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What’s The Difference Between a Modular Home and a Tiny House on Wheels?

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Resideo Tiny House, Resideo Tiny Smart Home

Left: A Tiny House on Wheels- the wheels are obscured by shrubbery.  Right: A Modular Home: no wheels, slab foundation (coming soon!)

 

 

 

Tiny Houses on Wheels

Tiny houses on wheels are permanently on the chassis.  The tires can be removed but the house will always be on the trailer. If you want a tiny house on wheels but don’t plan to travel with it, we can also permanently anchor a tiny house on wheels to the ground, remove its tires, and skirt it.  Road-legal limits of 8 1/2′ wide and 13 1/2′ high constrain the size of tiny houses on wheels. We are certified to build tiny houses on wheels by the RVIA, so our tiny houses on wheels are legally considered RVs.  Tiny houses on wheels don’t require a building permit, but you’ll need to make sure RVs are allowed in your zone of your town.

Modular Homes

Modular homes are constructed in pieces in a factory and then transported to the home site to be assembled and attached to the foundation.  They look just like traditional houses– you can’t tell the difference between a modular home from a traditional home just by looking at it– and can be any shape and size as long as each module is small enough to travel from the factory to the build site.  After a modular home is built and inspected inside the factory, it is transported to the site and then permanently attached to a foundation (basement, slab, or pin foundation) where it is inspected again.  B&B Micro Manufacturing is certified to build Industrialized/Modular Homes by the State of Massachusetts.  Modular homes are financed using traditional home financing and there’s no difference in zoning for a modular home versus a traditional site-built home.  B&B Modular designs will be released soon.

Both types of homes are built inside our factory in Massachusetts.  The advantages of factory-building include a quicker build time (we don’t have to stop working in extreme weather) and a less expensive build, especially when the home is built alongside other homes of the same design.

A Look Inside B&B’s Resideo Tiny Smart Home with Honeywell Home Tech

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We’ve built a Tiny Smart Home using tech from Resideo, Honeywell‘s new spinoff which goes public today.

The Tiny Smart Home is right outside the New York Stock Exchange where Resideo rang the bell this morning, showing off Resideo’s smart home technology.

“As Resideo rings in a new era as an independent company and begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the company is hosting a pop-up experience outside the iconic Financial District landmark to display its top-notch, easy-to-use solutions. The mobile technology showcase is the brain child of Resideo and news-outlet Cheddar, who are joining forces to highlight the intersection between smart home technology and simple living. The Resideo Tiny Home, built by B + B Tiny Houses, serves as the backdrop of a new Cheddar show, which will launch later in 2018 and highlight Honeywell Home’s end-to-end, integrated home solutions on the exterior, on the wall, in the wall and in the cloud.

The 125 square-foot home features Honeywell Home’s professionally installed options, which were slightly modified for the small space, and are available through professional HVAC contractors and home automation and security dealers (through Resideo’s ADI Global Distribution business). The home also includes DIY solutions found at major retailers and www.Honeywellhome.com. The solutions are controlled via simple voice commands or Honeywell Home apps, make the home smarter, cozier, safer, and more efficient.” –resideo.com

If you’re near Wall Street check out our Tiny Smart Home with Resideo technology!  If you’re not near Wall Street, this tiny house will soon be traveling the nation– keep up to date on its whereabouts on Residso’s Twitter or Facebook!

Click the images to enlarge:

Resideo Tiny House, Resideo Tiny Smart Home Resideo Tiny House, Resideo Tiny Smart Home Resideo Tiny House, Resideo Tiny Smart Home Resideo Tiny House, Resideo Tiny Smart Home Resideo Tiny House, Resideo Tiny Smart Home Resideo Tiny House, Resideo Tiny Smart Home

Learn More about “The Tiny Home On Wall Street” in this article by Resideo. 

Watch the video of B&B co-founder Jason’s interview about Building The Smart Tiny Home on Cheddar TV.

Why aren’t lofts included in a tiny home’s square footage?

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Determining the Square Footage in Tiny Homes

We are often asked about how we calculate square feet in our tiny homes. This is a great question as there is no regulation regarding calculating square feet–this is true even in traditional homes. Rather, there is an accepted code that the industry follows. Other competitors do not always follow the same code that we at B&B use when calculating square feet, which can make comparing tiny homes confusing.

Pictured: the Hoosic Tiny House

The Technicalities

Let’s dive into some of the different criteria for what spaces must meet.  We use the International Building Code, specifically Building Code Appendix Q, which describes the code for tiny houses on foundations.  Although much of what B&B Tiny Houses builds are tiny houses on wheels, we use the international building code as a guide for calculating square footage.

From IBC Appendix Q:

Minimum ceiling height: habitable space must be over 6 feet and 8 inches with the exception of bathrooms and kitchens which must be over 6 feet and 4 inches

Loft: located at least 30 inches above the main floor, is open to the main floor, and used as a living or sleeping space

Pictured: The Arcadia Tiny House

Calculating Square Feet in Tiny Homes

Tiny houses on wheels, in order to be road-legal, must be 13 1/2′ off the ground in order to fit under bridges.  Therefore, it would be impossible or a tiny house to have a loft one can stand up in.  Because lofts in tiny houses on wheels do not meet the minimum ceiling height to be considered “habitable” space in the building code, they should not be included in a tiny home’s square footage.

To calculate the square footage, multiply the inside width and length of the tiny house. Almost all of B&B’s tiny houses on wheels are the road-legal maximum width of 8 1/2′; their length varies.  The exterior walls of our tiny homes (unless otherwise specified) are 6 inches thick on each side and end. To calculate the square footage of the Stony Ledge which has outside dimensions of 8 1/2′ x 30′, we multiply 7 1/2′ x 29′ to get 217 1/2 square feet.  The Arcadia, which has a loft, has a square footage of 142 1/2 plus a 45 square foot loft.

When shopping for tiny homes, you should always check how the square feet has been calculated. Otherwise, it can be like comparing apples and oranges. If you are interested in learning more about the square feet in tiny homes, read this post about why tiny homes cost more per square feet than traditional homes.