Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
ticky-tacky
"inferior, cheap material," 1962 (in song "Little Boxes" by U.S. political folk-singer Malvina Reynolds, 1900-1978), reduplication of tacky. As an adjective by 1967.
Wiktionary
ticky-tacky
a. (context US English) Made of this material alt. (context US English) Cheap, low-quality building material, especially as that used to make conventional suburban housing of a uniform design. n. (context US English) Cheap, low-quality building material, especially as that used to make conventional suburban housing of a uniform design.
Usage examples of "ticky-tacky".
Newcomers from SoCal quickly recognized Beaverton as Orange County north and that it was held up by pillars of ticky-tacky conformity.