Planning an Outdoor Living Space for Your Fort Worth Area Home

Stanton & Co. is known for detailed, thoughtful, well-planned remodels. The photos of newly renovated kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, and even home additions can be found on our website and social media. But you may not know that we also create outdoor living spaces that enhance the aesthetic and value of your home while providing the perfect gathering space for your family and friends.

If you live in the DFW metroplex, including Fort Worth, Keller, Southlake, Mansfield, Arlington, or Aledo, your backyard has the potential to function as another room of your home for most of the year. An outdoor living space extends the comfort of your home into the yard, whether that means a simple deck for morning coffee, a pergola glowing with string lights on a Friday night, or a full outdoor kitchen built for entertaining a crowd on game day. Stanton & Co. designs and builds outdoor living spaces suited to North Texas heat, soil, and rainfall, so the finished space holds up to the North Texas climate.

An Outdoor Living Space Adds Everyday Value to Your Home

A deck, patio, pergola, outdoor kitchen, or even a pool house gives you more usable square footage without the cost of a full addition. Because North Texas enjoys mild weather for much of the fall, winter, and spring, an outdoor living space adds usable time to your home across most of the calendar year, not just during the summer months. Many homeowners also find that a well-planned outdoor living space raises the everyday appeal of a home when it comes time to sell.

A Deck Turns an Unused Area of Your Backyard into Your Favorite Room

Whether adding a new element to an unused corner of your backyard, or attaching to the back of your home, a new deck gives you a raised, defined space for seating, dining, or a grill, and it works well on sloped lots where a patio would need significant grading. It becomes the platform for everything from a quiet cup of coffee before sunrise to a Friday night crowd gathered around the fire pit. Your material choice determines both the upfront cost and the long-term maintenance a deck requires.

• Pressure-treated pine: the most budget-friendly option, though it needs regular staining and sealing to hold up to North Texas sun and humidity.
• Cedar and redwood: naturally resistant to rot and insects, with a richer grain that many homeowners choose for a more finished appearance.
• Composite decking: engineered to resist fading, splintering, and moisture, with a higher material cost offset by lower long-term maintenance.

Deck installation in the Fort Worth area typically runs $25 to $50 per square foot for pressure-treated pine, $30 to $54 per square foot for cedar or redwood, and $40 to $80 per square foot for composite decking, depending on size, elevation, and railing details.

Patios Offer Durable, Low-Maintenance Outdoor Living

A patio sits at ground level and typically costs less than a deck of the same size, making it a practical choice for dining areas, fire pits, and outdoor kitchens. Because much of the Fort Worth area sits on expansive clay soil, proper base depth and drainage planning matter as much as the surface material you choose.

• Poured or stamped concrete: a cost-effective option available in a range of colors, textures, and patterns.
• Paver patios: installed with interlocking brick or concrete pavers, giving you flexibility for future repairs and a wide range of design layouts.
• Natural stone: flagstone or travertine deliver a higher-end, textured look, with a higher material cost than concrete or standard pavers.
• Porcelain tile: a dense, low-absorption material rated for exterior use, porcelain tile gives a patio a more contemporary look, and it tends to stay cooler underfoot than dark concrete during peak summer heat. Ceramic tile is not recommended outdoors, since its higher water absorption makes it far more prone to cracking through a North Texas freeze-thaw cycle. For more information to compare these, see our blog [Porcelain, Ceramic, or Natural Stone: Choosing the Right Tile Flooring for Your Fort Worth Remodel].

Concrete patios in the Fort Worth area typically cost $8 to $15 per square foot installed, paver patios run $16 to $25 per square foot, natural stone patios range from $15 to $35 per square foot, and porcelain tile patios run $10 to $25 per square foot, depending on material and pattern complexity.

Pergolas Add Shade and Structure to Any Outdoor Space

A pergola defines an outdoor room, provides partial shade during the hottest months, and gives you a structure for climbing plants, string lighting, or a retractable canopy. It gives you shade to sit under through the hottest part of a Texas afternoon, whether you’re hosting a graduation party or just enjoying a quiet Saturday afternoon. Stanton & Co. designs and builds custom pergolas matched to your home’s architecture, with the flexibility to choose size, materials, and integrated lighting or shade features.

Some homeowners take on a prefabricated pergola kit as a do-it-yourself weekend project; those run $10 to $40 per square foot in materials for aluminum, vinyl, or wood components. A simple, custom-built pergola from Stanton & Co. ranges from $30 to $65 per square foot installed, depending on material and design.

Outdoor Kitchens Turn Your Backyard into an Entertaining Space

An outdoor kitchen extends your cooking and entertaining space beyond your indoor kitchen, and the scope can range from a simple grill island to a full second kitchen with refrigeration, bar seating, and premium finishes. It’s built for the kind of weekend when the game is on, the smoker is going, and everyone ends up outside.

• Basic setups: a built-in grill island with counter space, well suited to smaller patios.
• Mid-range kitchens: add a side burner, refrigerator, and additional counter and storage space.
• Full outdoor kitchens: include a complete cooking and prep area with a sink, refrigeration, bar seating, and premium countertop and cabinetry finishes.
• Appliance and feature customization: we design every outdoor kitchen around the specific appliances you want, whether that means a built-in gas grill, a smoker, a Big Green Egg or other ceramic grill, a beverage center, a full-size refrigerator, or a dedicated ice machine.

Outdoor kitchen projects in the Fort Worth area generally range from $7,000 for a basic grill station to $35,000 or more for a full custom kitchen. Countertop selection plays as large a role outdoors as it does indoors; see [Choosing the Right Countertop Material for Your Fort Worth Area Remodel] for a full breakdown of material options and durability considerations.

Shopping for an outdoor kitchen countertop works the same way it does for an interior kitchen remodel. We recommend natural stone, such as granite or quartzite, for outdoor countertops, and resealing the surface once a year to protect it from sun and moisture exposure.

Because an outdoor kitchen involves gas/propane lines, water supply, and electrical circuits, Stanton & Co. handles every outdoor kitchen project with our licensed electricians and plumbers, so your entire project stays under one contractor.

Choose Materials That Hold Up to North Texas Weather

North Texas summers bring extended heat and intense sun, while winter occasionally delivers a hard freeze. Materials for your outdoor living space should account for both extremes, along with the humidity and heavy rain that come with spring storm season. Sealed wood, composite decking, and dense natural stone all perform well in this climate, provided they are installed with the drainage and expansion planning North Texas soil requires.

Wood decking needs the most ongoing attention. Depending on sun exposure and the product used, a stained wood deck generally needs to be refinished every one to three years to prevent fading, splintering, and moisture damage. Staining alone is not enough: a wood deck should also be sealed after staining, since the sealer is what actually blocks moisture and UV damage from breaking down the finish underneath it.

Winter ice is a concern for natural stone and tile surfaces as well as wood. Moisture that works into hairline cracks or grout lines can expand when it freezes, which is why proper sealing and a quality installation matter as much for a stone or tile patio as they do for a wood deck.

Plan Your Outdoor Living Project Timeline

Outdoor living project timelines vary widely based on scope. A straightforward material update, such as replacing an existing deck’s boards or resurfacing a patio without changing its footprint, generally takes one to two weeks of construction. A new build typically takes three weeks at minimum, and often longer, once you factor in permitting, inspections, and the trade work more complex outdoor spaces require.

Projects that involve gas lines or new electrical circuits require the city to inspect and flag those lines before work continues, which adds time to the schedule. Sprinkler lines may need to be relocated, foundation forms built and cured before a patio cover or pergola structure goes up, and our electricians and plumbers scheduled to run electrical, gas, or propane lines to the site. A pergola or patio cover that includes a roof adds shingles, gutters, and painting to the project scope, each with its own lead time.

If your neighborhood has an HOA, build its review process into your timeline; many Fort Worth area HOAs require plan approval before work begins on a deck, pergola, or outdoor kitchen structure. Specialty materials and appliances, such as natural stone or a built-in refrigeration unit, often carry longer lead times than stock products, so ordering early keeps your project moving once permitting clears.

Permit requirements and fees vary by city, and most Fort Worth area municipalities charge in the range of $100 to $300 for outdoor structure permits. Taking all of this into account, most outdoor living projects run three to six weeks from the start of construction to completion, and Stanton & Co. will provide a project-specific timeline once your scope and permitting requirements are defined.

For a full breakdown of what to expect during a remodel, from the planning phase through the final walkthrough, see What to Expect When You’re Remodeling: A Homeowner’s Complete Preparation Guide.

Stanton & Co. Designs Outdoor Living Spaces Built for the Way You Live

Stanton & Co. brings the same licensed trades, design process, and attention to detail to your backyard that we bring to a kitchen or bathroom remodel. Picture the finished version: string lights on at dusk, a table set for family and friends, and a kitchen built to keep the evening going.

Visit our Design Center at 4824 Camp Bowie Blvd. in Fort Worth or call 817.731.5855 ext. 1 to discuss your project and schedule a free in-home consultation. You can also reach us through our website Contact Form to start planning your outdoor living space.

Stanton & Company provides full-service residential remodeling, custom cabinetry, countertops, flooring, and design services to homeowners throughout the Dallas–Fort Worth area, including Fort Worth, Benbrook, Aledo, Willow Park, Hudson Oaks, Weatherford, Brock, Keller, the Mid-Cities (Euless, Bedford, Hurst), North Richland Hills, Southlake, Colleyville, Argyle, Arlington, Pantego, Mansfield, Kennedale, Burleson, and Crowley. Visit our Design Center on Camp Bowie Blvd. or call 817.731.5855 ext. 1 to schedule a consultation.