Outdoor Living in Addison, TX
Outdoor living is the covered patio, pool, kitchen, stone and lighting that make a backyard part of the home. Longhorn designs and builds them together for Addison homeowners in Dallas County, with one family-owned team.
- 40+Years in Business
- 15,000+Projects Completed
- 1984Family-Owned Since
- 90DFW Cities Served
Before you build in Addison
Addison is one of the smallest towns in the area at roughly 4.4 square miles, and most of it was developed from the 1970s onward as commercial, restaurant and multifamily property, so single-family backyards are limited and compact. Addison Airport sits in the middle of town, so parts of the residential area lie under its traffic pattern.
That ground decides how a slab, a pool shell or a footing has to be built here. Here is what it does to a patio.
We file the permit with the City of Addison and follow it through review, so the schedule doesn’t stall on paperwork.
Longhorn has built across Dallas County and the wider Metroplex since 1984, and every project starts with a free design visit and a firm price.
Homes and Yards in Addison
Addison stayed a very small town until about 1970, then grew quickly as a business, restaurant, and hotel center north of Dallas.
In neighborhoods of that age the original patio and fencing are often due for replacement, and mature trees shape where a pool or a cover can sensibly go.
Early settlers built near White Rock Creek; today Addison Airport covers about an eighth of the town. Near a creek or river it is worth checking the flood maps early, before a pool or slab is placed.
Town of Addison, which buys treated surface water from Dallas Water Utilities.
Addison incorporated in 1953 in an effort to avoid annexation by Dallas, and Addison Airport was built in 1956. The town counted 593 residents in 1970, 5,553 in 1980 and 14,166 in 2000. Residents voted to legalize alcohol in 1976 to attract restaurants and hotels, and between 1986 and 1991 the number of restaurants grew from 49 to 118. The town now describes itself as a 4.4-square mile urban enclave with 180+ restaurants and 22 hotels.
Dallas Water Utilities, which sells treated water to 23 wholesale customer cities, draws surface water from six connected reservoirs (Lewisville, Tawakoni, Grapevine, Ray Hubbard, Ray Roberts and Fork). Addison’s own watering rule applies to commercial, industrial and retail properties, apartment complexes and condominiums, which may not water lawns between 8am and 9pm; single-family homes are exempt from that rule.
The town’s list of residential projects that need a permit includes building or replacing a fence, a swimming pool or spa, an accessory building (including storage sheds, gazebos, carports and patio covers), a deck more than 30 inches above grade, and a retaining wall over four feet in height measured from the bottom of the footing. Applications go to the Addison Service Center at 16801 Westgrove Drive, and a homeowner may pull the permit in their own name.
For reference points, the town lists Les Lacs Linear Park Trails at 3901 Beltway Drive, Redding Trail Linear Park on Midway Road, which sits mostly inside an Oncor utility corridor, and the White Rock Creek Trail, entered at Belt Line Road at Winnwood Road.
What each outdoor project needs in Addison, TX
How is a pergola built to last in Addison?
On Blackland Prairie clay a pergola’s posts are what decide whether it still stands square in five years. The clay moves most in the top few feet, so footings go deeper than the movement rather than resting in it, and the slab underneath gets its own drainage plan. More on pergolas.
How is a pool built in Addison?
Blackland Prairie clay swells through a wet spring and shrinks hard by August, and a pool shell is a rigid object sitting in ground that moves around it. Here that means the shell, the beam and the deck are engineered for that movement from the drawing stage, and the flatwork gets its control joints placed on purpose rather than wherever the pour ends. In Addison the permit goes through the City of Addison, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on pools.
What does a patio cover need in Addison?
Blackland Prairie clay lifts and drops with the season, so a patio cover’s footings are the whole job. Posts set in shallow pads move with the top of the soil and take the roofline with them; footings taken below the active zone, tied to a slab that drains away from the house, do not. In Addison the permit goes through the City of Addison, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on patio covers.
How a Backyard Project Runs in Addison
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A free design visit in Addison
A designer comes out to the house, measures the space a backyard project has to fit, walks the access a crew would need, and talks through what you want it to do. You leave with a firm price. On Blackland Prairie ground, that is also when the grading, drainage and movement details get decided rather than improvised on site.
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Drawings, permit and HOA
We file the permit with the City of Addison and follow it through review, so the schedule does not stall on paperwork. Where an HOA wants a submittal, we prepare the drawings it asks for.
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One crew, one schedule
The same team builds the whole backyard project in order, so the slab, the structure, the electrical and the finish work are not three different companies working around each other.
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Walkthrough and warranty
We walk the finished backyard project with you, settle the punch list and leave one warranty on the work, and we are still Dallas County-local if you need us later.
Addison outdoor living questions
Almost always, for pools and for anything attached to the house, including patio covers, sunrooms and enclosures. Longhorn files the permit with the City of Addison and handles the inspections, so the schedule does not stall on paperwork.
Addison sits on Blackland Prairie ground in Dallas County. The ground decides how a slab, a pool shell or a footing has to be built, so we plan the drainage and the footings for it at the first visit rather than after something moves.
Where an HOA in Addison asks for a submittal, we prepare the drawings and details it wants, alongside the city permit, so the approval runs in parallel with the design rather than after it.
Yes. Many homeowners start with one piece, such as a pool or a patio cover, and add the rest later. We plan the whole space up front so the gas, power, water and drainage for later phases are in place from the start.
Other cities we build in near Addison
Outdoor living guides
Outdoor Flooring for a Frisco Backyard: Pick by Zone
One yard, five jobs for the ground: dining, cooking, swimming, play and the dog. Here is how to match a surface to each zone, and what Frisco’s clay, heat and city rules change.
Outdoor Kitchen Countertop Materials in Frisco, TX
Granite, porcelain, quartzite and quartz all behave differently in Frisco sun, freezes and clay. Here is a pick by exposure, a sealing test, and what the base under the stone needs.
HOA Approval for a Patio Cover in Texas: DFW Guide
The HOA and the city are two separate approvals, and the HOA usually comes first. Here is the packet a DFW committee wants, how long it takes, why it says no, and how to answer a denial.
Free design visits in Addison
Tell us what you have in mind and we’ll come measure, talk options and give you a straight number. No obligation, no pressure.
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