Sizes of the Manufactured Home: Single, Double and Triple Wide

Posted: Jul 11, 2013
Author: 1st Choice Home Centers

A manufactured home, as defined in the United States, is a home that is constructed off-site and moved to a living location. A manufactured home must also have a chassis, ensuring its initial and continued mobility. In the United States, we often refer to manufactured homes as “mobile homes”, though they usually are usually only “mobile” before their on-site installations; they do retain their mobility afterward, but are seldom moved again. Some manufactured homes, however, do not look like the traditional mobile home that comes to mind upon hearing that term. There are three main categories that can help to describe the size and look of a manufactured home: the single-wide, double-wide, and triple-wide.

A single-wide manufactured home is what most commonly comes to mind upon hearing the word “mobile home.” A single-wide manufactured home is the smallest of the three categories, measuring 18 feet or less in width and 90 feet or less in length. This type of home can most easily be towed behind a truck on state highways and roads to its destination and is, due to its smaller size, also the most likely of the three sizes to be moved again after installation.

The double-wide type of manufactured home measures at least 20 feet in width and 90 feet or less in length and is made up of two individual units. These units must be carried to the destination on two separate trailers and attached once there. A double-wide is also very rarely moved from the site of its installation, being more difficult to disassemble, transport, and reassemble.

The triple-wide (and sometimes even larger) is the third category of the manufactured home. Made up of at least three units, it is transported in pieces and assembled at its destination. From the outside, these homes can sometimes be quite difficult to distinguish from a traditional home; they can feature varying, asymmetrical floor-plans.