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St. Johns Outdoors

Honest answers, including the ones that are not convenient

Most of what people want to know before they spend money on a backyard is the same short list: how soon can you start, who handles the permit, what about the HOA, and what is this going to cost. Those questions came off our own estimates, and the answers below are the ones our salespeople give in person.

Where the honest answer is a range, we give the range. Where it depends on a county office we do not control, we say so and tell you what we have actually seen rather than the best case. And where an answer genuinely cannot be given from a web page — what your project costs, which paver is right against your house — we say that too, instead of publishing a number that changes the moment we see the site.

If your question is not here, call us. Weekdays nine to five a person in our Jacksonville office picks up, and we get back to emails quickly.

A paver patio with a built-in fire pit beside a finished black screen room

FAQ

Everything we get asked, answered.

Call us — a real person answers weekdays 9–5, and every inquiry gets a same-day response during business hours.

Call (904) 925-3089

Once you approve the quote, most projects go to engineering first, then to your county for a permit. Install lands once the permit is in hand.

Yes. We run the engineering and pull the permit for the work we do. You do not chase the county — that is our job, and the timeline we quote you already has the permitting built into it.

See how a project runs

We prepare everything your HOA application needs — drawings, specs and product details. The submission itself goes through you, because HOAs deal directly with the homeowner, not the contractor. After that it comes down to when your board next meets, which is luck of the draw: you either catch the next meeting or you have just missed one. That part runs on the board's calendar, not on anything we control.

It depends on square footage, the material you choose, and what is under the existing surface — which is exactly why we do not publish a price list. Estimates are done in person so you get a real number rather than a range that changes later, and the written quote follows promptly after the visit.

Book a free estimate

This is one of the most common questions at the estimate, and it is a better conversation in person than on a page. We bring material options to the visit and walk through them against your house, your existing hardscape and how the space gets used — concrete pavers, travertine and marble all behave differently underfoot and in Florida sun, and the right answer changes from one backyard to the next.

Both, and they are genuinely separate disciplines. Our Director of Hardscapes is a certified landscape designer and a Florida-Friendly Landscaping Certified Professional, so planting, grading, lighting and structure get designed together. We are selective about it: whole-property design projects are the work we take on, not a brick border around a front flower bed.

Landscape design

Both. Pool deck remodels are one of the things we most want to be doing — resurfacing and re-laying a deck that has cracked, faded or gone slippery, usually without touching the pool shell itself.

Pool decks & remodels

Roughly an hour around Jacksonville and St. Johns County: north to Fernandina Beach, south as far as Palm Coast, and west through Orange Park, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs and Middleburg. If you are outside that, tell us anyway and we will be straight with you about whether it makes sense.

See the service area

Both, on one schedule. Screen enclosures, lanais and aluminum pergolas are managed in-house alongside the paver and hardscape work, so a backyard that needs a deck, a cage and a kitchen is one project with one point of accountability rather than three contractors blaming each other.

Screens & pergolas

Yes — military and first responder discounts available.

Call during business hours and a person here answers — we are not routing you to a call centre. We take the scope, book you with a salesperson, and come out to the property. Estimates are done on site because measuring a backyard from satellite images produces numbers nobody should rely on. Your written quote follows promptly after that visit.

Permit timelines, county by county

The single biggest variable in when your project starts is not us — it is your county. The sequence is the same everywhere: you approve the quote, the work goes to engineering first, then the permit goes in. What happens next depends entirely on where you live, so here is what we have actually seen.

St. Johns County

Steady and predictable

The most predictable jurisdiction we work in, and the one most of our projects sit in. Engineering runs before the permit is even submitted, and work can start.

Duval County

Genuinely unpredictable

Genuinely unpredictable, and we would rather say so than quote you the good version. We have had permits come back quickly and we have waited a long time on the same kind of job. We tell you where yours stands as it moves.

Jacksonville Beach

Steady

The beaches have been consistent for us. Same sequence as everywhere else — engineering first, then the permit goes in, then we schedule the install around the approval rather than ahead of it.

Clay County

Steady

Orange Park, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs and Middleburg. We do less volume here than in St. Johns, but the turnaround has been steady.

Nassau County

Runs a little longer

Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island and Yulee. We do a lot of work up there. It runs longer than St. Johns, and we will say so rather than quote you the St. Johns pace.

Flagler County

No published outlook

We go as far south as Palm Coast and no further, and we have not done enough there to give you a permit window we would stand behind. If your project is in Flagler we will tell you exactly what we do and do not know before you commit.

If your question is not on this page

Ask it. Every estimate we run turns up something this list does not cover — a drainage problem, a slope nobody wants to talk about, a deck that has to work around an existing pool cage. Those are better conversations than page answers, which is exactly why we estimate in person rather than from satellite images.

We will also tell you when something is not a fit. Whole-property landscape design is work we take on; a border around a front flower bed is not. A project south of Palm Coast is outside where we work. You will get that answer on the phone rather than after a wasted visit.

Call (904) 925-3089 or send us the details and we will come and look.

The short version

Office
4949 Sunbeam Rd #2, Jacksonville, FL 32257
Hours
Mon–Fri 9am–5pm — a person here answers, not a call center
Phone
(904) 925-3089
Estimates
In person, on your property, at no charge
Written quote
Follows the estimate visit promptly
Email replies
We get back to you quickly
Formed
St. Johns Outdoors LLC, 2021
Discount
Military and first responder discounts available

Still wondering?

Ask Us Anything Else

Tell us what you are thinking about and we will book your free in-person estimate — real answers about your property, then a written quote promptly.