Outdoor Living in Forney, 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 Forney homeowners in Kaufman County, with one family-owned team.
- 40+Years in Business
- 15,000+Projects Completed
- 1984Family-Owned Since
- 90DFW Cities Served
Before you build in Forney
Forney lies on US 80 east of Mesquite and was designated the Antique Capital of Texas by the Texas Legislature in 1984, reflecting a small historic core surrounded by large post-2000 subdivisions such as Devonshire and Gateway. The north side of the city runs toward the East Fork of the Trinity and Lake Ray Hubbard, and the terrain is nearly flat farm 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 Forney and follow it through review, so the schedule doesn’t stall on paperwork.
Longhorn has built across Kaufman County and the wider Metroplex since 1984, and every project starts with a free design visit and a firm price.
Homes and Yards in Forney
Forney began as a farm and residential town and has grown quickly since 1990 as the Dallas area expanded east.
Newer subdivisions usually come with an HOA review and a small builder’s slab, so it pays to plan the full backyard together and take one complete set of drawings to the HOA.
Forney sits on blackland prairie along Buffalo and Mustang creeks, about four miles from Lake Ray Hubbard. Near a creek or river it is worth checking the flood maps early, before a pool or slab is placed.
North Texas Municipal Water District (Forney is a customer of NTMWD’s regional water system).
By 1870 the settlement was called Brooklyn, reportedly for springs that joined to form a nearby brook, and on December 29, 1873 residents renamed it Forney for the Texas and Pacific Railway’s John Wien Forney. The town incorporated in 1884. It had more than 3,000 people by 1960 but only 2,483 in 1980 and 4,070 in 1990; growth then ran to 5,588 in 2000, 14,661 in 2010, 23,455 in 2020, and 27,256 in 2021. Forney Reservoir was built in 1964 on the East Fork of the Trinity about four miles north of town and later renamed Lake Ray Hubbard, and about fifteen antique warehouses line Highway 80 north of town.
The park system has seventeen park sites and 242 acres of parkland. Forney Community Park holds about 84 percent of that parkland and its splash pad runs from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, Mulberry Park is a 33-acre site, four small mini-parks have limited amenities, and dedicated parkland near Gateway Boulevard is not yet developed.
Forney is one of the 13 member cities of the North Texas Municipal Water District, which draws on Lavon Lake, Bois d’Arc Lake, Jim Chapman Lake, Lake Texoma, Lake Tawakoni, and the East Fork Water Reuse Project. The city’s drought contingency plan was prepared with the district, and irrigation systems are prohibited from operating between 10 am and 8 pm year-round; during a recent pump problem the city asked residents to water two days or fewer per week.
What each outdoor project needs in Forney, TX
What does a patio cover need in Forney?
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 Forney the permit goes through the City of Forney, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on patio covers.
How is a pool built in Forney?
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 Forney the permit goes through the City of Forney, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on pools.
How is a pergola built to last in Forney?
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 Forney?
A sunroom or screened enclosure in Forney is attached to the house, so it is permitted through the City of Forney 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 Forney
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A free design visit in Forney
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 Forney 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 Kaufman County-local if you need us later.
Forney 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 Forney and handles the inspections, so the schedule does not stall on paperwork.
Forney sits on Blackland Prairie ground in Kaufman 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 Forney 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 Forney
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 Forney
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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