There are primarily three types of houses on St. Armands Key:
- Original, single-story, mid-century modern ranches/bungalows from the 1950s and 1960s.
- These houses generally had to be gutted due to the flooding from Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.
- Two- and three-story houses in which the living space is elevated, but there is a ground-level of non-conforming space used for garage, storage, and no more than 300 sqft of building access (e.g., foyer, hallway, stairwell, elevator shaft). This is often done on smaller lots which are common on St. Armands.
- In newer elevated houses, building code now requires the non-conforming space to be built with waterproof materials (framing, flooring, and walls), and the ground-level area in such houses could generally just be power-washed and dried-out following the flooding from Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024. Perhaps minimal painting and carpentry was required.
- Two-story houses that are elevated and built "slab-on-fill" so that there isn't any non-conforming space on the ground level (except perhaps for a garage).
- These houses were generally undamaged by the flooding from Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.
Regardless of the type of house, the flooding from Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024 caused all St. Armands homeowners to lose landscaping, docks, walls/fences, and pool and other outside, pad-mounted equipment. Homeowners learned that in most cases, these losses are not covered by homeowners, wind, or flood insurance.
Following the flooding from Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, owners of flooded homes had to make the following decision; whether to:
- Renovate the house and return it to its previous state and/or improve it
- This is subject to the 50% rule: code does not allow you to spend more than 50% of the appraised or assessed value of a non-conforming structure per year
- Elevate the house, putting garage and storage space underneath
- This is an expensive option, but it is quicker and costs less than tearing down and rebuilding
- Tear down the house and re-build a new elevated house or a slab-on-fill house
- Sell the damaged house and let someone else deal with it
Regardless of the type of house, we encourage all homeowners to use waterproof materials in non-conforming spaces. When renovating, try to conform with current building codes as much as possible. Use pressure-treated framing and waterproof flooring, wallboard, doors, and trim. Raise power outlets. Elevate outside pool, HVAC, and other equipment. The goal should be to recover from future flooding events as quickly (and inexpensively) as possible.
In December 2024, the State of Florida announced that they were finalizing a streamlined grant program called "Elevate Florida" that will pay you money to elevate or, in some cases, to rebuild your house.
