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jar546
Forum Coordinator
In the context of Canadian or other building codes, the term "2-story volume spaces" generally refers to areas within a house where the ceiling is at the height of the second floor, rather than having a separate ceiling for the first floor. This creates a single, tall space that spans the height of two stories.
Inspector Gadget
Registered User
This sounds like a loft space.
TheCommish
Registered User
Sounds like wasted space
An open stairs hall is quite common in big houses.
tmurray
SAWHORSE
The concern from a code perspective with these spaces is that they tend to have a "tall wall", which means that the maximum stud height is exceeded and needs to be designed by a structural engineer.
TheCommish
Registered User
true, often sill a wasted space
Inspector Gadget
Registered User
This.
I can't tell you how many times one of our inspectors has caught this type of assembly coming in a plan. Heck, we've even had engineer-designed plans that had tall walls - sans engineering approval. (SMH)
That said, I do wish NBC would include some tall wall designs - at least something that gives 14' height or something. Around here, we have a lot of plans for tall-wall storage buildings (farming equipment, fishing gear.)