Patio installation
An outdoor room you use most of the year
Plenty of Dallas back yards have a patio nobody sits on. It is usually too small for the furniture people actually own, it bakes from noon until evening, and there is nothing out there once the temperature drops.
We build patios as rooms. The floor gets sized against the furniture, the shade goes up as part of the same project, and a fireplace or fire feature extends the season at the other end. Palms Living Oasis has been building outdoor living space around Dallas since 2008, and one crew handles the floor, the structure and the surround.
Tell us how you would use it and we will come and lay it out on site.
What makes a patio worth using in July?
Shade, mostly. A slab in full afternoon sun is unusable here for months, no matter how well it is built, so the cover is not a decoration to add later. Orientation matters just as much: we look at where the sun actually sits over your yard in the afternoon before deciding where the patio goes, which is sometimes not where the back door is. Airflow, planting and a cooler surface underfoot do the rest. It is the same thinking behind every project across our wider landscape work, which is to design for the climate the yard has.
Do you build pergolas and fireplaces too?
Yes, as part of the same job. A pergola or pavilion gives the patio its shade and its shape, and a fireplace or fire feature is what pulls people outside from November onwards. Built together, the proportions work and the levels run true off the house. Added separately, they rarely do.
Shade is doing real work here, not just looking good. The EPA's heat island research covers how hard paved surfaces and shade change the temperature people actually feel, which in a Dallas summer is the whole difference between a patio and an empty slab.
Build the back yard you would actually sit in
Free on-site estimates across the Dallas metro. Floor, shade and surround from one family run crew.
Call (972) 464-7000What if the yard is not level?
Then the patio starts with the ground, not the paving. A sloping yard either gets cut and filled to make a flat terrace, or it gets built in two levels with steps between them, which often looks better than forcing everything onto one plane. Either way the cut face has to be held, and that is a wall with a footing and drainage behind it rather than a stack of stone. Our wall building covers that side, and on a sloping site the two jobs are really one job.
How big should a patio be?
Bigger than most people first say. Put the furniture you own on the plan, then add the space to walk behind a pulled out chair, and the number jumps quickly. A dining setting needs clear room on all four sides, a lounge setting needs a path around it, and the grill needs standing space that is not in the walkway. We mark it out on the ground before we price it, so you can stand in it and see the size rather than picture it from a drawing.
Ask a turf installer
Straight answers about artificial turf in North Texas
How long does a patio take to build?
The floor itself is usually a matter of days once the base is in. Adding a pergola, a fireplace or level changes extends it, and we give you a real program before we start.
Can you extend a patio that is already there?
Often yes, though we check what the existing slab is sitting on first. If the old base is sound we tie into it and match levels; if it is not, we say so rather than build onto a problem.
What surface stays coolest underfoot?
Lighter colored materials and anything shaded stay noticeably cooler than a dark surface in full sun. We will show you options on site in your own afternoon light before you choose.
Do I need a permit for a patio?
It depends on the city and on what is being built, especially with a roofed structure or anything electrical. We tell you what your project needs before work is scheduled.
Can a patio work with a pool?
Very well, and it is one of our most common jobs. The patio surround, the coping edge and the surface around the water get built as one piece so the levels and drainage work together.
Will turf work alongside the patio?
It is a natural pairing. Turf gives a clean, green edge to the paving with no mowing strip to keep, and it keeps grass clippings and mud off the patio floor.