Outdoor Living in Bedford, 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 Bedford homeowners in Tarrant County, with one family-owned team.
- 40+Years in Business
- 15,000+Projects Completed
- 1984Family-Owned Since
- 90DFW Cities Served
Before you build in Bedford
Bedford is a fully built-out Mid-Cities suburb whose housing stock is dominated by 1970s and 1980s construction, so yards have mature trees and side access between the house and fence is often tight. There is essentially no undeveloped land left, so nearly all work is retrofit into existing yards.
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 Bedford and follow it through review, so the schedule doesn’t stall on paperwork.
Longhorn has built across Tarrant County and the wider Metroplex since 1984, and every project starts with a free design visit and a firm price.
Homes and Yards in Bedford
Bedford saw a major growth spurt from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s as urban families sought small-town life.
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.
Bedford lies north of the West Fork of the Trinity River in northeast Tarrant County. Near a creek or river it is worth checking the flood maps early, before a pool or slab is placed.
City of Bedford, buying treated surface water from the Trinity River Authority’s Tarrant County Water Project, plus a city well.
Bedford was a booming town of 1,000 or possibly 2,000 in the 1880s and 1890s, but after rail and highway bypasses there were no more than eighty residents as late as 1940. The city incorporated on January 22, 1953, with just over 400 people in two square miles, and between 1955 and 1960 it grew from two square miles to just over ten. The count was 2,706 in 1960, 10,049 in 1970, 20,821 in 1980, 43,762 in 1990 and 49,928 in 2020.
The city is supplied with surface water from Lake Arlington through the Trinity River Authority’s Tarrant County Water Supply Project, plus two groundwater wells. Bedford is not currently under water restrictions but asks residents to limit watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
A permit is required to install a new fence or to repair or replace more than 25% of a fence per side, for detached accessory buildings of 50 square feet or larger, for patio covers and shade structures of 50 square feet or more, for any wood deck or concrete patio, for an above-ground pool more than 24 inches deep, any in-ground pool, hot tub or spa, and for a retaining wall. Applications go through the OpenGov portal; Bedford Development is at 817-952-2140.
The Variety Club of Dallas ran Boys Ranch on 232 acres from 1949 to 1957, and a 52.6-acre tract became Bedford Boys Ranch Park on July 6, 1974. After a $70 million parks bond in November 2017, the site at 2801 Forest Ridge Dr. is now Generations Park at Boys Ranch.
What each outdoor project needs in Bedford, TX
What does a patio cover need in Bedford?
Eastern Cross Timbers loam is easier to dig than clay, but it sits on clay, so a post hole that looks clean at three feet can still be in moving ground at five. Footings are sized for what is under the sand, not what the auger came through first. In Bedford the permit goes through the City of Bedford, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on patio covers.
How is a pool built in Bedford?
Eastern Cross Timbers ground is sandier loam over clay, which digs more kindly than the black prairie but drains onto a layer that does not. On a pool that shows up as water travelling under the deck, so the drainage and the backfill detail matter as much as the shell. In Bedford the permit goes through the City of Bedford, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on pools.
How is a pergola built to last in Bedford?
In the Eastern Cross Timbers the sand drains and the clay beneath it does not, so a pergola post can sit in a hole that holds water after a storm. The footing detail and the grade around each post are what keep the base of a wooden post dry. More on pergolas.
How a Backyard Project Runs in Bedford
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A free design visit in Bedford
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 Eastern Cross Timbers 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 Bedford 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.
- 4
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 Tarrant County-local if you need us later.
Bedford 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 Bedford and handles the inspections, so the schedule does not stall on paperwork.
Bedford sits on Eastern Cross Timbers ground in Tarrant 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 Bedford 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 Bedford
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 Bedford
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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