Outdoor Living in Denton, 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 Denton homeowners in Denton County, with one family-owned team.
- 40+Years in Business
- 15,000+Projects Completed
- 1984Family-Owned Since
- 90DFW Cities Served
Before you build in Denton
Denton sits on sandier ground than the black clay east of I-35, so it digs more easily. The drainage design still comes first, because that sand is sitting on clay that holds water.
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.
In Denton the job is reviewed by the Development Services: Building Safety, and we file and follow the permit through that office ourselves. Denton lists swimming pools as their own residential permit category and reviews pool and spa work under its local amendments to the 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code. Our permit guide lists the office for every city we have checked.
Longhorn has built across Denton County and the wider Metroplex since 1984, and every project starts with a free design visit and a firm price.
Homes and Yards in Denton
Denton is a university town that grew rapidly from 1960 onward, with southeast Denton its fastest-growing residential area by the 1970s.
Yards from those decades are usually established, with grown trees, a fence line and an original patio that is often too small. Most projects become a retrofit, planned around what is worth keeping.
Denton sits on largely flat terrain, with Lewisville Lake about 15 miles south of the city.
The City of Denton, which treats its own water from Lewisville Lake and Lake Ray Roberts.
Denton was founded in 1857 to become the county seat on 100 acres donated by Hiram Cisco, William Woodruff, and William Loving, with the courthouse built on the north side of the square, and it was not incorporated until 1866. Two rail lines completed in 1881 gave it north-south connections only, so it never became a manufacturing center. The population more than doubled in the 1880s, from 1,194 in 1880 to 2,558 in 1890, and the modern surge ran from 26,844 in 1960 to 48,063 in 1980, 80,537 in 2000, 113,383 in 2010, and 148,146 in 2021.
After Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport opened in 1974, airline employees and traveling executives took up residence in southeast Denton. The Golden Triangle Shopping Mall opened in 1980, the Denton State School was established in 1960, and in 1954 the regional office of the Federal Civil Defense Administration moved to Denton and built a large underground shelter.
The city’s water came entirely from deep artesian wells until the 1950s. In 1927 Denton declined a contract with Dallas for storage in Lake Dallas, then obtained storage in Lewisville Lake after its dam was built in the 1950s, and in the 1980s contracted for water from Lake Ray Roberts while the Corps of Engineers was still building it.
What each outdoor project needs in Denton, TX
What does a patio cover need in Denton?
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 Denton the permit goes through the Development Services: Building Safety, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on patio covers.
How is a pool built in Denton?
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 Denton the permit goes through the Development Services: Building Safety, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on pools.
How is a pergola built to last in Denton?
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.
Can a sunroom or screened enclosure be added in Denton?
A sunroom or screened enclosure in Denton is attached to the house, so it is permitted through the Development Services: Building Safety 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 Denton
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A free design visit in Denton
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 Development Services: Building Safety at the City of Denton and follow it through review. 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 Denton County-local if you need us later.
Denton outdoor living questions
The Development Services: Building Safety reviews residential projects in Denton. 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. Denton lists swimming pools as their own residential permit category and reviews pool and spa work under its local amendments to the 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code.
Denton sits on Eastern Cross Timbers ground in Denton 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 Denton 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 Denton
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 Denton
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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