3D” |
| Plan summary | ⌥3, or click the area chip at the top left. The Floor section is below the room table. | Storey height |
The floor’s other settings, such as Slab thickness and the floor type, are in Floor settings.
Wall height
- One wall: select it and type Height (H) on its card, or in All properties › Geometry. Or right-click it and pick a value under Height · 2.60 m.
- Many walls: select them (Select by type › All walls or Exterior walls, right-click a wall › Select connected walls or Select this wall run, or right-click a room › Select room walls), then type Height in the Walls (…) section of All properties.
- New walls: the Wall and Room tools have a Height field above the dock for the walls you are about to draw. Its starting value is Wall height in Settings (⌘,) › Drawing.
- No Height field or right-click preset goes above the storey height, and new walls are drawn no taller than it.
- A wall can still end up taller than its storey: when you lower Storey height afterwards, or when FloorGen AI or an agent sets its height. It keeps its height and nothing flags it. In 3D it is drawn at its own height, up into the floor above. Type a Height up to the storey height to bring it back.
| Field | What it does | Range | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Height (card, All properties, Walls (…) section) | The height of the selected walls. | 30 cm to the storey height | As drawn |
| Height (Wall and Room tool options) | The height of the next walls you draw. | 30 cm to the storey height | Wall height from Settings |
| Wall height (Settings › Drawing) | The starting height of new walls in this project. Walls already drawn keep theirs. | 30 to 2000 cm | Set by the Region: 260 cm (US and Canada: 8 ft; UK and Ireland: 240 cm; Mexico, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and the Nordics: 250 cm; Central and Eastern Europe: 265 cm; Southern Europe: 270 cm) |
| Right-click › Height › | Sets the wall to a preset and ticks the current one. | 240, 250, 260, 270, 280 or 300 cm (imperial: 8, 9, 10 or 12 ft), only those up to the storey height |
Ceiling height
There is no ceiling height field. The building-code check measures a room’s ceiling as the underside of the floor above: the Storey height less the Slab thickness, or the room’s lowest wall if that is lower. On the top floor, with nothing above, it is the room’s lowest wall. A raised room loses its raise from that, and a sunken room gains its depth.
- To raise the ceilings on a floor with a floor above: raise its Storey height, or make its Slab thickness thinner, then raise the walls to match.
- To raise the ceilings on the top floor: raise its walls. Raise Storey height first if the walls are already at it.
- Under the IRC code profile, the review checks the ceiling of bedrooms, kids rooms, living and dining rooms, kitchens, studies, hallways, bathrooms, WCs and utility rooms, and of most other rooms on a basement. A room with no Room type is not checked. See Building codes.
- In Walk mode the ceiling is drawn at the top of the floor’s tallest wall, not at the height the check measures.
Floor levels, slabs and plinth
No floor has a level of its own to type. The first floor that is not a basement sits at level 0, and each floor above stands on the one below, so its level is the sum of the storey heights under it. Basements stack downwards from level 0. The plinth then lifts every floor except the basements. To raise a floor, change the storey heights below it or the plinth. More in How floor levels are worked out.
| Field | What it does | Range | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storey height | Floor to floor, slab included. It stacks the floors in 3D and sets a stair’s rise. | 100 to 2000 cm | 280 cm. New floor above this one… and Duplicate this floor… copy the height and slab of the floor they start from. |
| Slab thickness | The floor structure above this storey. Its hint shows the clear height (storey height less the slab), which stair headroom uses. | 0 to 200 cm | 15 cm |
| Plinth height (whole house) | How far the ground floor stands above the plot. One value for the whole project, shown on every floor. Add entrance steps appears on the ground floor once it is above 0. | 0 to 1000 cm | 0 |
| Clear height (Add basement…) | Floor to the underside of the floor above. The basement’s storey height is this plus a 15 cm slab. | 150 to 600 cm | The region’s: US and Canada 8 ft; elsewhere the region’s wall height |
| Height from the floor (room, Level) | Raises or sinks one room from its storey floor. | −90 to 300 cm | 0 |
Raised and sunken rooms
- Step 5: Select the room
Click inside it and press ↵ for All properties.
- Step 6: Set its level
Under Level, type Height from the floor: a negative value sinks the room (a sunken living room), a positive one raises it (a platform). Press ↵.
- Step 7: Add steps or a ramp
The panel says how many steps the level needs: for a 45 cm platform, Up to it: 3 steps of 15 cm rise. Click Add steps or Add ramp to place them.
Other heights
| What | Field and how it works | Range | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Door | Height (H) on its card or in All properties › Size & position. A door has no sill. To go taller, raise the wall first. Doors and windows | 30 cm to the wall height | 210 cm (US: 80 in), from Settings › Door height |
| Window | Height (H) and Sill height (S), the height of the bottom edge off the floor. Height plus sill can’t pass the wall height. | Height from 30 cm; sill from 0 | 130 cm on a 90 cm sill (US: 48 in on a 32 in sill), from Settings › Window height and Window sill |
| Furniture | Height (H) is the piece itself; Elevation (E) is how high it sits above the floor it stands on. In 3D, drag the arrow on a selected piece to raise it: it catches the floor and the tops of pieces below it, and its top stays under the storey height. Dragged in 3D over a table, unit or other larger piece, a smaller piece such as a lamp or TV is lifted onto its top. Place and edit items | Height 1 to 1000 cm; Elevation 0 to 1000 cm | The Library size; Elevation 0 for most pieces |
| Stairs | Total rise follows the storey height while Match floor height is on. Riser height is worked out as Total rise ÷ Steps (risers), so change the steps to change it. Stairs and lifts | Total rise 20 to 1000 cm; 2 to 60 steps; Rail height 60 to 120 cm | Rise = storey height; Rail height 90 cm |
| Balcony and railing | A balcony’s railing Height, its Slab Thickness and Level from floor. A free-standing railing has Height and Stands above floor. A floor surface has Thickness, Raise from floor and Level. Surfaces, balconies and railings | Railing 20 to 300 cm; balcony slab 5 to 60 cm | Railing 100 cm; balcony slab 15 cm; surface 2 cm |
| Roof | No height field. The roof sits on the top floor’s walls. For Gable and Hip, Pitch sets how high the ridge rises: half the building’s narrow side times the slope. Raise Pitch for a taller roof. The 3D view | Pitch 10° to 60° | Flat; Pitch 30° |
| Walk eye height | Eye height in Walk settings › Look, with Child (110 cm), Seated (120 cm), Standing (160 cm) and Tall (180 cm). Walk through the plan | 90 to 200 cm, in 5 cm steps | 160 cm |
Questions
I raised the storey height. Why are my walls still the same?
The storey height sets the space each floor has, not the walls in it. Each wall keeps its own Height. In 3D, Whole building and Walk draw the walls of a floor with a floor above up to the storey, so there they look taller. The top floor and the 3D view of one floor show each wall at its own height. Select the walls (Select by type › All walls) and type the new Height in All properties.
Why can’t I make a wall taller?
The Height field and the right-click presets stop at the storey height. Raise Storey height first, then the wall.
How do I increase the ceiling height?
Raise the floor’s Storey height, or make its Slab thickness thinner, then raise the walls. On the top floor, raising the walls is enough once the storey allows it.
How do I set the height of a floor above the ground?
There is no field for it. A floor’s level is the storey heights of the floors below it, plus the Plinth height (whole house). Change those to move it.
How do I make a sunken living room?
Select the room and set Height from the floor under Level to a negative value, such as −30 cm, then click Add steps.
How do I make the roof taller?
Raise its Pitch in Roof settings in the 3D view. A wider building gets a taller ridge at the same pitch, and raising the top floor’s walls lifts the whole roof.