Tiny Home Shells Built To Residential Spec
A structural shell engineered and stamped to residential code, built in our plant and delivered to your site. You finish the inside. Residential prints available free in NC, SC, VA and GA.
17+ years of industry experience building portable structures, backed by residential engineer prints we send free to your permit office.
We Build The Structure.
You Finish The Inside.
A tiny home shell is a Premium building framed, sheathed and roofed to residential structural spec instead of storage spec. Heavier framing, deeper trusses and a foundation spec that's called out on the engineer print. It shows up on your property as a finished, weather-tight shell.
It is not a turnkey tiny home and it does not arrive ready to move into. We don't do plumbing, cabinets, countertops or appliances, and we never will. Water, drains, fixtures, water heaters and septic are all on you and your plumber.
Our exterior dimensions are true, so a 12x24 shell is 12 feet by 24 feet measured overhang to overhang. The inside runs smaller once framing and siding take their cut. Get the interior measurement from your salesperson before you plan cabinets, plumbing runs or a layout.
Tiny Home Shell Prints,
Free, Sent To Your Inspector
Shed prints. Every Premium building has one. Ask and we'll send it straight to you, free. It's stamped by a licensed engineer, it certifies the building to 150 mph wind speeds and it spells out the blocking and anchoring schedule your setup has to follow. Take it to the permit office, hand it to your insurance company, keep it in a drawer. It's yours.
Residential and tiny home shell prints. These are the real thing: residential structural prints, stamped by a licensed engineer in your state. They're free on request, and we send them directly to your local permitting office. You give your dealer the name and contact information for your county permit office and we handle it from there. These prints don't come to you, they go where they need to go.
Not many shed companies have residential prints at all. We do, and we'll put them in front of your inspector at no charge.
Built to those prints and set on the foundation they call for, the structure is engineered to meet residential structural code. We've already had one accepted by an inspector. What we won't tell you is that your county will sign off on occupancy, because that call belongs to your building department and nobody else. Talk to them early. They'll tell you what they need, and we'll send them the prints.
How The
Process Works
Talk To Your Dealer
Where the building is going, what you want it to be when it's finished, and whether you're going through county inspections. That last one changes how we build it, so it comes first.
Spec The Building
Size, layout, doors, windows, roof, siding, interior partitions. Residential spec carries an upcharge over a standard shed because of the heavier framing, so your dealer will quote it for you.
We Send The Prints
Give us the name and contact info for your permit office and we send the residential print package there directly, free.
You Get The Site Ready
Residential use needs a frost-proof foundation with concrete work, more than the blocking we set a storage shed on. The print calls out the method and the dimensions. You have it installed and we deliver onto it. We don't pour foundations.
We Build And Deliver
The shell arrives finished outside and set on your foundation.
You Finish It
Insulation, wiring, plumbing, flooring, kitchen and bath work, plus your inspections.
Find Out If This Is Right For Your Project
Answer a few questions about your land, zoning, timeline and budget. A specialist follows up with a personalized recommendation, no sales pitch, just real answers.
What People
Build
Guest Space And In-Law Suites
The most common project by a good margin. A finished building close to the house for family who need their own door.
A Place For A College Kid
Four years of rent versus a building you still own afterward. The math tends to make the decision for people.
Backyard Office And Studio
Fully finished inside, wired, heated and cooled, twenty steps from the back door.
Cottages On Family Land, Lake Property And Rural Acreage
We handle the structure. You handle the land, the foundation and the utilities.
Whether any of these is allowed at your address depends on your county, your zoning and sometimes your HOA. Some counties treat a residential-spec structure as an accessory building. Others will look at it as an ADU, which can change what's allowed on the parcel and whether it needs an existing house on the property. It varies, and it's worth a phone call to your building department before you spend a dollar. For non-dwelling uses like she sheds, home offices and pool houses that don't need the same structural spec, see our She Sheds page →
Foundation, Power
And Finish-Out
Foundation
Frost-proof with concrete work where your area requires it, per the engineer print. You have it installed before delivery. We don't pour foundations, but your dealer will walk you through exactly what the print calls for so you can hand it to a concrete contractor.
Power
If you're pulling from an existing meter on the property, that's usually straightforward. If you need a brand new meter base, tell your dealer up front, because a new service almost always brings a permit and an inspection with it and that changes the build path.
If you're going through inspections, we build the shell and frame your interior partition walls, and we leave them open so the inspector can see everything. Your own licensed, permitted electrician does all the wiring on site and the county inspects it. We don't install electrical on an inspected build.
If you're not going through inspections, we can take the inside a long way: insulation, our electrical package, interior sheeting, a mini-split or window unit, electric heat, LVP flooring and paint. Plumbing, cabinets, countertops, appliances and washer/dryer hookups are still yours.
Your dealer will figure out which path you're on before anything gets quoted. Don't guess at it, and don't let anybody guess for you. Lay all of this out in the design center when you spec the build so the openings, blocking and wall heights line up with the home you're picturing.
Frequently Asked
Questions
It's a Premium building framed and built to residential structural spec instead of storage spec, delivered as a finished, weather-tight shell. Residential structural prints stamped by a licensed engineer are available free and we send them straight to your permit office. You finish the interior and handle plumbing, cabinets, appliances, utilities and inspections.
That depends on your county, and they're the only ones who can answer it. The structure itself is engineered and stamped to residential structural code, and set on the foundation the print calls for it's built to pass residential structural inspection. Occupancy approval is a separate decision your building department makes. Call them before you order and we'll send them the prints.
The shed print, yes. Every Premium building has one available free on request, certifying 150 mph wind speeds and the blocking and anchoring schedule, and we send that one directly to you. The residential and tiny home shell prints work differently: they're also free, but we send them straight to your local permitting office. Give your dealer the office name and contact info and we take it from there.
It varies by county. Some places treat a residential-spec structure as an ADU or a dwelling rather than an accessory building, which can change the answer completely, and we've had a customer approved on a parcel with nothing else on it. Other counties want a permitted house on the property first. Your building department will tell you in one phone call.
North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia. The prints are stamped by a licensed engineer in the state where the building is going.
Residential use needs a frost-proof foundation with concrete work, which is more than the blocking we set a storage shed on. The engineer print calls out the exact method and dimensions. You have it installed before we deliver, and it's a cost on your side. We don't pour foundations.
It depends on your path. If you're going through county inspections, no, your own licensed and permitted electrician wires it on site and the county inspects it. We'll still frame your interior partition walls and leave them open for the inspector. If you're not going through inspections, we can install our electrical package as part of the build.
No. No water lines, drains, fixtures, water heaters or septic. You'll want a plumber lined up after delivery.
Most custom builds run about 3 to 4 weeks from order to delivery. Builds with a lot of interior finishing work run closer to 4 to 6 weeks. Those are estimates, and weather and production volume move them.
Pricing depends on size, finish level and configuration. Common projects range from the mid-$20,000s for a basic shell to $60,000+ for larger, more finished packages. Rent to own is available with no credit check, capped at $25,000; on a bigger build you put the difference down at signing. Contact our team with your size and finish requirements for an accurate quote.
For dwelling-style projects, full-time living, guest houses, ADUs, in-law suites, you need a tiny home shell with residential engineer prints. For non-dwelling retreats like she sheds, home offices and pool houses, we build a different program that doesn't require the same structural spec. See She Sheds →