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The completed Lamonte Lane project in Houston — a 15×27 black aluminum pergola with a polycarbonate roof over a paver deck, outdoor kitchen and dining table, with the existing pool alongside it
Garden Oaks

Lamonte Lane Project: Aluminum Pergola and Pool Deck in Garden Oaks

A Houston backyard rebuilt around the pool it already had — a 15×27 black aluminum pergola with a polycarbonate roof, a 10-foot outdoor kitchen, renovated beds and lighting, and the paver deck re-levelled throughout.

NeighborhoodGarden Oaks
Project TypeOutdoor Kitchen, Pergola & Backyard Renovation
DesignerTony
Investment$85,000 – $90,000
TagsRenovations, Outdoor Living, Outdoor Kitchens, Pergolas, Hardscape, Landscape Design, Turf, Drainage
01 — Overview

The pool, spa and paver deck were already in place on this Houston property. What the yard did not have was shade over the part of it people actually used, anywhere to cook, or planting and lighting to hold the space together — so the work was a renovation of an existing backyard rather than a build from bare ground, sequenced around a pool that stayed in service.

Design Approach

The structure sets the plan. A 15×27 contemporary aluminum pergola in black runs along the back of the house, tied into the framing on a ledger board and integrated beneath the existing fascia so the two roofs read as one rather than as an addition bolted to the elevation. A single 8×8 post carries the outboard corner on a reinforced concrete footing, with 2×12 beams spanning the primary run, and the whole structure was drawn and reviewed by an engineer for wind and load compliance before anything was set.

Overhead is a Hercules polycarbonate roof, sloped for drainage and flashed at the house connection, which keeps rain off the deck while still letting light through to the windows behind it — the reason the covered area does not darken the rooms it fronts. A full gutter runs the length of the roof edge with a downspout directed away from the foundation. Two outdoor-rated ceiling fans hang from fan-rated boxes built into the structure, with post-mounted GFCI outlets and speed controls and the wiring concealed inside the framing.

Under the cover, a 10-foot outdoor kitchen island sits against the white brick elevation, finished in stucco with outdoor-rated countertops. It carries a built-in 32-inch gas grill, a power burner, a double drawer and single door combination and an enclosed trash drawer, with island venting for the gas appliances and a connection to the existing gas stub-out. A full-length backsplash wall behind the run is faced in exterior-rated tile in a patterned black and white, capped in the same countertop material so the top edge matches the working surface rather than introducing a third finish.

The rest of the scope is what makes the yard feel finished. The backyard beds were cleared and replanted with 45-gallon Eagleston Holly along the fence line, with yucca, agave and asparagus fern beneath them, all set over five cubic yards of Blackstar gravel and with the existing irrigation repaired and re-aimed to the new layout. A 150-watt low-voltage transformer on dusk-to-dawn control feeds ten black aluminum LED uplights at 2700K, aimed at night for beam spread rather than set and left. A 260 square foot premium turf dog run went in over a compacted commercial base with Pet Envirofill infill and a new catch basin tied into the existing drainage, 75 linear feet of four-foot treated pine pony fence now encloses the pool equipment, and the existing pavers were powerwashed, lifted and re-levelled where they had settled — including a reset of the front walkway — then re-sanded with polymeric sand.

02 — Features
  • 0115×27 contemporary aluminum pergola in black
  • 02Hercules polycarbonate roof system
  • 03Engineered drawings and structural review
  • 048×8 structural post on a reinforced concrete footing
  • 052×12 beams and a ledger anchored to the house framing
  • 06Tie-in beneath the existing fascia, flashed at the house connection
  • 07Full gutter system and downspout
  • 08Two outdoor-rated ceiling fans
  • 09Post-mounted GFCI outlets and fan speed controls
  • 10Wiring concealed within the framing
  • 1110-foot outdoor kitchen island
  • 12Built-in 32-inch gas grill
  • 13Power burner
  • 14Double drawer and single door combination
  • 15Enclosed trash drawer
  • 16Island venting for the gas appliances
  • 17Tiled backsplash wall with a matching countertop cap
  • 18Outdoor-rated countertops
  • 19150-watt transformer on dusk-to-dawn control
  • 20Ten black aluminum LED uplights, 2700K
  • 21Backyard flowerbed renovation with new trees and planting
  • 22Five cubic yards of Blackstar gravel
  • 23Irrigation repaired and adjusted to the new layout
  • 24260 sq ft premium turf dog run with Pet Envirofill infill
  • 25New catch basin tied into the existing drainage
  • 2675 LF four-foot treated pine pony fence at the pool equipment
  • 27Pavers powerwashed, re-levelled and re-sanded
03 — Materials
  • 01Contemporary aluminum pergola frame in black
  • 02Hercules polycarbonate roof panels
  • 03Outdoor-rated countertops
  • 04Exterior-rated tile backsplash
  • 05Stainless built-in grill, power burner, drawers and doors
  • 06Black aluminum LED uplights, 2700K
  • 07Blackstar gravel
  • 08Premium turf with Pet Envirofill infill
  • 09Treated pine pony fence
  • 10Polymeric sand
04 — Walkthrough

Walk the project.

A walk through the problems this backyard arrived with — no shade, nowhere to cook, and a paver deck that had settled — and what was built to resolve them.

Watch on YouTube
05 — Design

The design renderings.

The scheme was drawn for the whole property, front and back. The covered outdoor room and its kitchen were built; the front-yard drive and planting are shown as designed, and a few details — the island finish and the bar counter among them — were resolved differently on site.

Rendering of the proposed Lamonte Lane covered outdoor room seen across the pool, with the black pergola running along the back of the house above the dining table and the kitchen run
Rendering
Rendering of the proposed outdoor kitchen island at Lamonte Lane, with the built-in grill and power burner set into the counter below a patterned tile backsplash, under the black pergola
Rendering
Wide rendering of the proposed Lamonte Lane backyard, with the pergola and kitchen along the house, the existing pool and spa on the paver deck, and evergreen screening along the fence line
Rendering
Night rendering of the proposed Lamonte Lane backyard, with the covered outdoor room lit from within, uplights in the screening trees, and the pool lit from below
Rendering
Rendering of the proposed Lamonte Lane front elevation from the street, with two shade trees in clipped lawn panels, a bed of agave, salvia and clipped boxwood along the house, and a straight walk to the front door
Rendering
Aerial rendering of the proposed Lamonte Lane front yard, showing the sweeping concrete drive, the lawn panels either side of the front walk, and the planting bed along the elevation
Rendering
Overhead rendering of the proposed front planting at Lamonte Lane — agave, flowering perennials and low shrubs set through gravel, with square stepping stones crossing the bed to the walk
Rendering
Night rendering of the proposed Lamonte Lane drive, with the multi-trunk trees uplit against the dark and the gate and house wall washed in warm light
Rendering
Aerial night rendering of the proposed Lamonte Lane front walk, with in-ground path lights running between the stepping stones and the drive and beds lit beyond
Rendering
Night rendering of the proposed Lamonte Lane entry, with step lights along the front steps, a wall lantern beside the door, and clipped shrubs and salvia either side of the walk
Rendering
06 — Gallery

Detail & craft.

Under the Lamonte Lane pergola in Houston, with a ceiling fan and recessed lighting above the paver deck, the outdoor kitchen along the white brick elevation, lounge seating in the middle of the space, and the existing pool past the posts
The 15×27 aluminum pergola at Lamonte Lane spanning the back of the house, with the dining table and the outdoor kitchen beneath it and the pool alongside the paver deck
The Lamonte Lane outdoor kitchen from the end of the run — the built-in gas grill, drawer and door cabinetry, power burner and enclosed trash drawer below the patterned tile backsplash, with the pool beyond
The outdoor kitchen at Lamonte Lane seen from the pool side, with the stainless grill and burner set into the stucco island against the white brick elevation and the pergola beams overhead
Close view of the built-in 32-inch gas grill at Lamonte Lane, set into the stucco island beside the dark outdoor-rated countertop and the patterned tile backsplash
The power burner at the end of the Lamonte Lane kitchen run, set into the countertop with its lid closed, and the pool and new planting behind it
The backsplash wall at Lamonte Lane running the length of the kitchen, capped in the same dark countertop material above the patterned exterior-rated tile
The finished Lamonte Lane backyard — the pergola and outdoor kitchen along the back of the house, the existing pool and spa on the re-levelled paver deck, and the new trees and grasses along the fence line
The pool at Lamonte Lane with the renovated bed behind it, planted with new Eagleston Holly and ornamental grasses over Blackstar gravel
New Eagleston Holly and ornamental grasses planted along the fence line behind the pool at Lamonte Lane
The paver walk beside the pool at Lamonte Lane, with agave and grasses set into the Blackstar gravel bed and uplights aimed into the new trees
Agave planted through the Blackstar gravel at Lamonte Lane, with one of the ten black aluminum uplights staked in the foreground
Ornamental grasses and agave in the gravel bed at Lamonte Lane, with a black uplight aimed up into the planting
The Lamonte Lane pergola from the side of the house, with the gutter and downspout along the roof edge, the paver deck running out to the pool, and the new gravel bed along the fence
07 — Before

Where it started.

The property as we found it, before design and construction began.

The back of the house at Lamonte Lane as it was found — the white brick elevation with no cover over it, a covered freestanding grill against the wall, and wicker furniture on the open paver deck
Before
The existing pool and paver deck at Lamonte Lane before work began, with weeds through the paver joints and a bare gravel strip along the weathered fence
Before
The structure found over the deck at Lamonte Lane — a weathered timber beam carried on a single white classical column, later removed for the new pergola
Before
The corner of the house at Lamonte Lane before the build, looking past the open side gate to the worn grass strip beside the elevation
Before
The front of the house at Lamonte Lane before work began, with the existing walk and drive and patchy lawn panels between them
Before
The side yard at Lamonte Lane as it was found, with the paver run leading back past the standby generator and storage shed and grass worn through along the fence
Before
08 — Related Projects

More work.

The completed Abington Way project in Houston — a 16×32 cantilevered aluminum pergola with a sandalwood insulated roof panel ceiling over a full-length outdoor kitchen, with pearl white pavers set into turf in a diamond pattern
Abington Way: Cantilevered Aluminum Pergola in Houston Heights

Abington Way Project

The completed Heights project — a black louvered aluminum pergola over a paver patio, with lounge seating and ornamental grasses along its edge
Houston Heights

Heights Project

All Projects
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