Outdoor Living in Joshua, 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 Joshua homeowners in Johnson County, with one family-owned team.
- 40+Years in Business
- 15,000+Projects Completed
- 1984Family-Owned Since
- 90DFW Cities Served
Before you build in Joshua
Joshua sits south of Burleson on US 67/FM 917 and has grown from a rural crossroads into a commuter town, so its housing is a mix of older rural homesteads and subdivisions built from the 1990s onward. Terrain west of town is the open, thin-soiled prairie typical of central Johnson County rather than wooded bottomland.
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 Joshua and follow it through review, so the schedule doesn’t stall on paperwork.
Longhorn has built across Johnson County and the wider Metroplex since 1984, and every project starts with a free design visit and a firm price.
Homes and Yards in Joshua
Joshua grew mainly from the 1980s on as a commuter town for nearby Fort Worth.
Joshua mixes older rural homesteads with subdivisions built from the 1990s on. A subdivision lot usually starts with a builder’s slab and young trees; on a homestead the utility runs get longer and a septic field, where there is one, decides where a pool can go.
Joshua is in the Cross Timbers, drained by Village Creek and East Buffalo Creek tributaries, with the hill Brushy Knob to the west. Where the ground slopes or rock sits close to the surface, retaining walls or rock excavation get priced at the design visit rather than discovered during the dig.
Joshua’s plat was surveyed in 1880 and the community organized in 1881 when the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was completed from Cleburne to Fort Worth, drawing residents away from Caddo Grove two miles west. A public water system began about 1906. The town was not incorporated until the mid-1950s, when the population had dropped to 550; it climbed to 1,470 in 1980, 3,828 in 1990, 5,910 in 2010 and 7,891 in 2020, and the city now puts it at just over 9,361.
The Eastern Cross Timbers cover about one-third of Johnson County with acidic loamy soils over clay subsoil, and the county’s secondary streams include Village, Buffalo and Mountain creeks. County terrain is level to gently sloping in the east and steeper in parts of the west.
Development Services states that any proposed construction on a property requires a permit. Its accessory building sheet says such buildings cannot sit in the front yard, must keep five feet from rear and side lot lines and fifteen feet from any other building, and need engineer-sealed plans if the narrow end exceeds 24 feet. An all-metal patio cover must either carry a listing showing compliance with the 2015 International Residential Code or be sealed by a Texas engineer. Pools must meet the 2015 IRC and 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, and plans need an Oncor or United Cooperative Services stamp confirming no overhead lines.
The Parks and Recreation Department at 101 South Main St. maintains the city’s open space, including Joshua City Park and its splash pad.
What each outdoor project needs in Joshua, TX
How is a pergola built to last in Joshua?
On Fort Worth Prairie ground a pergola’s footings usually reach limestone quickly, which makes for a stable base. Getting there is the work: shallow rock means drilling rather than augering, and it is worth knowing before anyone quotes a post count. More on pergolas.
How is a pool built in Joshua?
Fort Worth Prairie ground is shallow soil over limestone, so a pool excavation here often means rock rather than shrink-swell clay. That is a cost we would rather price honestly at the design visit than discover halfway through the dig, and it is the single biggest variable on this side of the metroplex. In Joshua the permit goes through the City of Joshua, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on pools.
What does a patio cover need in Joshua?
Fort Worth Prairie limestone sits close to the surface, which is good news for a patio cover: footings bear on rock instead of moving clay. The trade is excavation: drilling a footing into limestone takes different equipment than augering clay, and that belongs in the price up front. In Joshua the permit goes through the City of Joshua, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on patio covers.
How a Backyard Project Runs in Joshua
- 1
A free design visit in Joshua
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 Fort Worth 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 the City of Joshua 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.
- 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 Johnson County-local if you need us later.
Joshua 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 Joshua and handles the inspections, so the schedule does not stall on paperwork.
Joshua sits on Fort Worth Prairie ground in Johnson 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 Joshua 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 Joshua
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 Joshua
Tell us what you have in mind and we’ll come measure, talk options and give you a straight number. No obligation, no pressure.
Call (972) 534-2716Get Your Free Quote
4.8 on Google from 22 reviewsFamily-owned since 1984