Patio Covers, Pergolas & Outdoor Kitchens in Houston & the Suburbs

Houston backyards spend most of the year fighting the sun, and a covered patio, a pergola or an outdoor kitchen is what turns that backyard into a space people actually use instead of one they look at through a window. The photos on this site show a cedar pergola built over a pool from framing to finished shade, a covered patio with a ceiling fan and columns that gets used as much as any room in the house, and a stone outdoor kitchen with a built-in grill area still under construction. Every one of them is a wood-and-masonry structure built to stand up to real heat, humidity and the afternoon storms that roll through most of the year, not a kit assembled in an afternoon.

What holds a patio cover or pergola up matters more here than the roofline does. Footings have to be set deep and level before a single post goes up, since flat land, clay soil and heavy rain around Houston, Katy and Pearland will work a shallow post loose within a season or two. Lumber gets chosen and sealed for the humidity — cedar for a pergola meant to be seen, pressure-treated framing for what carries the load — and columns and posts get set plumb before the roof or lattice goes on. In HOA neighborhoods around Katy and Sugar Land, a patio cover or outdoor kitchen also has to match the house closely enough to pass a review, which gets sorted out before Carlos ever starts building.

What's included

• Covered patios with ceiling fans, columns and finished lighting
• Cedar pergolas framed and finished over pools and patios
• Stone outdoor kitchens built around a grill area
• Footings set deep and level for Houston clay soil and heavy rain
• Lumber chosen and sealed for Gulf Coast heat and humidity
• Structures matched to the house for HOA neighborhoods

Every patio project starts with footings — holes dug and set with concrete, deep enough that posts do not shift as the ground moves with the seasons. Posts and columns go up next, set plumb and braced until the framing ties them together. For a covered patio, rafters run from the house or a beam out to the posts, then get roofed and finished with ceiling fans and light fixtures wired in before the ceiling closes up. A pergola follows the same footing-and-post sequence, with cedar cross-members spaced and fastened on top for shade rather than a solid roof. An outdoor kitchen starts with a stone or masonry base built to hold a built-in grill area, framed and finished to match the house. Every structure gets sealed against Houston's humidity before it is called finished, and lighting gets added where the patio is meant to be used after dark.