Outdoor Living in Bonham, 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 Bonham homeowners in Fannin County, with one family-owned team handling the design, the permit and the build.
- 40+Years in Business
- 15,000+Projects Completed
- 1984Family-Owned Since
- 90DFW Cities Served
Before you build in Bonham
Longhorn Outdoor Living builds patio covers and pergolas, pools and spas, outdoor kitchens, sunrooms and enclosures, hardscaping and landscaping for Bonham homeowners. Bonham is the Fannin County seat, about 55 miles northeast of Dallas and 12 miles south of the Red River, on the northern edge of the Blackland Prairie.
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 Bonham and follow it through review, so the schedule doesn’t stall on paperwork. Locally that is the City of Bonham Building Department. Bonham’s water comes from the North Texas Municipal Water District.
Longhorn has been building since 1984, and every project starts with a free design visit and a firm price.
Homes and Yards in Bonham
Settlement began in 1836, and Bailey Inglish built Fort Inglish, a blockhouse and stockade, on Bois d’Arc Creek in 1837. The town became the Fannin County seat in 1843, took its present name in 1844, and grew around farming, the railroad and a cotton mill.
In a town with this much history, a plan starts with what is already in the yard, such as mature trees or an older slab. A patio cover or sunroom has to suit the house it attaches to, and new paving has to meet the old slab cleanly.
Fannin County is mainly blackland, with a claypan area in the north near the Red River. It averages a little over 43 inches of rain a year, so a new patio or pool deck is graded to carry water away from the house.
Water comes from the City of Bonham, which takes treated surface water from the North Texas Municipal Water District’s Bonham plant.
The Handbook of Texas records that the town was first called Bois d’Arc and was renamed in 1844 for James B. Bonham, who died at the Alamo. It incorporated in 1848. By 1888 it had 117 businesses, three colleges and three papers, and the Bonham Cotton Mill was chartered in 1900. The population was 6,686 in 1990, 9,990 in 2000 and 10,408 in 2020. Bonham was the home of Sam Rayburn, speaker of the U.S. House, and his house and library are open to the public.
July highs in Fannin County average 94 degrees, which is why shade comes up early in the plan: a solid or insulated cover blocks the sun, and a pergola filters it. January lows average 33 degrees and the growing season lasts 228 days. Native trees include oak, hickory, ash, walnut, pecan, elm and cedar, a useful starting point for a landscape plan.
The county runs between 500 and 700 feet above sea level, in moderately rolling hills drained by the Red River and Bois d’Arc Creek. Lake Bonham is about three miles northeast of town and Bonham State Park about four miles southeast.
What each outdoor project needs in Bonham, TX
How is a pool built in Bonham?
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 Bonham the permit goes through City of Bonham Building Department, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on pools.
What does a patio cover need in Bonham?
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 Bonham the permit goes through City of Bonham Building Department, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on patio covers.
How is a pergola built to last in Bonham?
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.
Can a sunroom or screened enclosure be added in Bonham?
A sunroom or screened enclosure in Bonham is attached to the house, so it is permitted through City of Bonham Building Department and sits on footings designed for the ground under it. We match the roofline and the exterior to the house so it reads as part of it. More on sunrooms and patio enclosures.
How a Backyard Project Runs in Bonham
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A free design visit in Bonham
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 Bonham (locally that is the City of Bonham Building Department) and follow it through review, along with any HOA submittal.
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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 a phone call away if you need us later.
Bonham outdoor living questions
Yes. Bonham is in our service area. We design and build patio covers, pergolas, pools and spas, outdoor kitchens, sunrooms, screened enclosures, hardscaping, landscaping and lighting. Every project starts with a free design visit.
Choose a solid or insulated cover for full shade and cover from rain, and a pergola for filtered light and a more open feel. July highs in Fannin County average 94 degrees, so a patio that takes afternoon sun usually needs more shade than one facing north or east.
Book a free design visit. A designer comes to the house, measures the space, talks through what you want it to do and gives you a firm price.
The City of Bonham Building Department reviews residential projects in Bonham. Pools and structures attached to the house, such as patio covers, sunrooms and enclosures, almost always need a permit. Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection.
Bonham sits on Blackland Prairie ground in Fannin 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.
Bonham’s water comes from the North Texas Municipal Water District. Watering schedules can tighten in a drought, so we plan the planting and irrigation around the current rules and choose heat-tolerant plants that can establish on them.
Where an HOA in Bonham 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 Bonham
Guides for Bonham homeowners
Native Shade Trees in Bonham, TX: What to Plant Where
Bur oak, cedar elm and chinquapin oak lead the list for Bonham’s blackland clay. Here is how far to plant them from a slab, which ones make a mess, and how a tree and a pergola work together.
Sunroom vs Screened Porch in Bonham, TX: Sun and Clay
A screened porch and a sunroom answer different questions. Here is how Bonham’s sun, clay soil and city permit process decide which one your patio should become.
Sunroom Windows Bonham TX: Best Glass Options
A sunroom is mostly glass, so the glass decides whether you use the room in July. Here is a wall-by-wall plan for Bonham and Fannin County, with the code questions to ask the city.
Building a Pool in Bonham, TX: Clay, Permits, Water
A pool in Bonham sits in clay that swells and shrinks, on lots that can be decades old. Here is what to settle on the ground, the permit, access, water and freeze protection before signing.
Patio Cover or Pergola in Bonham, TX: Which to Build
Bonham summers and Blackland clay make this an easy choice to get wrong. Here is how to decide between a solid roof and an open frame, and what to check first on an older lot.
Free design visits in Bonham
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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