Pools & Spas in Hillsboro
Gunite pools and spas planned with the deck, shade and kitchen.
Outdoor Living in Hillsboro, 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 Hillsboro homeowners in Hill County, with one family-owned team.
- 40+Years in Business
- 15,000+Projects Completed
- 1984Family-Owned Since
- 334Texas Cities Served
Before you build in Hillsboro
Hillsboro, the Hill County seat, is on Interstate Highway 35, fifty miles south of Fort Worth and fifty-five miles southwest of Dallas in the central part of the county. Katy Lake and Lake Aquilla are both partially within the city limits.
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 Hillsboro the job is reviewed by the Building & Community Services, and we file and follow the permit through that office ourselves. Our permit guide lists the office for every city we have checked.
Longhorn has been building since 1984, and every project starts with a free design visit and a firm price.
Outdoor living we build in Hillsboro, TX
Outdoor Kitchens in Hillsboro
Stone islands, built-in grills, fridges and a real vent hood, under cover.
Patio Covers in Hillsboro
Solid-roof shade over the patio. It’s the simplest way to use it year-round.
Pergolas in Hillsboro
Fixed or louvered, built to your slab, the yard’s centerpiece.
Sunrooms in Hillsboro
Glass walls under a solid roof. Real square footage, light all day.
Patio Enclosures in Hillsboro
Screened rooms: the breeze and the view, none of the mosquitoes.
Hardscaping in Hillsboro
Travertine, pavers, seat walls and fire pits, with drainage solved first.
Landscaping & Lighting in Hillsboro
Water-wise planting, irrigation and lighting for North Texas.
Outdoor living ideas for Hillsboro homes
Homes and Yards in Hillsboro
When Hill County was established in 1853, Thomas M. Steiner donated a 220-acre plot for the county seat, named Hillsborough for Dr. George W. Hill. The railroad arrived in 1881, and the Katy shops brought jobs until 1930.
Outdoor additions to older homes in a historic county seat fit best with traditional materials, such as brick piers, stone accents or classic round columns.
Hill County lies within the Blackland Prairie, Grand Prairie, and Eastern Cross Timbers regions. Temperatures range between an average high of 95° F in July and an average low of 36° in January.
Water comes from the City of Hillsboro, which treats surface water.
By 1890 Hillsboro had 2,000 people, six churches, a new courthouse, three banks, a cotton compress, an opera house, and two weekly newspapers. Hillsboro Junior College, founded in 1923, was one of the first municipal junior colleges in the state; it closed in 1950 and was reactivated as Hill Junior College in 1962.
The last train ran on the Katy tracks in 1964, the year the Confederate Research Center and the Audie L. Murphy Gun Museum were established. The courthouse-square buildings were renovated in the 1970s. The population was 8,232 in 2000, and historic sites include the M-K-T Railroad Station and the Hill County Courthouse and Jail.
NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 74 hail reports in Hill County from 2016 to 2025, 61 of them an inch across or larger, with stones up to 4.5 inches. 9 of those reports were logged at Hillsboro itself, the largest 1 inches. The same records show 14 damaging thunderstorm wind reports, with gusts up to about 75 mph, and 11 tornadoes. That is why a patio cover’s roof panels, fasteners and posts here are chosen for hail and wind, not only for shade.
What each outdoor project needs in Hillsboro, TX
How is a pool built in Hillsboro?
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 Hillsboro the permit goes through the Building & Community Services, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on pools.
What does a patio cover need in Hillsboro?
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 Hillsboro the permit goes through the Building & Community Services, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on patio covers.
How is a pergola built to last in Hillsboro?
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 Hillsboro?
A sunroom or screened enclosure in Hillsboro is attached to the house, so it is permitted through the Building & Community Services 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 Hillsboro
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A free design visit in Hillsboro
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.
- 2
Drawings, permit and HOA
We file the permit with Building & Community Services at the City of Hillsboro 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 a phone call away if you need us later.
Hillsboro outdoor living questions
The Building & Community Services reviews residential projects in Hillsboro. 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.
Hillsboro sits on Blackland Prairie ground in Hill 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 Hillsboro 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 Hillsboro
Every town we serve in Hill County · See all 334 cities we serve
Free design visits in Hillsboro
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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