Custom Pools and Spas in Dallas–Fort Worth
A gunite pool is a custom-shaped shell of steel and gunite built into the yard, finished with tile, coping and a deck. Longhorn designs pools and spas across Dallas–Fort Worth as part of the whole backyard, with the deck, shade, kitchen and lighting planned around the water.
- 40+Years in Business
- 15,000+Projects Completed
- 1984Family-Owned Since
- 90DFW Cities Served
What’s in Longhorn’s Pools & Spas?
A pool on its own is a hole in the lawn. A pool designed with the deck, the shade structure, the kitchen and the lighting is the room the whole family ends up in from May to October.
We design the water first and the yard around it (sun angles, sightlines from the kitchen, where the shade falls at five o’clock), then build all of it as one project.
- Custom gunite shapes built to your yard, not a catalog
- Raised spas, tanning ledges, water features and LED lighting
- Deck, cover and kitchen designed with the pool from day one
Most pool projects we build are designed at the same time as the outdoor kitchen, pool deck and hardscaping and covered patio. That is the whole point of one team drawing the yard before anyone digs.
Pools & Spas by city: pools & spas in Dallas, pools & spas in Abilene, pools & spas in Fort Worth.
How are Pools & Spas installed, priced and cared for?
The ground decides more about a pool here than the drawing does. Across Dallas, Plano, Frisco and McKinney you are on Blackland Prairie clay, which swells in a wet spring and shrinks hard by August. We engineer the shell and the steel for that movement, and we set control joints in the deck on purpose so the concrete cracks where we tell it to, not across the middle of the patio.
West of the Trinity it flips. Fort Worth Prairie ground is thin soil over limestone, so the question is rock in the dig, not movement. We would rather talk about that at the design visit than find it with the excavator.
The process runs in stages: design and a site walk, engineering and permits, excavation, steel and plumbing, the gunite shell, tile and coping, the deck, then equipment, finish and start-up. Each stage waits on an inspection or a cure, and weather moves the dig more than anything else. Our permit guide covers what the city looks at, including the barrier and gate rules around a pool.
Pick the finish for how you will live with it. Plaster is the classic look, quartz and pebble are rougher underfoot and hide wear better. Ask to stand on samples in the sun before you choose, because a dark finish and a light one make very different water colors.
What drives the cost of a pool?
We do not publish a price range, because a number that ignores your yard is not a quote. It is a guess you would have to un-learn later. These are the things that actually change the figure, and we will price them honestly at the design visit.
- Size, depth and shape: a freeform shell with a sun shelf costs more to form than a rectangle
- The finish: plaster, quartz or pebble, and whether the waterline is tile or stone
- Water features, lighting and automation: a spa spillover and app control add both equipment and plumbing
- The deck around it, which is often a quarter of the project and is usually where people underestimate
- Site access and soil: a narrow side gate or rock excavation changes the dig
Pools & Spas: common questions
Ask how the shell and steel are engineered for your ground, since Blackland clay moves and Fort Worth Prairie ground can mean rock in the dig. Ask where the deck’s control joints go, who handles the permit and barrier rules, and whether the deck is in the price. Longhorn designs the pool and the yard around it as one project.
We do not quote one figure, because size, depth and shape, the finish, water features and automation, the deck around it and site access all move the price. The deck alone is often about a quarter of the project. The free design visit gives you a firm price for your own yard.
Design and permitting first, then typically eight to twelve weeks on site depending on scope. If a cover or kitchen is part of the plan, they run on the same schedule.
Usually for pools, structures attached to the house and anything electrical or gas. We file it and handle the inspection so it doesn’t stall your schedule.
That’s the point. The deck drainage, the footings for a cover and the gas or power for a kitchen all cross the same ground as the pool plumbing. One design, one crew and one schedule means the pieces fit each other and nobody cuts a finished deck later to run a line.
Weekly chemistry and brushing, emptying baskets, and watching the water level through summer evaporation. Leaves from live oaks and pecans are the big chore in fall. Before a hard freeze, keep the pump running so water keeps moving through the lines, and make sure your automation has freeze protection turned on.
Before You Commit to Pools & Spas
- Place it with the shade. The pool, the deck, the cover and the kitchen are laid out together and by sun angle, so the water is the center of a room you can use, not a hole in the lawn.
- Engineer for ground that moves. The shell and the flatwork are designed for soil that swells and shrinks through the year. That decision is made in the drawings, not on site.
- Expect a real timeline. After design and permitting, a typical pool is eight to twelve weeks on site. Knowing that up front is easier than finding out in week six.
How does a pool project run?
- 1
A free design visit
A designer measures the yard, walks the access a crew would use, and talks through what you want the space to do. You get a firm price, not a range.
- 2
Drawings, permit and HOA
We draw the job, file the permit with your city and follow it through review. Where an HOA needs a submittal, we prepare the drawings it asks for.
- 3
One crew, one schedule
The same team builds the whole thing in the right order, so the slab, the structure, the electrical and the finish work are not three companies blaming each other.
- 4
Walkthrough and warranty
We walk the finished job with you, settle the punch list, and leave you with one warranty covering the work rather than a folder of separate ones.
Reading on Pools & Spas
Practical notes on building a backyard in North Texas.
Building a Pool in Bonham, TX: Clay, Permits, Water
A pool in Bonham sits in clay that swells and shrinks, on lots that can be decades old. Here is what to settle on the ground, the permit, access, water and freeze protection before signing.
Energy Efficient Pool Abilene TX: What Actually Pays
Evaporation, wind and an old pump drive much of a pool’s running cost in West Texas. Here is the order to fix them in, what to skip, and how to build efficiency into a new pool.
Pool Lighting in Abilene: LED, Code and Who Installs
A plain guide to lighting an Abilene pool from the wiring out: which light types earn their place, what to check before a retrofit, and which jobs belong to a licensed electrician.
Recent work: Pools & Spas
Pools & Spas by city
Written for the soil, permits and lots of each city, in DFW and out in Abilene.
Other outdoor living options
Who builds your project
- Family-owned since 1984. Dallas–Fort Worth homeowners have hired Longhorn for four decades. The business is still family-owned.
- One team, start to finish. The designer who measures your yard and the crew that builds it work for Longhorn, on one schedule.
- In-house crews. The people who quote the job are the people who stand behind it.
- Permits and HOA handled. We draw the job, file the permit with your city and prepare what most HOAs ask for.
- One warranty. One company answers for the whole project, not a folder of separate contractors.
Free estimate on Pools & Spas
We’ll come out, measure, talk through the options and give you a firm number. No obligation.
Call (972) 534-2716Get Your Free Quote
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