Shade, Structure, and Style — Built for the Texas Backyard.
San Antonio summers are relentless. A well-built pool patio cover extends your outdoor season, protects your investment, and turns a hot backyard into the most-used room in your home. D. Michael Designs builds covered patio structures, pool houses, and outdoor living spaces that are engineered to last — and designed to match your home.
More than shade — a proper outdoor room
A patio cover isn't just a roof over a slab. Done right, it's a structural extension of your home — framed, permitted, engineered to handle Texas wind loads, and finished to match your existing roofline and exterior materials. That's the difference between a cover that lasts 30 years and one that starts pulling away from the fascia after the second storm season.
At D. Michael Designs, we build covered patio structures as part of a larger outdoor living project or as a standalone addition. We've built everything from simple attached covers that shade a back door to full pool house structures with guest accommodations, outdoor kitchens, and independent electrical and plumbing. Whatever the scope, the approach is the same: one general contractor, proper permits, licensed tradespeople, and work that holds up.
Texas heat, UV exposure, and heavy rain events are not forgiving to shortcuts. We use materials and connection details built for this climate — and we pull every permit required by the City of San Antonio and Bexar County so your structure is code-compliant from day one. We walk through every completed project with you before we call it done.
What D. Michael Designs builds for your outdoor living space
Pool and patio cover projects vary more than almost any other residential construction category. Some clients want a clean attached cover over an existing concrete slab. Others want a freestanding pool house with a full kitchen, bathroom, and covered seating area that functions as a second structure on the property. We build both — and everything in between.
Attached Patio Covers
The most common project: a structural cover attached directly to the rear or side of your home, built to match the existing roofline pitch, exterior cladding, and soffit details. We frame these properly — no decorative posts bolted to surface concrete, no ledger boards held with inadequate hardware. Everything is engineered for San Antonio's wind zone, permitted with the city, and inspected before closeout. Popular styles include gabled roofs for maximum airflow and dramatic ceiling height, shed roofs for a clean modern look, and hip roofs that wrap around a corner or pool.
Freestanding Patio Covers & Pergolas
When you want shade away from the house — over a pool deck, in the middle of a large yard, or over an outdoor dining area — a freestanding structure is the answer. We build solid wood, steel, and composite pergola and cover structures with proper footings, not surface-mounted post bases that wiggle after one season. These can be open-top for filtered shade, solid-roofed for full protection, or louvered for adjustable coverage.
Outdoor Kitchens Under Cover
A covered outdoor kitchen is one of the highest-use additions a San Antonio homeowner can make. We integrate gas lines, electrical, plumbing for a sink, and weatherproof cabinetry into the covered structure so your outdoor kitchen functions like an indoor one — without worrying about weather. Built-in grills, smokers, side burners, refrigeration, and bar seating are all handled by the same crew building the cover.
Pool Houses & Cabanas
Pool houses are a true construction project — a fully permitted, separately permitted structure on your property with its own foundation, framing, roofing, electrical, and in many cases plumbing for a bathroom and kitchenette. We've built pool houses that serve as guest quarters, home gyms, entertainment cabanas, and equipment rooms. Every one is engineered to match the main home's architecture and finished to the same standard.
Covered Patios with Integrated Lighting & Fans
A patio cover that doesn't have lighting and a ceiling fan isn't finished. We rough-in electrical during framing so fixtures are properly wired — not surface-mounted with exposed conduit after the fact. Recessed lighting, pendant fixtures, and ceiling fans on covered patios are part of our standard build, not an add-on you have to source separately.
Screen Rooms & Enclosed Patios
For homeowners who want full enclosure — keeping insects, debris, and afternoon wind out of the patio space — we build screened structures over existing slabs or as new additions. These can be simple screen systems on an existing cover or full-framed screen room additions with their own roof and foundation footings.
What every outdoor project includes:
- General contractor managing structure, trades, and finishes
- Proper concrete footings — no decorative post bases on flat slabs
- All permits pulled and all inspections scheduled with the city
- Roofing materials, exterior cladding, and soffit matched to your existing home
- Licensed electricians for lighting, fan circuits, and outdoor kitchen power
- Licensed plumbers for outdoor kitchen sinks and pool house bathrooms where included
- Final walkthrough before project closeout
Our minimum project is $50,000. Pool houses and full outdoor living builds often run well above that, and we price them honestly with a detailed written estimate before any work begins.
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Things people ask us before they call
If your question isn't here, we're easy to reach. Call us any time at 210-608-3286 — we pick up.
Yes — any structural patio cover attached to your home or exceeding a certain size as a freestanding structure requires a permit from the City of San Antonio or your local jurisdiction. We pull every required permit, schedule all inspections, and ensure your cover is fully code-compliant. A cover built without permits can create problems when you sell your home and may have to be torn down or rebuilt to pass inspection. We never skip this step.
A basic attached patio cover starts around $15,000–$30,000 depending on size, materials, and whether electrical is included. A full outdoor kitchen under a new covered structure runs $40,000–$80,000+. A detached pool house with a bathroom, kitchenette, and covered seating area can run $80,000–$200,000+ depending on square footage and finish level. We provide a detailed, line-item written estimate before any work begins — no vague ranges once we've seen your property.
We build with materials suited to Central Texas climate — which means high UV exposure, wide temperature swings, and occasional severe weather. Roof framing is typically engineered lumber or steel depending on span, covered with architectural shingles, standing seam metal, or tile matched to your existing home. Structural posts are set in proper concrete footings. We don't use aluminum snap-together patio cover kits — we build real structures.
Yes — matching the existing home is standard for us, not an upgrade. We use the same pitch, the same roofing material, the same soffit depth, and matching exterior trim so the cover looks like it was always part of the house. This matters for both aesthetics and resale value.
Yes. A pool house is a permitted accessory structure — it has its own foundation, framing, roofing, electrical, and often plumbing. We build pool houses that function as guest quarters, cabanas, equipment rooms, home gyms, or entertainment spaces. Setback requirements and lot coverage limits vary by neighborhood, and we assess your specific property before quoting the project.
Absolutely — and this is one of our most common combo projects. We integrate gas lines, electrical circuits, plumbing for a sink, weatherproof cabinetry, and built-in appliances into the covered structure during the build. It's far cleaner and more functional than adding a kitchen after the cover is already up.
A standard attached patio cover with electrical takes 3–6 weeks from permit approval to completion. A full outdoor kitchen under a new covered structure runs 6–10 weeks. A pool house is a 2–4 month project depending on size and finish scope. We give you a detailed timeline at the start and update you throughout.
Yes. We build pool and patio cover structures throughout Greater San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country — including Boerne, Helotes, Fair Oaks Ranch, Alamo Heights, Stone Oak, Cibolo, Schertz, and New Braunfels. If you're unsure whether we serve your area, call us and we'll let you know within the day.