Outdoor Living in Red Oak, 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 Red Oak homeowners in Ellis County, with one family-owned team.
- 40+Years in Business
- 15,000+Projects Completed
- 1984Family-Owned Since
- 90DFW Cities Served
Before you build in Red Oak
Red Oak sits on I-35E just south of the Dallas County line and grew from a farming community into a commuter suburb, so subdivisions from the 1990s onward sit on former row-crop blackland with very little mature canopy. Lots slope gently toward Red Oak Creek and its tributaries, which cross the city from west to east.
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 Red Oak and follow it through review, so the schedule doesn’t stall on paperwork.
Longhorn has built across Ellis County and the wider Metroplex since 1984, and every project starts with a free design visit and a firm price.
Homes and Yards in Red Oak
Red Oak grew from a small town into a Dallas–Fort Worth commuter suburb, with most of its growth coming after the late 1980s.
Most Red Oak subdivisions date from the 1990s on and sit on open former cropland, so the yard usually has a small builder’s slab and little shade. A cover or pergola often comes first in the plan.
The town grew up along Red Oak Creek, which gave it its name. Near a creek or river it is worth checking the flood maps early, before a pool or slab is placed.
Dallas Water Utilities (Red Oak is a wholesale customer).
Colonel James E. Patton moved his family to the present townsite in 1845, and the settlement was first called Possum Trot before being renamed for Red Oak Creek and the red oaks along its banks. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad reached Red Oak in 1884 but ran its tracks about a mile from town at residents' request, and the town shifted its center to the tracks in 1893. Red Oak incorporated in 1949 with 350 people in 1950, then 4,301 in 2000, 10,769 in 2010 and 14,222 in 2020. The creek runs just south of town through oak thickets.
The Permits and Inspections Division of Development Services at 101 S. Live Oak Street enforces the 2024 International Residential Code, the 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code and the 2023 National Electrical Code. All decks and all concrete patios require a permit. Accessory buildings need a permit and plan review, may not exceed 650 square feet or one story, and are limited to three per lot ten feet apart. A fence permit is required for a new fence, a height change, a relocation or replacing more than 25 percent of the pickets, with a maximum height of eight feet. Retaining walls over four feet including footings need an engineered design, and pools require a pool alarm and barrier affidavit.
Lake Trail Park at 100 Lake Trail Drive has bike and walking trails, Cherry Creek Nature Preserve at 297 Pecan Creek Street has disc golf, and The Oaks Park at 1319 Beaumont Street has ball fields and a pavilion.
What each outdoor project needs in Red Oak, TX
What does a patio cover need in Red Oak?
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 Red Oak the permit goes through the City of Red Oak, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on patio covers.
How is a pergola built to last in Red Oak?
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 Red Oak?
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 Red Oak the permit goes through the City of Red Oak, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on pools.
How a Backyard Project Runs in Red Oak
- 1
A free design visit in Red Oak
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 the City of Red Oak 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 Ellis County-local if you need us later.
Red Oak 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 Red Oak and handles the inspections, so the schedule does not stall on paperwork.
Red Oak sits on Blackland Prairie ground in Ellis 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 Red Oak 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 Red Oak
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 Red Oak
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