I am looking at purchasing 1961 brick-faced ranch... the ceilings are low enough to touch! I am wondering if anybody here can tell me a) are the following ideas doable b) how many skilled people would it require c) how much would it cost and d) how long would it take e) got a better idea, assuming you had to buy this house? idea one: raise the roof two feet. add two feet of wall under the existing roof. This wall would hopefully have lots of fixed windows in it as the existing windows are size challenged. idea two: make ceilings cathedral. add ridge vent and soffit vents (don't know if there are soffit vents right now). insulate and sheetrock rafters. raise room walls to meet. idea three: raise roof two feet and make ceilings cathedral as long as I'm screwing around up there. I do not know if it is trusses or rafters, but I suspect it is trusses. Although there are pull down attic stairs, it looks way to low to be a real attic. One note, the neighbor with same house next door says the roof needs redoing, and sheathing will need to be replaced at that time. It is somewhat bowed. In other words, I will likely have to open the roof anyway. Thanks a lot for any info you can give me. Tara :)

I am the process of putting up trim in my lookout basement and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for me on what kind of material to use on top of the ledge that runs alond the outside walls. My first thought was to use 1" X 6" red oak for on top of the ledge, but I was curious if there is less expensive alternative (other than drywall) that still will look nice. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks