Home Renovations on Kiawah & Seabrook Island, SC
Kitchen, bathroom and whole-home renovations, additions and porches for Kiawah and Seabrook homes.
Renovating a Home on Kiawah or Seabrook
Kiawah and Seabrook are private, gated islands with a high standard for their houses and their own review boards to keep it. Kiawah has been governed by recorded covenants since 1976, which set up its Architectural Review Board; Seabrook’s Architectural Review Committee guides every exterior change on that island.
The work we are asked about is the interior side of that standard: kitchens and bathrooms brought up to the level of the house, specialty plaster and finish carpentry, and whole-home renovations planned as one project.
Because of the drive, a consultation on Kiawah or Seabrook carries a trip charge. This page covers what we do on the islands, their neighbourhoods, and how the review boards, permits and flood rules shape a project.
Kiawah and Seabrook Island Neighborhoods We Serve
West Beach
Kiawah’s original village at the western end, with the island’s earliest villas and cottages, now at the age where kitchens, bathrooms and finishes are being brought up to the standard of the newer houses.
East Beach
The island’s second village, around the Night Heron Park area, with houses and villas from the 1980s and 1990s where whole-home updates and specialty finishes are the common projects.
Vanderhorst
The larger lots and custom homes across the middle of Kiawah, where renovation means matching the finish level of the house: plaster, trim, stone and a kitchen designed for the room.
Ocean Park and the eastern end
Kiawah’s newest neighbourhoods toward the Ocean Course, with recent custom homes whose owners personalise kitchens, bathrooms and finishes rather than replace them.
Seabrook Island, oceanfront and beach
Seabrook’s beach neighbourhoods, where the Town’s design flood elevation of base flood elevation plus two feet applies to new construction and substantial improvements, and the ARC reviews any exterior change.
Seabrook Island, marsh and creek
The neighbourhoods on Bohicket Creek and the marsh side, with houses from the 1980s onward at the age for a full kitchen and bathroom renovation or a whole-home update.
Kiawah and Seabrook, neighbourhood by neighbourhood
Kiawah Island has been governed by recorded covenants since 1976, which established the Architectural Review Board that reviews construction plans from an aesthetic viewpoint; the Kiawah Island Community Association maintains the island’s private roads, drainage and amenities, and in 2020 its members funded six flood-mitigation projects for the island’s most vulnerable areas. Homes are grouped in neighbourhoods and regimes across the island, from the West Beach and East Beach villages to the newer areas toward the Ocean Course.
Seabrook Island is a private, gated town whose 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update was adopted in February 2025. As a barrier island it faces flooding from the Atlantic and from the rivers and creeks behind it, and the Town’s floodplain rules require the design flood elevation of base flood elevation plus two feet for new construction and substantial improvements.
On both islands the pattern is the same: the interior of the house is where owners bring the finishes up to the standard of the address, and anything visible outside goes to the island’s review board before the permit. We have built our process around that order.
Source: Kiawah Island Community Association, Architectural Review Board
Source: Town of Seabrook Island, Comprehensive Plan and Floodplain Management
Permits and review on Kiawah Island
The Town of Kiawah Island issues its own building permits, inspections and contractor licences, and its current flood insurance rate maps took effect on January 29, 2021, setting the base flood elevations that new construction is built to. The Kiawah Island Community Association’s Architectural Review Board handles the design review, and KICA encroachment permits are required for interior, exterior and landscape projects, including remodels and upgrades to electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems. We manage the permit application and coordinate inspections for our own work.
Source: Town of Kiawah Island (new flood maps effective January 29, 2021)
Source: Kiawah Island Community Association, rules and permits
Permits and review on Seabrook Island
On Seabrook Island, Charleston County Building Inspection Services administers building permits and inspections, but a zoning permit from the Town of Seabrook Island comes first, and contractors need a Town business licence before work begins. New construction and substantial improvements submitted on or after January 29, 2021 must meet the Town’s flood elevation requirements: the design flood elevation is the base flood elevation plus two feet of freeboard, drawn to NAVD 88. The Seabrook Island Property Owners Association’s Architectural Review Committee permits any exterior work that changes the appearance or footprint of a house, including additions, major remodels, painting, re-roofing and door or window replacements.
Source: Town of Seabrook Island, Building Permits
Source: SIPOA Architectural Review Committee, additions and remodels
Kitchen and Bathroom Remodeling on Kiawah and Seabrook
A Kiawah or Seabrook kitchen is rarely dated in the ordinary way; it is a kitchen that no longer matches the house. The projects here are custom cabinetry built to the room, stone counters, a range hood in tadelakt, and lighting planned with the cabinets rather than after them.
Bathrooms follow suit: marble or marble-look tile in a custom layout, a walk-in shower with a bench, tadelakt where the owner wants a seamless finish, and lighting designed for the room. Because these are interior projects, the review boards are not involved unless the work changes the outside of the house.
Whether your island home needs a full kitchen renovation, a primary bathroom transformation, or both as one coordinated project, the standard is the same: custom to the room, and finished so it looks as though it was always there.
Services Available in Kiawah and Seabrook Island
We offer the full range of our work on Kiawah and Seabrook Island: kitchens, bathrooms, whole-home renovations, additions and porches, interior refreshes and specialty plaster. Zach runs every project and is on the job managing it, and each service page below explains how we approach that kind of work.
Kitchen Remodeling
Bathroom Renovations
Whole Home Renovations
Home Additions
Tadelakt and Specialty Plaster
Interior Refresh
Screened Porches & Porch Additions
Other areas we serve: Mount Pleasant · West Ashley · Summerville · Daniel Island · James Island · Isle of Palms & Sullivan’s Island · North Charleston · Goose Creek & Hanahan · all locations
Frequently Asked Questions: Kiawah and Seabrook Island Renovations
Do you pull permits for renovation work on Kiawah and Seabrook Island?
On Kiawah, the Town of Kiawah Island issues its own building permits, inspections and contractor licences, and KICA encroachment permits are required for interior, exterior and landscape projects, including remodels. On Seabrook, Charleston County Building Inspection Services administers permits and inspections, but a zoning permit from the Town of Seabrook Island comes first and contractors need a Town business licence. We manage the permit application and coordinate inspections for our own work.
Do the Kiawah or Seabrook review boards need to approve my renovation?
For exterior work, yes. Kiawah’s Architectural Review Board reviews plans from an aesthetic viewpoint; Seabrook’s Architectural Review Committee permits any exterior work that changes the appearance or footprint of a house, including additions, major remodels, painting, re-roofing and door or window replacements. Interior work goes straight to the permit.
I have an HOA. Will they need to approve my renovation?
Both islands’ property owners’ associations review exterior changes through their boards, and Kiawah requires KICA encroachment permits for most projects. We advise on what to submit and prepare the documentation.