Outdoor Living in Mesquite, 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 Mesquite homeowners in Dallas County, with one family-owned team.
- 40+Years in Business
- 15,000+Projects Completed
- 1984Family-Owned Since
- 90DFW Cities Served
Before you build in Mesquite
Mesquite is a large, largely built-out eastern Dallas County suburb with extensive 1950s-1970s ranch-era housing, so lots are typically flat with mature trees and dated infrastructure; Duck Creek and its floodplain cut across the city.
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 Mesquite and follow it through review, so the schedule doesn’t stall on paperwork.
Longhorn has built across Dallas County and the wider Metroplex since 1984, and every project starts with a free design visit and a firm price.
Homes and Yards in Mesquite
Mesquite grew explosively after World War II as suburban housing developments spread east of Dallas.
On older lots, big shade trees, narrow side gates and aging utility lines are common, so crew access and where the old lines run get checked at the first visit.
Mesquite takes its name from Mesquite Creek and has been named a Tree City USA for more than 25 years. 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.
The City of Mesquite, which buys treated surface water from the North Texas Municipal Water District.
The Texas and Pacific Railway founded Mesquite as a depot town in May 1873, the city incorporated on December 3, 1887, and the water and sewer system was completed in 1923. In 1950 the city limits covered under one square mile with 1,696 people; after annexations the city covered 20.6 square miles by 1960 with 27,526 people. Population reached 101,484 in 1990 and 150,108 in 2020. The city annexed Lawson in 1982, and in 2021 a buildout adding more than 10,000 homes was underway.
Current city water restrictions allow lawn and landscape watering twice per week, with spray irrigation no more than two days per week at each service address. In the summer schedule from April 1 to October 31, lawn irrigation is prohibited from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
A zoning text amendment adopted August 1, 2022 set the accessory structure rules for residential districts: a maximum of 500 square feet per structure in the R and D districts, with all accessory structures together covering no more than 35 percent of the yard they sit in. Maximum height is 15 feet, one story, or the height of the house, whichever is less. Setbacks are five feet on an interior side and three feet at the rear, and a structure may not sit in front of the house.
The city has more than 40 parks and had been a Tree City USA for 31 years as of 2021. The Mesquite Championship Rodeo has run since 1958, and City Lake Park is at 200 Parkview Street.
What each outdoor project needs in Mesquite, TX
What does a patio cover need in Mesquite?
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 Mesquite the permit goes through the City of Mesquite, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on patio covers.
How is a pool built in Mesquite?
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 Mesquite the permit goes through the City of Mesquite, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on pools.
How is a pergola built to last in Mesquite?
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 Mesquite?
A sunroom or screened enclosure in Mesquite is attached to the house, so it is permitted through the City of Mesquite 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 Mesquite
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A free design visit in Mesquite
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 Mesquite 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 Dallas County-local if you need us later.
Mesquite 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 Mesquite and handles the inspections, so the schedule does not stall on paperwork.
Mesquite sits on Blackland Prairie ground in Dallas 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 Mesquite 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 Mesquite
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 Mesquite
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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