Models

Wavyroom Basic — price, specs and when you need a permit

The Wavyroom Basic is a 99 sq ft prefabricated backyard room, installed on site in a day. This guide covers the $23,500 price, each line of the spec, and the limits and conditions that decide whether a permit is needed where you live — floor area is only the first of them.

Key takeaways

99 sq ft (about 9.2 ㎡): 8.6 ft wide, 11.5 ft deep, 9.5 ft tall — the standard configuration.
$23,500 for the unit. What depends on your property is worked out with you before you order.
One-day installation on site. Confirming what your city allows comes first.
Permit-exempt floor areas run from 10 ㎡ (108 sq ft) to 20 ㎡ (215 sq ft) depending on jurisdiction. 99 sq ft is under each of the area limits we list. Area is only the first condition — the rest we confirm against your address.

3. What $23,500 covers

The Wavyroom Basic. 99 sq ft on one level, 9.5 ft tall.

Wavyroom Basic lifestyle image — Wavyroom Basic, from our lifestyle gallery.

1. What the Wavyroom Basic is

The Wavyroom Basic is a 99 sq ft prefabricated room for your backyard — a private space a few steps from the house, for work, creativity or play. It is 8.6 ft wide, 11.5 ft deep and 9.5 ft tall, with a folding door and an aluminum composite panel exterior.

It is designed by Spacewavy, the company behind Wavyroom, and we sell it in the United States, Canada and Australia. People use it as a home office, a studio, a guest room or a workshop.

The Basic is the entry point of our backyard-room line. The step up is the Wavyroom Loft, which keeps the same 99 sq ft footprint and adds height and a loft — the comparison is in section 6.

The unit is prefabricated — manufactured before it reaches you — and installed on site in one day.

2. The standard configuration — and why it is 99 sq ft

4. Do you need a permit? Thresholds by jurisdiction

Jurisdiction	Permit-exempt up to	Conditions
California, US	120 sq ft	CRC §R105.2 — one-story detached accessory structure. No height limit.
IRC-based states and cities, US (Oregon; Dallas and Austin, Texas, among others)	200 sq ft	IRC §R105.2(1). Austin adds a 15 ft height limit.
Houston, Texas, US	120 sq ft	No electrical, plumbing or mechanical systems. Area is not the only test here — we confirm the rest with your local office.
Ontario, Canada	15 ㎡ (161 sq ft)	One story, detached, storage use, no plumbing.
British Columbia, Canada	10 ㎡ (108 sq ft)	Single story, accessory use, detached, non-habitable, no drainage plumbing.
New South Wales, Australia	20 ㎡	SEPP 2008 Part 3B Div 53 — height up to 3 m, 900 mm from the boundary, up to two per lot, non-habitable.
Victoria, Australia	10 ㎡	Building Regulations 2018 Sch. 3 — height up to 3 m, fully detached.

5. The spec, and what each line means

Area	99 sq. ft.
Dimensions (W x D)	8.6 ft x 11.5 ft
Height	9.5 ft
Door	Folding door
Wall thickness	50–100 mm
Slab thickness	100–150 mm
Exterior	Aluminum Composite Panel (ACP)
Interior	Zeno Wall
Installation	1-day installation

Wavyroom Basic	Wavyroom Loft
Price (unit)	$23,500	$28,300
Floor area	99 sq ft	99 sq ft
Loft	—	43 sq ft
Footprint (W × D)	8.6 ft × 11.5 ft	9.9 ft × 9.9 ft
Height	9.5 ft	12 ft
Door	Folding door	Sliding door
Windows	—	Included
Furniture	—	Desk-and-cabinet unit (optional)
Installation	1 day	1 day

Frequently asked questions

Is $23,500 the total cost?

It is the price of the Wavyroom Basic unit as specified. What depends on your property — how the unit reaches your yard and where it sits, how power gets to it, and what your local authority requires — we work out with you against your address. That is when the complete figure comes together.

Does one-day installation mean I can use it the next day?

One day is the time on site to place and connect the unit. Before that come the checks: what your city and zoning allow, and how the unit reaches and sits on your property. We plan those with you, so the overall timeline depends on your site.

Do I need a permit?

It depends on where you live. Floor area is the number most jurisdictions start with, and at 99 sq ft (about 9.2 ㎡) the Basic is under the area limits we list for California, IRC-based cities, Houston, Ontario, British Columbia, New South Wales and Victoria. Area is only the first condition each of them sets: use, height, wiring and plumbing come with it. Houston's exemption sets conditions beyond area. Zoning and HOA rules apply separately. We confirm all of this together during consultation.

Does the Basic come furnished?

The Basic arrives as an open room, so you furnish it for the use you have in mind. A desk-and-cabinet unit can be added to the Loft.

What is the difference between the Basic and the Loft?

Both cover 99 sq ft. The Loft is 12 ft tall instead of 9.5 ft, adds a 43 sq ft loft, uses a sliding door instead of a folding one, comes with windows, and has a near-square 9.9 ft by 9.9 ft footprint. It is $28,300 against the Basic's $23,500.

Can I use it as a guest room?

A guest room is one of the uses the Basic is designed for, alongside a home office, yoga room, kids' playroom, creator studio and hobby workshop. Some jurisdictions tie the permit exemption to non-habitable or storage use, so how you plan to use the room is one of the conditions we check with you during consultation.

6. Basic or Loft

Wavyroom Loft — the 43 sq ft loft, price, and how it differs from the Basic Models

One day is the time we spend on your site placing and connecting the unit. What comes before it — confirming what your city and zoning allow, and how the unit reaches and sits on your property — is planned with you during consultation. The overall timeline depends on your site and your local process.

Give us your address and a description of the spot — access from the street, what is around it, where your power is. We check the property-side items one by one with you before you order.

A permit exemption is not a zoning exemption. Setbacks, lot coverage and permitted use are set by zoning. Electrical work can need its own permit. HOA rules, and wildfire, flood or heritage overlays, apply on top. This holds in every jurisdiction above, so we check those items with you as well.

The published spec is the Basic's standard configuration: one footprint, one height, one door type, one exterior and one interior finish. Between backyard rooms, the choice is Basic or Loft; anything beyond the standard configuration is something to raise with us during consultation.

The number that shapes the unit is its floor area. 99 sq ft is about 9.2 ㎡, and we sized it to sit under the 10 ㎡ line that British Columbia and Victoria use for permit-exempt backyard structures — the tightest area threshold among the markets we sell in. Every other jurisdiction in section 4 allows more, so 99 sq ft is under their area limits as well. Area is only the first condition each of them sets; section 4 has the rest.

The footprint is a rectangle, 8.6 ft by 11.5 ft. That is the shape to hold against the space you have — along a fence, beside a garage, at the end of a garden — because where it fits is decided by the footprint's proportions, not only its area.

Inside, the Basic is an open room. You furnish it for the use you have in mind. If you want more vertical space, that is what the Loft adds.

$23,500 is the price of the Wavyroom Basic unit — the room described in the spec in section 5: 99 sq ft, folding door, aluminum composite panel exterior, Zeno Wall interior, installed on site in a day.

The price does not cover what depends on your property. How the unit reaches your yard and where it sits, how power gets to it, and what your local authority asks for all vary from one address to the next. We go through these with you during consultation, against your actual site, and that is when the complete picture comes together.

A backyard studio is a detached, non-habitable space in your yard. In the markets we sell in, a structure like this can be installed without a building permit if it meets the limits and conditions your jurisdiction sets — area is only the first of them. Those rules are not the same everywhere. These are the ones we work from:

The Basic's 99 sq ft (about 9.2 ㎡) is under each of the area limits listed here. That is by design — the unit was sized to the 10 ㎡ line, the tightest of them.

Area is the number most jurisdictions start with. It is not the only condition. The right-hand column is where the checking happens: how the space is used (storage or non-habitable in some places), how tall it is, and whether it is wired or plumbed.

Houston's exemption requires no electrical, plumbing or mechanical systems, so floor area alone does not settle it there. We go through the rest together during consultation, against the address you give us. If your city or county is not in the table, the same applies — we confirm the local rule with you rather than assume.

The Wavyroom Basic's specification.

Folding door

A door made of hinged panels that fold back to one side.

Wall thickness 50–100 mm, slab thickness 100–150 mm

The walls are about 2–4 in thick; the slab, 4–6 in. The slab is the unit's floor structure.

Aluminum Composite Panel (ACP)

The exterior cladding. ACP is a sandwich panel: two thin aluminum sheets bonded to a core between them.

Zeno Wall

Our interior wall finish. The spec describes it as easy to maintain.

One-day installation

The unit is manufactured before it arrives, so the day on site is spent placing and connecting it rather than building it. Anything beyond this standard configuration is something to raise with us during consultation.

The Basic and the Loft share the same 99 sq ft of floor, the same materials and wall build-up, and the same one-day installation. The Loft stands taller and puts a loft over part of the room.

Both prices are for the unit.

The Loft adds a sliding door and windows, and its footprint is close to square rather than the Basic's rectangle. Its price is $4,800 above the Basic.

The Basic is the right one when the room needs to hold what a single level holds — a desk and a chair, a mat, a workbench, a bed for a guest — and the rectangular footprint suits your spot. Look at the Loft when something has to go up: storage, a sleeping platform, a second working level kept out of the way of the floor. The Loft is sold in the United States and Canada.