A Manufactured Housing Vocabulary Primer – MH Industry Terms

MHVillage and its partner organization Datacomp cumulatively have 45 years of experience in the manufactured home industry. The leadership team of the two organizations boasts more than 500 years of industry experience.

We asked our team to consider the many MH industry terms. From jargon to acronyms and misnomers, we’ve come up with a list of very industry specific terms, including the lesser known and under appreciated vocabulary.

MH industry terms drum roll, please!

What does chattel mean?

Chattel: Chattel is an item of personal property. The term often is used in the manufactured housing sector in relation to finance of a home without consideration for the land it will sit on, as with a standard mortgage loan.

What is a cookie?

Cookie: A cookie is a 2×2’ cement pad, similar to a paving stone, that is placed on level ground in lieu of a full concrete pad foundation for a home. Cookies are prohibited in some colder weather climates because of changes to level ground that can occur from frost and freezing.

What is engineered wood?

Engineered Wood: Engineered wood is a wood-based composite made for specific applications — such as siding, trim, and soffit – with the benefit of increased strength and decreased weight when compared with natural wood products.

What is ESG?

ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance, and it refers to a set of criteria used to assess the sustainability and ethical impact of a company’s operations.

What is an expando?

Expando: An expando is a room extension or similar type of home feature that is constructed in the factory with the home. It is transported inside the home, and pushed into place on the exterior of the home upon delivery and siting. Unlike “tip outs” that commonly are anchored to the interior of the home with braces or brackets, expandos push out of the home on all sides.

What is a marriage line?

Marriage Line: The line or lines where multi-section homes are joined. A double-wide would have one marriage line, and a triple-wide two and so on. The marriage line is where home sections are joined and finished on site.

What is a multi-section home?

Multi Section: The multi-section home is a combination or series of manufactured home sections, most often “double-wide”, each in the approximate footprint of the single-section home. Each section is delivered on a semi-truck and are positioned and joined on site. Manufactured homes are commonly sold in a pair of sections, three sections or four, which is referred to as a “Quad”.

What is a park model?

A park model is a seasonal structure built to American National Standards Institute “ANSI” standards for recreational and resort uses including within the outdoor hospitality industry.

What is a park-owned home?

A park-owned home is a home in a manufactured home community that is owned by the owner or owners of the community. Often, community owners will buy back homes from a resident when they leave, or will have to recover a home that’s been abandoned. Sometimes community owners make a strategic decision to own a designated percentage of homes in a community to maintain as pure rentals. More recently, community owners have begun to set up pure rental communities, often as a mains of gaining favorable financial backing from the government-sponsored agencies.

What is a pier?

Pier: Similar to a “ribbon”, a cement pier is poured into the ground in strategic locations to serve as a foundation for a manufactured home. Piers are used in place of a full concrete pad foundation, often to save on time and cost. This pier should not be confused with a metal pier, which is an aftermarket accessory with A-frame construction that is placed below a home’s chassis to anchor and stabilize the residence.

What is a pocket penetrometer?

A pocket penetrometer is a small, manual, hand-held device used to test ground soil density at a location where a concrete pad or home is being installed.

What is a quad in manufactured housing?

Quad: A Quad is a four-section manufactured home, sold to a buyer in four parts that are delivered and joined on site. The feature that separates a quad from a modular home is that each of the four section of a quad meet HUD code.

What is a ribbon?

Ribbon: Ribbons are poured strips of concrete that serve as the foundation of the home, often used to save on time and costs associated with pouring a full concrete pad foundation.

What is sidewall entry for a manufactured home?

Sidewall entry: Sidewall entry for a manufactured home refers to the main entry door being located on the long-side or awning side of the home rather than on the gabled or narrow end of the home, which is called “endwall entry”.

What is a single-section home?

Single Section: The single-section home is no more than 18-feet wide constructed in a linear fashion up to 90-feet in length, though most single-wide homes are purchased at approximately 1,080 square-feet (15×72’). Single-section manufactured homes typically are purchased for their affordability, and relative ease of mobility for trade or sale.

What is a SIP?

SIP: A SIP is a structurally insulated panel, built with a foam core sandwiched between a pair of structural facings, often made from oriented strand board (OSB). SIPS typically are designed for weight reduction, increased insulation and ease of installation as a wall, divider or similar architectural feature

What is siting? 

Siting: Siting a home is the placement of a single-wide home, or joining and placement of a multi-section home. This includes leveling, anchoring the home to its piers, hooking up utilities, making exterior and interior finishes and ensuring code compliance.

What is submetering?

Submetering: Submetering typically is implemented with the water utility at a commercially owned property with a large number of tenants, including mid- to large-size manufactured home communities. It involves installation of a water meter for each resident or tenant space on a property and allows both tenants and owners to better track the usage and cost of a public utility.

What is a tag or tag-along?

Tag along – “Tag”: A tag or tag-along is an option on many manufactured homes plans that involves the purchase of an additional modular room – often a rear porch or extended entry – that is put on its own chassis and hooked up to “tag along” behind the home for delivery.

What is a tip out?

Tip out: A tip out is a room extension or similar type of home feature that is constructed in the factory with the home. It is transported inside the home, and pushed into place or “tipped out” once the home is delivered and sited. Tip outs commonly are anchored to the home on one side with braces or brackets, a feature than distinguishes them from expandos.

Editor’s note: Please feel free to send us at MHVillage a message on any definitions or new MH industry terms you’d like to see added to this blog. And thank you for reading the premier source for manufactured housing news!