Outdoor Living in Melissa, 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 Melissa homeowners in Collin County, with one family-owned team.
- 40+Years in Business
- 15,000+Projects Completed
- 1984Family-Owned Since
- 90DFW Cities Served
Before you build in Melissa
Melissa sits on open blackland farmland along US 75 and the rail line north of McKinney; it was a small farm town for most of its history and the great majority of its homes are recent subdivision construction, so lot tree cover is young.
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 Melissa and follow it through review, so the schedule doesn’t stall on paperwork.
Longhorn has built across Collin County and the wider Metroplex since 1984, and every project starts with a free design visit and a firm price.
Homes and Yards in Melissa
Melissa was a small town until about 2000 and has grown rapidly since.
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.
Melissa sits on the rich soils of the Blackland Prairie.
North Texas Municipal Water District (Melissa is a customer of NTMWD’s regional water system).
The town was laid out in 1872 when the Houston and Texas Central Railway reached the area and was connected to Dallas by the Texas Electric Railway in 1908. A tornado on April 13, 1921 killed 13 people and a 1929 fire destroyed many rebuilt buildings. Population peaked at 500 in 1925, fell to 285 in 1949, and the town incorporated in the early 1970s. Census counts were 604 in 1980, 1,350 in 2000, 4,695 in 2010 and 13,901 in 2020. Melissa sits on U.S. 75 seven miles northeast of McKinney.
City watering limits run year-round: no irrigation system use between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., no watering during precipitation and no runoff. From April 1 to October 31 outdoor watering is limited to twice per week, and from November 1 to March 31 to once per week.
Permits are handled at Melissa City Hall, 3411 Barker Avenue, through the Camino Permitting Portal, and residential building permits may take up to 7 to 10 working days. The city defines an accessory building as a subordinate building exceeding 120 square feet. Detached accessory buildings must be in the rear yard, at least five feet from any side or rear lot line, at least 15 feet from the main building, and not in a utility easement. Patio covers count as accessory structures, and concrete flatwork not more than 30 inches above the graded rear yard may extend into the rear setback.
Bob Miller Park is at 1716 Miller Road. The city adopted its Home Rule Charter on November 8, 2011.
What each outdoor project needs in Melissa, TX
What does a patio cover need in Melissa?
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 Melissa the permit goes through the City of Melissa, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on patio covers.
How is a pool built in Melissa?
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 Melissa the permit goes through the City of Melissa, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on pools.
How is a pergola built to last in Melissa?
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 Melissa?
A sunroom or screened enclosure in Melissa is attached to the house, so it is permitted through the City of Melissa 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 Melissa
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A free design visit in Melissa
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 Melissa 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 Collin County-local if you need us later.
Melissa 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 Melissa and handles the inspections, so the schedule does not stall on paperwork.
Melissa sits on Blackland Prairie ground in Collin 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 Melissa 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 Melissa
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 Melissa
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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