Outdoor Living in Southlake, 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 Southlake homeowners in Tarrant County, with one family-owned team.
- 40+Years in Business
- 15,000+Projects Completed
- 1984Family-Owned Since
- 90DFW Cities Served
Before you build in Southlake
Bigger lots and an HOA review are the two constants in Southlake. We prepare the submittal package the association asks for alongside the city permit, so the two run together instead of one after the other.
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 Southlake and follow it through review, so the schedule doesn’t stall on paperwork.
Longhorn has built across Tarrant County and the wider Metroplex since 1984, and every project starts with a free design visit and a firm price.
Outdoor living we build in Southlake, TX
Most asked for in Southlake: patio enclosures, patio covers.
Homes and Yards in Southlake
Southlake grew fast from the 1980s on, as people from the cities moved in for its rural feel.
In neighborhoods of that age the original patio and fencing are often due for replacement, and mature trees shape where a pool or a cover can sensibly go.
Southlake sits just south of Grapevine Lake, which was completed in 1952.
City of Southlake, which buys treated surface water from the City of Fort Worth, with a connection to Grapevine.
By the 1960s the scattered community had incorporated, with a population of 1,023 in 1960, 2,808 in 1980 and 7,082 in 1990. The population tripled in 2000, reaching 21,519, then 31,105 in 2021. Southlake borders Grapevine, Keller and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, seventeen miles north of Fort Worth.
Southlake follows a year-round, twice a week watering schedule under its 5-Year Water Conservation Plan (2024): even-numbered addresses on Wednesdays and Saturdays, odd-numbered addresses on Thursdays and Sundays, with automatic irrigation allowed only between 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. on those days. The City of Fort Worth is Southlake’s direct wholesale water supplier.
Building Inspections, 1400 Main St., Ste. 250, 817-748-8236, requires permits for detached accessory structures over 120 square feet and for any attached structure, and a separate fence permit for fences over 7 feet, any pool barrier, and masonry fences or retaining walls 48 inches or more from the bottom of the footing. A pool permit can cover detached structures not exceeding 120 square feet, while larger ones and attached patio covers need their own permit. Pools must sit in a side or rear yard at least 5 feet from any property line, measured from back of beam, and outside easements, with a 48 inch permanent barrier.
No protected trees may be removed without permission from the City, orange tree protection fencing must go up before any work begins, and where dedicated tree conservation areas exist a Tree Protection Permit must be approved before the building permit is released. The Landscape Administrator is at 817-748-8229.
What each outdoor project needs in Southlake, TX
What does a patio cover need in Southlake?
Eastern Cross Timbers loam is easier to dig than clay, but it sits on clay, so a post hole that looks clean at three feet can still be in moving ground at five. Footings are sized for what is under the sand, not what the auger came through first. In Southlake the permit goes through the City of Southlake, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on patio covers.
How is a pergola built to last in Southlake?
In the Eastern Cross Timbers the sand drains and the clay beneath it does not, so a pergola post can sit in a hole that holds water after a storm. The footing detail and the grade around each post are what keep the base of a wooden post dry. More on pergolas.
How is a pool built in Southlake?
Eastern Cross Timbers ground is sandier loam over clay, which digs more kindly than the black prairie but drains onto a layer that does not. On a pool that shows up as water travelling under the deck, so the drainage and the backfill detail matter as much as the shell. In Southlake the permit goes through the City of Southlake, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on pools.
Can a sunroom or screened enclosure be added in Southlake?
A sunroom or screened enclosure in Southlake is attached to the house, so it is permitted through the City of Southlake 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 Southlake
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A free design visit in Southlake
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 Eastern Cross Timbers 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 Southlake 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 Tarrant County-local if you need us later.
Southlake 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 Southlake and handles the inspections, so the schedule does not stall on paperwork.
Southlake sits on Eastern Cross Timbers ground in Tarrant 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 Southlake 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 Southlake
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 Southlake
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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