Tiny House Terminology

Houseboats on water, one gray and one dark turquoise, both two story.
Houseboats, photo by melystu on Flickr, Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

The terminology for tiny house living is confusing, so here is an overview of the types of tiny and small houses:

Prefab Homes

Prefab refers to prefabricated homes. Companies build these off-site and then place them on a piece of land and/or on a foundation. They are meant to stay in one place and not travel.

Manufactured homes: are factory built and then placed on a piece of land. “These homes are built on wheels, transported to the property site, then fitted onto a foundation.”1

Mobile homes: a type of manufactured house built on a permanent chassis and transported and placed on a lot. These must be HUD compliant, and a “compliant home must display documentation known as a ‘data plate’ inside and a ‘certification label’ on the back end of the house.” Removal of these is illegal and there’s no way to replace them.2

Modular houses: These are factory-built in whole, boxlike sections or ‘modules.’ Then they are installed and fitted together to complete the house. “The main difference between manufactured and modular homes is that manufactured homes are built to the national HUD code, while modular homes are built to all applicable state and local building codes. This is similar to the way traditional site-built homes are constructed.”3 These houses can be highly customized. “Because these modules must be transported by flatbed truck to the job site, they are limited to being no more than 16 feet wide – the legal ‘oversize load’ width limit for highways.”4

Panel-built houses: “Panel-built houses are constructed as separate pieces – walls, floors and roofs are factory-built then shipped to the job site to be assembled.” Also called ‘flat-pack’ because the finished walls and floors are stacked for easy transport.5

RV camper with front patio with people sitting, dusk sky in background.
Photo by Blake Wisz on Unsplash.

Homes that travel or are considered temporary:

RVs: Recreational vehicles, also called motor homes, travel trailers, or fifth wheels. They are made for traveling and are always considered vehicles. For a tiny house RV, follow ANSI (American National Standards Institute) codes 119.5 and NFPA (National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1192. Those are both more lenient than construction codes because they are not meant for primary residences.6 Skoolies (converted buses) fall into this category as well.

Interior of a Skoolie, or a bus that has been turned into a home. White walls and ceiling with wood floors, shows kitchen in foreground and living areas in background.
Interior of a Skoolie, or a bus that has been turned into a home. Photo by Sera Isabella Artistry on Flickr, Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

Tiny House on Wheels (THOWs): the law considers most THOWs as RVs or travel trailers and must be less than 400 square feet. In most places, you cannot establish permanent residence in these.7 RVIA, or the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association, does not allow owner-built tiny homes. These are sometimes only allowed in RV parks, mobile home parks, or tiny house communities. Sometimes, agricultural or small hobby farm zoning allows for tiny homes on wheels.

Note: Certifications are important with tiny homes because they are regulated. ‘Inspection’ is not regulated and can mean different things in different places. Another note: Different states have different laws and building codes, so if you buy a tiny home in a different state from where you live, you can be in violation and have to move, if caught. Also, be aware of where a tiny house was built versus where you will reside. Was it built to withstand freezing temperatures or for a warm place like the desert?

Interior of tiny home, double staircase to loft on each end with built in shelving.
Interior of tiny home showing stairs to loft, lots of light and windows, kitchen at right.
Interior of tiny house loft with twin bed platform and shelving, skylight also.
Interior of tiny home, showing bench and tv/fireplace area in foreground with kitchen and bathroom in background. Bathroom has a bright pink wall.
Above is one of my favorite THOWs. It has a double staircase to a bedroom loft on each end, with a twin bed platform with built-in shelves in one of the lofts – perfect for a child’s bedroom. This home offers tons of natural light as well, with lots of windows and skylights.

Park Models: are designed and manufactured specifically to be used for temporary, seasonal, or recreational use, and are not meant to be used as permanent residences. “These are legally considered to be recreational housing and cannot be used as primary residences in most jurisdictions.”8

Yurts: Circular domed tents covered with skins, felt, or fabric stretched over a collapsible lattice framework. These can be portable or permanent and are classified differently in different places. Carefully research these before purchasing and building.

Brown yurt with white roof, cloudy sky background.
Photo by Forest and Kim Starr on Flickr, Creative Commons license (CC BY 2.0).

Permanent homes:

Almost anything with a foundation is considered permanent.

Tiny Houses on foundations: Small homes under 1000 square feet. These must follow local zoning and building codes, including minimum size requirements.

Container homes: these are made from repurposed steel shipping containers that were previously cargo containers used on ships, trains, or trucks. They are often far cheaper than new house construction and are environmentally friendly. These must follow local building codes like modular and site-built homes.

Container house, multiple containers, blue, white, red, lots of windows, stacked for two stories.
Container house, photo by Edward on Flickr, Creative Commons license (CC BY 2.0).

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs): Also called add-ons, built-ons, mother-in-law apartments, granny pods, detached bedrooms, backyard cottages, etc. Contractors usually build these according to IRC and local residential codes. There is a push for tiny houses to fall under this designation. See the different types of those in the following image:

Diagram of six types of Accessory Dwelling Units.
Types of Accessory Dwelling Units. Image by Joiedevivre123321 on Wikimedia, Creative Commons license (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Water Homes:

For water homes, things can get a little confusing. You will need to research the local laws where you intend to keep the boat. Generally, people use the terms houseboats, boat houses, and floating houses interchangeably, but they are all different.

Houseboats: are homes built on floating platforms. “They have a fully-equipped cockpit and a high-speed motor that helps you propel and steer your boat.”9

Boat Houses: Floating buildings where people store yachts and other marine vehicles, like a garage. People don’t usually live in these.

Floating Houses: Floating houses and houseboats are similar in their construction, but floating houses do not have their own propelling mechanisms. These require a tug boat to move them, so most float stationary at one location.10

People do live full-time in other types of boats, such as yachts and sailboats, and either travel or have long-term leases with a marina. Try to connect with people in your area that live part or full-time on a boat, and contact local marinas to see what advice they can offer.

Shanty boat on the water, ivory colored siding with windows.
Photo of Harry Bryan’s Shanty Boat design, available for purchase at harrybryan.com/products/shanty-boat.

Hopefully this helps! Please also refer to my Tiny House Living section on my Books resource page.

Footnotes:

  1. Book, The Giant Book of Tiny Homes: Living Large in Small Spaces, by John Riha, Centennial Books, New York, NY, 2021. ↩︎
  2. Book, The Giant Book of Tiny Homes: Living Large in Small Spaces, by John Riha, Centennial Books, New York, NY, 2021. ↩︎
  3. Article, “What’s the Difference? Mobile vs. Manufactured vs. Modular Homes,” Clayton Homes, April 9, 2021. ↩︎
  4. Book, The Giant Book of Tiny Homes: Living Large in Small Spaces, by John Riha, Centennial Books, New York, NY, 2021. ↩︎
  5. Book, The Giant Book of Tiny Homes: Living Large in Small Spaces, by John Riha, Centennial Books, New York, NY, 2021. ↩︎
  6. Book, The Giant Book of Tiny Homes: Living Large in Small Spaces, by John Riha, Centennial Books, New York, NY, 2021. ↩︎
  7. Book, The Giant Book of Tiny Homes: Living Large in Small Spaces, by John Riha, Centennial Books, New York, NY, 2021. ↩︎
  8. Book, The Giant Book of Tiny Homes: Living Large in Small Spaces, by John Riha, Centennial Books, New York, NY, 2021. ↩︎
  9. Blog, “Shipping Container Houseboat: A Comprehensive Guide,” mobilemodularcontainers.com, March 8, 2022. ↩︎
  10. Blog, “Shipping Container Houseboat: A Comprehensive Guide,” mobilemodularcontainers.com, March 8, 2022. ↩︎