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KAI Custom Homes Luxury Home Builder located in the Houston / Galveston areas

Jamaica Beach. Pointe West. Sunset Cove. Sweetwater Cove.Four West End neighborhoods, four homes you can drive past, and...
10/12/2026

Jamaica Beach. Pointe West. Sunset Cove. Sweetwater Cove.

Four West End neighborhoods, four homes you can drive past, and a small slice of the 35+ we've built on Galveston Island.

"Extensive experience" is easy to claim. Named homes in named neighborhoods are something you can go check. Each of these sat on a different lot with its own questions: canal access and dock plans, exposure to open water, the flood elevation for that exact spot, and how the house would sit next to its neighbors. Those answers shaped each design long before anyone picked a finish.

That's the value of a builder who's done this dozens of times on the same island — the surprises have already happened on someone else's project.

Scroll through the photos, then take a look at the full portfolio 👇

Nearly every lot we build on sits in a FEMA AE or VE flood zone. If you're looking at land on the West End, Bolivar, or ...
10/09/2026

Nearly every lot we build on sits in a FEMA AE or VE flood zone. If you're looking at land on the West End, Bolivar, or Crystal Beach, here's what AE actually requires:

• The lowest floor at or above the base flood elevation — the height floodwater is predicted to reach in a 1%-a-year event
• Local freeboard added on top of that minimum
• Flood openings and flood-resistant materials in any enclosed space below
• Elevated mechanical equipment
• An elevation certificate documenting the finished height

Those are federal minimums. Your city or county almost always asks for more.

The highest-return decision on a coastal build is freeboard — building above the minimum. Every extra foot lowers your flood insurance premium every year you own the home, improves your odds in a storm bigger than the model, and protects you if the flood map gets revised. A house built to exactly today's minimum can fall out of compliance under tomorrow's map.

We also explain the FEMA 50% rule honestly, including why trying to get around it is a bad idea.

Know what your lot requires before you design anything 👇

How much does it cost to build a beach house? Here's the straight number: on the Texas Gulf Coast in 2026, roughly $350 ...
10/07/2026

How much does it cost to build a beach house? Here's the straight number: on the Texas Gulf Coast in 2026, roughly $350 to $500+ per square foot. For a typical 2,500 to 4,000 square foot elevated home, that's $1.5M to $3M+, not counting the lot.

That usually runs 30 to 50 percent above a comparable inland build, and none of it is markup. It's a piling foundation instead of a slab, a frame and envelope engineered for coastal wind, materials that hold up to salt, and the flood and windstorm compliance a house in a Houston subdivision never faces.

Where you land inside the range comes down to a short, knowable list — starting with what's 20 to 30 feet underground on your lot and how high your finished floor has to sit.

Then there are the three costs buyers most often forget: flood insurance (tied directly to your elevation), the windstorm engineering and inspection cycle, and a higher maintenance run rate on anything salt air can reach.

We publish these numbers because "contact us for a quote" helps nobody. Full 2026 breakdown 👇

If you're comparing builders for a coastal home, here are four questions worth asking every one of them — and the answer...
10/05/2026

If you're comparing builders for a coastal home, here are four questions worth asking every one of them — and the answers that should make you comfortable.

1. How many homes have you built on this island? Not "on the Texas coast" or "in the region." Every stretch of this coastline builds differently, and you don't want to fund someone's learning curve. Our answer: 35+.

2. Can I see the approval paperwork for the roof assembly? Two roofs can look identical and perform completely differently in a hurricane. The answer you want is the tested-assembly approval that matches the engineer's design pressure, not a product brochure.

3. What happens between dry-in and siding? It's the stretch where a lot of builders cut corners without realizing it — and it's invisible once the cladding goes on. A good builder can tell you exactly what they do there.

4. How will I know what's happening from Houston? You should get a real answer, not "we'll keep you posted." Ours: a written update every two weeks during the build, every week during finishes.

If a builder gets vague on any of these, that tells you something. Happy to answer all four for your project 👇

Building a beach house is a different discipline from building inland. The house has to stand above a predicted flood el...
10/02/2026

Building a beach house is a different discipline from building inland. The house has to stand above a predicted flood elevation, shed coastal-strength wind, resist salt that attacks metal year-round, and clear FEMA, Texas windstorm, and county floodplain review before anyone pours a footing.

The single most consequential decision on the whole project gets made before the first piling goes in: how high the finished floor sits. That isn't a number you just read off the architect's drawing — it depends on what's 20 to 30 feet underground and on the real conditions around the lot.

From there it's seven stages: pre-construction, pilings, framing and dry-in, the box-and-can walk where we mark every light with you, structured wiring and one last walk before sheetrock, design and finishes, then final walk and delivery.

And the corner most builders cut, often without realizing it? The stretch between dry-in, waterproofing, and siding. Nobody sees it once the house is closed up. It's where water intrusion starts. Ask any builder what happens in that window.

We've done this 35+ times on this island. Here's the whole process, stage by stage 👇

Boat in the water by seven, back at the house by ten. That's the honest argument for building canal-front on the West En...
09/28/2026

Boat in the water by seven, back at the house by ten. That's the honest argument for building canal-front on the West End.

It also changes the build. Where the boat is stored and how it's launched shapes the ground level. Dock and bulkhead condition deserves a real look before you buy the lot rather than after, because repairs there are not small. Which direction the decks face decides whether you're watching the sunset or the neighbor's garage. And canal lots carry their own elevation and access considerations that differ from beachfront a few streets away.

We've built across these West End neighborhoods — Jamaica Beach, Pirates Cove, Pointe West, Sunset Cove, Sweetwater Cove — 35+ homes' worth of knowing how each one behaves.

If a canal lot is what you're picturing, the best time to talk is before you close on it. We'll tell you what we see, honestly, even if the answer is that it's the wrong lot.

design.build.reinvent. 👇

"I already have an architect" isn't an objection. It's a good starting point.We build to other people's plans regularly,...
09/25/2026

"I already have an architect" isn't an objection. It's a good starting point.

We build to other people's plans regularly, and it works best when the builder joins early enough to be useful. Coastal design carries constraints that are far easier to solve on paper than in the field: Base Flood Elevation driving floor heights and stair runs, windstorm requirements shaping window and door selections, roof geometry affecting both the look and the uplift numbers. An architect who designs beautifully inland doesn't always know which of those will get flagged in review here. We do, because we've been through it 35+ times.

So we flag it early, while it's still a pencil change. We've worked with the same coastal engineers and inspectors on this island for years, which usually means fewer redesign cycles and less time waiting on permits.

Our job in that arrangement is simple: respect the design, and make the architect look good in front of their client.

Working with an architect already? Let's talk about how that fits 👇

September is the peak of hurricane season, so here's the version without the marketing language. Building a hurricane-re...
09/23/2026

September is the peak of hurricane season, so here's the version without the marketing language. Building a hurricane-resistant home on the Texas coast comes down to four things.

An elevated piling foundation, so floodwater passes under the living space instead of through it. Windstorm-rated framing certified to state standards — with the paperwork, not a brochure claim. Impact-rated windows and doors, because one failed opening pressurizes the house and takes the roof off from the inside. And a continuous load path tying roof to walls to foundation, since storm force travels that entire chain and finds whichever connection is weakest.

Miss one and the other three don't save you. That's the part that gets lost when "hurricane-proof" turns into a selling phrase instead of an engineering requirement.

We've built 35+ homes on this island to that standard. Here's the full breakdown of how each piece works 👇

A custom coastal home takes 12 to 18 months. We say that on day one, because a timeline you can plan around beats an opt...
09/21/2026

A custom coastal home takes 12 to 18 months. We say that on day one, because a timeline you can plan around beats an optimistic one you can't.

Design and engineering come first, then permitting and windstorm review, then pilings and structure, then the long stretch of finishes where the house finally starts looking like the drawings. Weather moves things. Coastal permitting has its own pace. Anyone promising you nine months either hasn't built here or isn't telling you everything.

What makes 18 months survivable is knowing where you stand inside it. You get a written update every two weeks during the build, and every week once we're into finishes. Most of our clients live in Houston or Dallas and can't drop by the site, so the update comes to them — nobody has to chase it.

That's the whole model: honest timeline, no silence.

Curious what the schedule would look like for your build? 👇

Most of our clients aren't building for two people. They're building for the weekend when everybody comes down.That show...
09/18/2026

Most of our clients aren't building for two people. They're building for the weekend when everybody comes down.

That shows up in the plan in specific ways. A bunk room instead of a fourth bedroom, so six kids fit where three would have. A second living area upstairs, because grandparents and teenagers want different volumes. Enough bathrooms that nobody's negotiating a shower schedule. Storage for chairs, boards, and coolers that doesn't end up in the primary closet. Durable finishes in the high-traffic rooms, because a coastal house with a rotating cast of visitors takes a different kind of wear than a quiet house in Houston.

None of this is expensive to plan. All of it is expensive to retrofit. So tell us about the grandkids in the first conversation — it changes the floor plan more than almost anything else you'll tell us.

Building for a full house? Let's talk through the plan 👇

Address

13655 Termini San Luis Ste B
Galveston, TX
77554

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+17139090059

Website

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