Outdoor Living in Princeton, 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 Princeton homeowners in Collin County, with one family-owned team.
- 40+Years in Business
- 15,000+Projects Completed
- 1984Family-Owned Since
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Before you build in Princeton
Princeton sits on US 380 east of McKinney and was a small farming town on the rail line until very recently; its growth since the mid-2010s has been rapid subdivision building on former blackland cropland, so most yards are flat with almost no mature trees.
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 Princeton 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 Princeton
Princeton is a Blackland Prairie farm town that grew after nearby Lake Lavon was finished in 1953 and with Dallas-area growth, still ringed by horse and cattle ranches in the late 1980s.
Most Princeton yards are recent subdivision lots on flat former cropland with almost no trees, so shade leads the design. Where there is an HOA, one set of drawings for the whole yard keeps the review simple.
Princeton sits on the Blackland Prairie about five miles from Lake Lavon.
City of Princeton, which buys treated surface water from the North Texas Municipal Water District.
The Missouri, Kansas and Texas line crossed the Wilson brothers' farmland in 1881, giving the stop the name Wilson’s Switch, and the post office opened in 1888 as Princeton, for landowner Prince Dowlin. By the mid-1920s the town had electricity, water, natural gas and paved roads for 500 residents, and during World War II prisoners from the town’s POW camp enlarged the public park. Population was 594 in 1960, 3,477 in 2000, 6,807 in 2010 and 17,027 in 2020.
City watering rules allow no more than twice a week from April 1 to October 31 and one day a week from November 1 to March 31, with watering prohibited from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and during rain or freeze events. Irrigation may not spray sidewalks or roads, and potable water may not be used to fill ponds.
Fences may be built up to six feet high from grade on the rear and side yards using schedule 40 steel posts, front-yard fences are limited to 48 inches, barbed wire is not allowed, and the fence permit fee is $25. Accessory buildings such as patio covers, storage buildings and detached garages may be built if they meet the setback criteria for the lot; Development Services at 972-736-6169, option 4, answers pool and setback questions.
Princeton Municipal Park at 2000 E. Princeton Drive has a catch-and-release fishing pond, J.M. Caldwell Sr. Community Park at 500 W. College Avenue has an 18-basket disc golf course, and J.J. Book Wilson Memorial Park at 650 Beauchamp Boulevard has a pavilion and pond.
What each outdoor project needs in Princeton, TX
What does a patio cover need in Princeton?
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 Princeton the permit goes through the City of Princeton, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on patio covers.
How is a pergola built to last in Princeton?
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.
How is a pool built in Princeton?
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 Princeton the permit goes through the City of Princeton, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on pools.
Can a sunroom or screened enclosure be added in Princeton?
A sunroom or screened enclosure in Princeton is attached to the house, so it is permitted through the City of Princeton 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 Princeton
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A free design visit in Princeton
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 Princeton 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.
- 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 Collin County-local if you need us later.
Princeton 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 Princeton and handles the inspections, so the schedule does not stall on paperwork.
Princeton 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 Princeton 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 Princeton
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 Princeton
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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