Outdoor Living in Grapevine, 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 Grapevine 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 Grapevine
Between the lake and the older streets near Main, Grapevine lots vary more than people expect. Mature trees and whatever decking is already there usually decide the layout.
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 Grapevine the job is reviewed by the Building Inspection Department, and we file and follow the permit through that office ourselves. Grapevine’s pool sheet asks for plans carrying the Oncor approval stamp, separate electric and plumbing permits, a separate permit for any new fence, and a final inspection checking for a barrier at least four feet high with self-closing, self-latching gates. Our permit guide lists the office for every city we have checked.
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.
Outdoor living we build in Grapevine, TX
Most asked for in Grapevine: patio enclosures, patio covers, sunrooms, pergolas, outdoor kitchens.
See everything we build for outdoor living.
About 70 percent of Grapevine’s water comes from the Trinity River Authority and the rest from Lake Grapevine, and the city bans irrigation between 10am and 6pm. We plan the planting and the irrigation around those rules rather than against them. A new landscape that cannot be watered through its first summer does not survive it.
Homes and Yards in Grapevine
Grapevine grew mainly after DFW Airport opened in 1974, with its population roughly quadrupling between 1970 and 1990.
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.
The city borders Grapevine Lake, a Corps of Engineers reservoir completed in 1952, and sits at the edge of the Eastern Cross Timbers. Where an older oak survives on a lot, it is an asset: its root zone is marked before any digging, and its shade goes into the layout.
Trinity River Authority’s Tarrant County Water Supply Project.
Grapevine’s brick commercial district went up through the 1880s and 1890s after the railroad arrived in 1888. When Dallas and Fort Worth planned the airport in 1965, the city annexed land to protect its interests, so a sizable part of DFW lies inside its limits. A historic preservation ordinance followed in 1991. The census went from 29,198 in 1990 to 42,059 in 2000 and 50,631 in 2020.
About 70 percent of the city’s drinking water comes from the Trinity River Authority, fed by Cedar Creek and Richland Chambers reservoirs, and about 30 percent from Lake Grapevine, whose normal conservation pool is 535 feet. Watering any lawn or landscape is prohibited between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm.
The city’s permit sheet lists patio covers and carports as additions that need a permit. One-story accessory sheds of 120 square feet or less need a permit but pay no fee. A new fence, or moving or enlarging one, needs a permit, while replacing less than 50 percent of a legal fence at the same height does not. Retaining walls not over 4 feet are exempt. A pool plot plan must show distances to the house and property lines, and a minimum 4-foot fence with self-closing, self-latching gates is required.
The Tree Preservation Ordinance regulates tree removal under Section 52 of the zoning ordinance; the 2026 replacement cost is $320.41 per caliper inch. The city trail map lists the Big Bear Creek Trail at 3.38 miles, the C. Shane Wilbanks Trail at 3.2 miles and the Cottonbelt Trail at 2.78 miles.
Grapevine services, one by one
What each project needs on Grapevine ground and through the City of Grapevine.
What each outdoor project needs in Grapevine, TX
What does a patio cover need in Grapevine?
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 Grapevine the permit goes through the Building Inspection Department, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on patio covers.
How is a pergola built to last in Grapevine?
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 is a pool built in Grapevine?
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 Grapevine the permit goes through the Building Inspection Department, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on pools.
Can a sunroom or screened enclosure be added in Grapevine?
A sunroom or screened enclosure in Grapevine is attached to the house, so it is permitted through the Building Inspection 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 Grapevine
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A free design visit in Grapevine
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.
- 2
Drawings, permit and HOA
We file the permit with Building Inspection Department at the City of Grapevine and follow it through review. Where an HOA wants a submittal, we prepare the drawings it asks for.
- 3
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.
Grapevine outdoor living questions
The Building Inspection Department reviews residential projects in Grapevine. 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. Grapevine’s pool sheet asks for plans carrying the Oncor approval stamp, separate electric and plumbing permits, a separate permit for any new fence, and a final inspection checking for a barrier at least four feet high with self-closing, self-latching gates.
Grapevine 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.
About 70 percent of Grapevine’s water comes from the Trinity River Authority and the rest from Lake Grapevine, and the city bans irrigation between 10am and 6pm. 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 Grapevine 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 Grapevine
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 Grapevine
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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