Park Model Home Designs

Your dream home is waiting for you! It comes with standard construction features: 16-inch on-center exterior walls, floors, insulation, windows, eaves, and much more. Or choose from our optional features to create your custom home.

Park Model home designs often need clarification with RVs or tiny houses, so understanding them becomes problematic. Park Model Homes are built according to the building code of the RV industry standard. This code is used by manufacturers producing manufactured movable homes, just like the park home models. 

Park model homes are often larger than typical RVs and can be as large as small apartments. Park homes are usually built with ovens, living rooms, refrigerators, kitchens, showers, etc., which are conventional housing features. This post will discuss everything you need about park homes and their various designs. 

We will discuss in-depth reasons why you should buy a park home, the features of park homes, materials used for constructing park model homes, the procedures for LEED Certification, and several other aspects of park homes. 

Why Buy a Park Model Home?

There are several benefits to buying a park model home that offers good guarantees for the money spent on the Park Model Home. Some of the benefits include: 

Transportable

Park model homes are highly mobile, making them a go-to choice for a moveable living space for whatever reason. The transportability of park model homes is one significant advantage of their use of park model homes. Park model homes are transportable and movable because they have wheeled trailers that enable their movement. 

Useful for Long-term

Park model homes are highly durable for use over a long time, even though they are movable. This is because your current environment does not favor the sustenance of the park home. You can easily transport your park home to a more favorable location, which helps the longevity of your park home. 

Park model homes are fit for long-term use because they help ease tension and stress. You can live in your park model home while gradually building your standard home. Your park model home also allows you to save money as a college student during your years of studying. It makes it useful for long-term use for college students. Because park model homes can be built to suit your specific lifestyle, making them suitable for long-term use. 

Easy to Tow

Because park model homes are movable structures, they are highly towable. Hence during their manufacture, the manufacturer designs and builds them to be easily towed from one location to the other. Park model homes are also built to be stable and heavyweight, which makes them towable on different terrains of roads and weather conditions. 

The heavy weight of many park model homes makes them stable when towed over long distances. You will not have to worry about your park home breaking down or suffering fatigue when pulling it over long distances on rough terrain. Also, when you decide to tow your park home, be sure you deploy a robust towing vehicle because those are the ones that can handle the heavy weight of your home. 

Great for Private Living

If private living in a portable and comfortable space is what you love, worry no more because this is what park model homes offer in all senses. Your park model home you can transport by towing your park model home to the area of the town of your choice. 

If you do not love the over-busy living style in the city center, you can quickly move your park-mobile home to suburban areas. You will enjoy a more peaceful environment than what you experience in the city center. 

Customizable

If you love to use customized structures, buildings, and materials, park model homes offer this possibility to you. Buying a park model home gives you the liberty to customize your home as much as you want. This is possible because fewer restrictions and rules are placed on constructing park-model homes. 

You can decide to customize your park model home just like traditional houses or not. You can upscale your park home as much as you wish to. This gives you a significant advantage of spending less whenever you want to rework your living space, unlike what you will spend on reworking to customize a conventional house. With your park home, you can also enjoy the comforts offered by traditional homes. It is made possible because of how highly customizable park homes are.

Superior Construction

Park model homes are constructed using superior construction techniques and materials that ensure a comfortable living space. The outstanding construction done on park model homes also means that they are highly durable and can be personalized, unlike many typical RVs. The superiority of the park model homes structure is shown in the following ways: 

• Beautiful siding options that are as practical as they are pleasing
• Spacious high ceilings
• Flowing floor plans designed for storage, efficiency, and comfort
• Textured ceilings
• Extra high side walls and ceilings.
• Upgraded insulation 

Tape-Textured, and Painted VOG Walls

Vinyl over Gypsum (VOG), as a form of wall coating, is used to achieve tape-textured walls when builders install drywalls and then fill the seams of the drywall with drywall mud, after which the wall is covered with a suitable tape. After covering the wall with tape, sand it, then apply mud. The builder applies sand to the wall for the second time and then sprays the wall in texture before finally painting the wall. 

House Wrap

House wrap provides building protection to a high standard. House wrap is a modern synthetic material that acts as a barrier between the weather and the house walls. House wrap protects house walls from weather elements such as rain, wind, and any other type of moisture from contacting the wall assembly of your park model home or any other house. 

Low E Vinyl Windows

Low Emissivity or Low Emittance vinyl windows are windows built to protect homes from destructive UV light while allowing natural light to flow into your home. The short E vinyl windows have a non-toxic, colorless, and thin microscopic coating. The window is thermally efficient. The Low E windows are cost-effective and safe, minimize infrared rays that can penetrate glass, and reduce radiant heat emission. 

New Technology for Park Model Homes

Making use of your park home requires that you deploy the use of technology as much as possible. This is because technology will significantly scale up the functionality of the installed features in your park home. The best new technologies in the building industry require wireless connectivity; hence, the devices in use must be wireless. The devices can be stereo, smart home, smart refrigerators, and other wireless devices. 

As much as new technologies are desirable, they can also come with obstacles during their use from time to time. The same applies to the wireless networks that many of these new technologies use for their functioning. Wireless networks need routers and wireless boosters for optimum network connection to devices.

List of Materials Contractors Use to Build Park Model Homes

Construction of park model homes requires the use of specific materials, some of which include:

Park Model House Trailer

• Park home model trailer: Park-model home trailers are typically between 9′-12′ feet wide and 30′-40’+ feet long, but different manufacturers build them in various sizes.
• Jack stands: Jack stands are crucial during the construction of a park home, 

Roofing

The roofing of your park model home requires you have these materials:

• Metal Roofing
• Tar paper
• Rain and Ice Shield

Hardware

The hardware components of building a park model home can be enormous. The required hardware for building your park model home includes:

• Exterior Screws
• Metal Screws
• Strapping Nails
• Bolts, Nuts, and Washers
• Exterior Nails
• Plastic or Simplex Nails
• Staples
• Brads
• Finishing Nails
• Door Hardware

Wood

Wood is another construction material class you will need to build your park model home. Some specific wood needs for the construction include:

• Dimensional Lumber
• Plywood
• Exterior Siding and Trim
• Interior Siding and Trim

Insulation

Several insulation materials are required for park model home construction. The specific insulation materials are:

• XPS Boards
• Spray Foam
• Housewrap and Tape

Electrical

The electrical accessories required for your park model home construction include:

• Wire
• Electrical Panel and Breakers
• Outlet Boxes
• Outlets and Switches
• Switch Plates
• Lighting
• Wire Staples
• Cable, Network, and Telephone Wires

Plumbing

The plumbing accessories required for a park model home construction include:

• Supply Plumbing
• Drain Plumbing
• Shower
• Kitchen Sink and Faucet
• Shower Faucet
• Toilet
• Water Heater
• Dryer Vent
• Hanger Tape Roll

Flooring

On an excellent flooring of your park model home, the floor materials required include:

• Hardwood Flooring
• Tile
• Mortar, Thinset, Adhesive
• Flooring Transition Pieces

Strapping and Flashing

The strapping and flashing accessories required for park model home construction include:

• H Clips
• Nail Plates
• Flashing

Hurricane Straps

Hurricane straps are metal ties that hold together houses’ roof trusses, including park-model home roofs. Steel is the primary raw material used in the manufacture of hurricane straps. 

Straight Straps

Straight straps are straps that resist tension forces between two components or materials. They are made of metals. Straight straps are often pre-cut before use to enable faster and easier installation. 

Millwork

The millwork requirements for a park model home include the following:

• Exterior Door
• Interior Door
• Windows
• Shims

Paint

Paints are vital when it comes to materials for constructing park-model homes. The paint materials needed include:

• Paints and Stains
• Construction Adhesive

Park Model Home Site Preparation

When building your park model home, builders take the process of site preparation very seriously because that is the first process to begin building your park model home. During the site preparation, builders know that park model homes do not need permanent foundations to stay on since park homes are movable structures. 

This means that builders must select suitable materials that are strong, hard, durable, and affordable when preparing the site and foundation for any park model home. When designing the site for a park model home that is classified as a unique trailer-type RV by the recreation vehicle industry association (RVIA). Preparing the site for a park model home means you can handle getting ready any land but the structures that your park model home will be seated on. 

Also, for the fact that there is not much worry about building codes when it comes to park-mobile model homes. You still need to inspect the site where you want to build your park home. 

Site Inspection

After you have prepared your park home building site, there is a need for the prepared area to be inspected by the regulators to ensure the codes and rules of park home building are followed. The site inspection is vital because you need to know what needs to be done before putting your park home on a property.  

You may wonder why you need to inspect your proposed park home site since you are not digging a foundation. But the site inspection by the authorities is necessary, so you will avoid hazards and trouble with the authorities. The site assessment lets you know if the site is suitable for a park home. 

Base Pads

The base pad is a critical component for preparing your park home site. The base Pads are required because they will be used for placing your manufactured park home. The base Pad provides a proper water drainage system for your park-model home. The base pad also comes in handy when it comes to regulating the humidity levels of the park model home. Base Pads for park model homes are of two types, they include:

• Caliche base pads
• Permanent concrete foundation

Park Model Homes as a Great Investment

Park model homes make for superb investment options. They provide a great investment opportunity for the owners of the house. This is the case, especially for people that want to live in an area for a short period. Park homes provide excellent returns on investment as they require a low-cost initial investment and offer you a diverse real estate portfolio. Some other reasons why investment in park homes is a significant investment include: 

You can use park model homes as a rental property, yielding revenues for you, and they can be built really fast as they require a low cost of building.

Park model homes cost cheaper on average than conventional homes, making them more accessible for purchase and rent. 

Park homes are easier to build and install luxury features. They can also be built to suit the specific wants of individuals, making them very comfortable to live in. 

Park model homes make a better option for a rental than single-room apartments on Airbnb. This is because you have more privacy and less disruption of the green environment and living. This makes a park home a better investment choice.

Steps that Turnkey Companies Offer for Park Model Homes

Turnkey companies specialize in park model homes. Some of the steps turnkey companies take to offer park-model dwellings include: 

Placement Verification

The placement area must be verified depending on where you want the company to place your park home. You must get the necessary verification allowance from the local housing authority, such as the planning and zoning office. The planning and zoning office regulates the type of structures that can be built or placed anywhere in the locality.  

Get Quote

This involves choosing the park home design model you desire or want to manufacture for you. After you have done that, you get the price quotations for the home. After getting an estimate for the park home, you’ll need to get a quote for transportation from the park home to the placement location. This quotation is going to be provided by the turnkey company. 

Note that the average cost of transportation of park homes per mile is between $3.50 – $5.50 for towing vehicles. You may have to pay separate fees for the turnkey company to set up your park home when they transport it to your placement location. When getting quotes, ensure that the park home quotation includes utilities such as water, sewer, and electricity. 

Payment and Financing

You can make payment for your park home in whole or in part using physical cash payment or through the bank. If you decide to make a cash payment, do well to discuss this with the turnkey company because some often require that payments be made in parts. Part payments require that you make a down payment for the park home’s building process.

You will need to pay retail home purchase taxes just like when purchasing a conventional house. The California retail tax is often 7.25% of the total cost of the park home plus local sales taxes.

Counties in California collect an average of 0.74% of a property’s assesed fair market value as property tax per year

Turnkey companies also have options for making payments using a loan financing structure or any other financing method if that is what you prefer. You can take up personal loans to finance the price of your park home. You can decide to use personal loans or mortgage loans to finance the cost of your park model home. 

You can also get a chattel mortgage to use for financing the payment for your park home. When you take the chattel loan, your park home will be used as collateral, and the bank can confiscate your park home if you fail to pay up your loan. 

Another financing option is taking an RV loan. This type of loan is generally lower in amount and cost than personal and chattel loans. You can get up to $150,000 on RV loans from some banks with an APR of 7.96- 35.97% as of December 2022.  

Planning and Design

Planning and designing is a critical aspect of the operation of turnkey companies. You have to meet with the turnkey company representatives to get an itemized list of what your park home will need to be fully functional. The company will also give you the building schedule of your chosen park home. 

This list of items and designs gives you a clear view of the park home you will be paying for and lets you know if your money will be well spent or if you need to look for alternatives. 

Build Order

After you have completed the planning and designing process, the next thing to do is to begin the build order contract. After you have started the build order, your park home should be completed between seven to ten weeks. The build order contains the turnkey company’s full disclosure of the exact cost of your park home building and how much profit they have made. 

Similar Standards

Consider that a park home differs from an RV home. It is built using similar building standards for the RV structures industry. This means that the same quality assurance and ideal for modern design are applied when creating the park homes.

15 Stunning Floor Plans for Park Model Homes

There are a plethora of floor plans that can give a great look to your park model home. Some of the best stunning floor plans for park model homes include:

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Value of Park Model Homes to Homeowners

The value park model homeowners get from their park home is a good value for money spent. This means that park model homes present good investment options for living spaces, saving costs and taxes on comfortable living spaces. 

Another value proposition given by park model homes is that they can last for several decades, up to five decades or more, with little maintenance cost in the long run compared to many conventional structures. 

Park model homes offer the opportunity and support for green construction while building the park homes. This is possible because resources are conserved during the construction of park model homes, leading to increased environmental protection.

Park Model houses are an excellent option for RVers and people who want to temporarily park their tiny home and want more space than a travel trailer or tent but less than the traditional stick-built house. Tiny Home Builders California offers new Park Models designed specifically for our region and manufactured in-house by skilled craftsmen with over 50 years of experience building quality residences. They can be configured with many customizable options to make your custom-built tiny home your perfect retreat on wheels.

Living in park homes allows you to live smaller and more brilliantly. This is possible because you save more on resources while spending less. This means you get to conserve energy and time while paying more attention to other areas of importance in life. Park model homes are designed according to your personality, allowing you to get the most value out of your park home. 

Procedure for LEED Certification for the Park Model Home

LEED certification is vital for your park model home. It is the reference guide used for building and construction purposes. The procedures for LEED certification for your park model home include the following:

• Initiate discovery phase
• Select the LEED rating system
• Check minimum program requirements
• Establish project goals
• Define the LEED project scope
• Develop LEED scorecard
• Continue discovery phase
• Continue iterative process
• Assign roles and responsibilities
• Develop consistent documentation
• Perform quality assurance review and submit for certification

Initiate the Discovery Phase

This is the phase for initial research and analysis. Here you make findings and analyze the conclusions made. 

Select LEED Rating System

In this phase, you’re to select the LEED rating system for your park home. The LEED rating system consists of 21 different adaptations that accommodate the needs of various building sectors. You need to choose the rating that is most suitable for your needs. 

Check Minimum Project Requirements

This procedure is vital for your park home, ensuring that the home complies with the minimum requirements for LEED certification in the rating system you choose to use for your park home. You can find the minimum requirements on the rating system of USGBC.

Establish Project Goals

This is a necessary procedure because you articulate the goals and values of the project and your project team. After this, you must choose strategies aligning LEED credits for meeting goals. You may have to convene a workshop to adequately explain to the team members of the project what the plans are before any design work begins. 

Define LEED Project Scope

You have to properly define the scope of the LEED project and give particular consideration to the project’s location on campus or off-site. After this, you must map the LEED project boundary following the proper lines. If the project boundaries are not explicitly visible, the team will have to decide the limits to work with. The certification programs of the project need to be investigated, depending on the number of projects. 

Develop LEED Scorecard

Developing a LEED scorecard helps the project executioners to track the project’s progress. This helps to bring value to the project owner. Through the LEED scorecard, you can identify the team providing the highest importance to the project, and this team should be the focus of the project delivery process. Through the scorecard, project teams can estimate the certification points and the credits to the team members and the project. 

Continue Discovery Phase

While the project is going on, team members must conduct more research and analysis. This is done to refine the project parameters, test alternatives for project progression, compare notes, create new ideas, and drive cost evaluation. This is carried out during project team meetings for new opportunities that the project presents. 

Continue Iterative Process

This is a continuation of the research and analysis process that ensures active iteration of the project implementation. This is achieved only when the project’s owner a.d the project team are okay with the solutions. 

Assign Roles and Responsibilities

A person should be responsible for leading the LEED application and documentation process. The same should be done with other obligations that exist and will arise during the project. These roles may change as the need for responsibility occurs. 

The team members responsible for leading activities within the project should be fully involved throughout the process. When assigning duties to team members, clear channels of communication should be developed and maintained for the smooth operation of the process and the resolution of any conflicts that may arise.

Develop Consistent Documentation

Consistent documentation of processes and happening needs to be developed to achieve LEED certification. All the accumulated data throughout the entire process of construction has to be documented and assessed. The documentation of construction processes can be made easy and effective if the records of construction materials quantities are taken at intervals. 

Perform Quality Assurance Review and Submit for Certification

A quality assurance review is a last and vital procedure to be carried out before you submit your application for a LEED certification. This review is a thorough performance check that helps you to make improvements or error corrections before submitting your project application for LEED certification. 

ANSI Standards for Park Model Homes

All park model homes must meet the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and wind zone requirements. ANSI sets out the standards and minimum installation requirements for park home construction and provides guides on how to improve the quality and safety of park model homes and other products under its regulations. ANSI provides the minimum requirements for installing safety-related systems, plumbing, and electrical appliances in park model homes.

The RV Industry Association’s Board of Directors has adopted the following standards for constructing Park Model Home RVs. The primary objective is to ensure that these structures are safe to use as temporary living quarters. NFPA 1192 Standard covers the equipment, fire, life safety provisions, plumbing systems, and vehicular requirements. ANSI A119.5 Park Model RV Standard covers the equipment, health, fire, life safety provisions, plumbing systems, and construction requirements. Lastly, ANSI Low Voltage Systems in Conversion and RVs Standard covers Low-Voltage (LV) electrical systems and devices up to 60 volts. National Electrical Code (NEC) provisions Articles 551 and 552 cover the RV requirements for 120V/240V electrical systems.

Best Ways to Optimize Park Model Homes’ Floor Plan Designs for a Maximum Space of 504 sq. ft.

Highlight Your Assets

Highlighting your assets is crucial when optimizing your park model home floor plan. This highlight of your assets helps you to identify what you want the most to plan your living space accordingly.  

Be Practical

There are many floor plans out there, but in choosing a floor plan for your park model home, you must make practical choices of floor plans for your park home. Being realistic in choosing your floor plan means you go for comfort before aesthetics. 

Safety First

Go for safe floors in a park home when choosing a floor plan for your park home. When designing the floor plan, ensure that there will be an as minimal risk as possible when using and interacting with the floor. 

Practical Floor Plan Layout

A good Layout is crucial for you to enjoy comfort in your park home. There, factor this in when designing and drafting the entire plan of the structure. Ensure you draft out vital spaces in your drawing, and start immediately after building construction. 

Standard Construction Features for Park Model Homes

Park Model Homes, like any other type of residential building or structure, have standard features that make them certified for use. Some of the park model home standard construction features include:

• Energy savings with a full house wrap
• Insulated heat ducts made with fiberglass
• Insulated vinyl windows
• Rounded corners on walls and ceilings
• Options for screened-in front or rear decks, as well as lofts and bunks
• Sidewalls of 90.”
• Cedar wainscoting and trim (optional)

Beyond the standard features we have listed above, several other construction features are suitable for park model homes if you wish to be innovative, including:

• Radiant floor heating
• Colorful artificial lighting
• Big open spaces
• Floor-to-ceiling windows
• High tech automation
• Tape out walkways
• Fold down furniture

Conclusion

Park model homes are great for standard housing if you wish to have your apartment be your specific lifestyle. These park-model homes offer the user plenty of advantages, some of which include savings on housing costs, which is a massive deal for many people. Especially first-time homeowners. Unlike many building and construction space competitors, the park model homes offer higher construction standards. 

The rules for manufacturing and production of park model homes are held to the best industry standards. The park model homes construction requires that you abide by the RV industry code in all your designs and styles when manufacturing a park model home. Finally, using park homes provides a better chance for the survival of our environment, as it provides a green living chance. This Model of homes also provides opportunities for green investment. All this makes park model homes a real choice option to be considered by potential homeowners.