Patio Covers in Hereford, TX
Measured two and a half inch hail on 1 May 2022, and a soil survey that names cracked brick walls as the consequence of the ground it sits on.
No obligation. Every estimate starts at the house, looking at the slab, the wall you would attach to and where the afternoon sun actually lands.
Covered patio · illustrativeHereford
Hereford at a glance
Every figure below comes from a named public source. Where we could not verify something, this page says so instead of filling the gap.
Population from ACS 2024 five-year estimate. Design wind and snow from ASCE 7-16 wind and snow hazard data; permit and code details from each jurisdiction's own published material.
Permits
An unusual adoption: the IBC, with no separate IRC found
We confirm the current position for your specific address before quoting. Fee schedules and code adoptions change, and a page that was right last year is not a substitute for asking.
Hereford has adopted the 2018 International Building Code including appendix chapters A through G, by Ordinance 05.10.21 adopted 10 May 2021, with local amendments to section 109.2 setting a tiered fee schedule. The published tiers start at $20 for work under $1,000 of valuation and rise by $1.00 per additional $1,000 above $500,000, with a $50 minimum for remodels and $25 to $50 for roofing.
What we did not find is a separate IRC adoption in Hereford's codified building code article. That is a real and citable difference from Canyon and Pampa, both of which adopt the IRC by name. It is worth remembering that Texas Local Government Code section 214.212 makes the IRC the residential building code inside a municipality regardless, so the residential provisions still apply.
The Building and Zoning department on North Lee Avenue reviews plans, issues permits and inspects all construction inside the city limits.
The ground
The survey names cracked brick walls, which is our whole subject
The 2007 Deaf Smith County soil survey maps eleven general units. What makes it useful is that it states the consequence rather than only the classification: Pullman soils have high shrink and swell potential, causing cracking of building foundations, brick walls, road surfaces, sidewalks and pipelines. It flags Pantex similarly.
That sentence is worth sitting with, because brick walls are exactly what we cannot hang a patio cover on. A veneer wall on ties, standing on a footing in soil that moves seasonally, is already carrying more than it was designed for. Adding a roof to it is not a small imposition.
The Pep-Estacado unit occupies the east-central part of the county where Hereford lies, but the survey does not explicitly name the unit under the city. Pullman and Pep-Estacado are both present in the area, so we treat the specific unit as unconfirmed and design to the more demanding of the two unless a site investigation says otherwise.
On the record
This is the hail page
On 1 May 2022 hail at Hereford was estimated at 1.75 inches and then measured at 2.50 inches between 6:40 and 6:45 pm, with a measured 67 mph gust at 6:39 pm in the Hereford area. Nearby Dawn took measured 2.75 inch hail at 6:55 pm.
Two and a half inch hail is larger than the ball used in the UL 2218 Class 4 impact test, which drops a two inch steel ball twice on the same spot. Class 4 is the highest impact classification there is for roofing products, and Hereford exceeded its test diameter in a single afternoon.
We are not going to tell you a patio cover survives that undamaged. What we will do is design the structure so that hail damage stays cosmetic rather than structural, and be clear about which materials dent and which do not.
The market
A large, low-budget market
Hereford has 5,522 housing units and 4,873 households, a substantial market by the standards of this region. Median home value is $109,700, median household income is $56,868, and per-capita income is $23,802, the lowest in this service area. Median age is 29.4.
The economy is cattle feedlots, dairies and ethanol, which is why the town has called itself the Beef Capital of the World. It has two other names worth knowing: it was formerly the Windmill City, and it is known as the Town Without a Toothache because the municipal water carries an unusually high level of naturally occurring fluoride. The town was founded in 1899 as Blue Water.
Hereford sits on the Llano Estacado, drawing irrigation from the Ogallala Aquifer with the saltier Santa Rosa Aquifer beneath it. Annual precipitation is 17.37 inches, and drainage runs by Tierra Blanca Creek and the Palo Duro creeks toward the Red River basin.
What we build here
Outdoor structures in Hereford
Patio Covers
A roof over the slab you already have. Aluminium, insulated panel or louvered, engineered for 108 mph wind and anchored for uplift.
What it involves →Covered Patios
Slab and cover together, where there is no usable patio yet. One pour, one structure, one set of footings designed as a whole.
What it involves →Outdoor Kitchens
Counter run, grill, gas, water and power under cover. The services get planned before the concrete, because afterwards is expensive.
What it involves →Questions
About building in Hereford
How big does hail get in Hereford?
On 1 May 2022 hail at Hereford was measured at 2.50 inches between 6:40 and 6:45 pm, alongside a measured 67 mph gust six minutes earlier. Dawn, just south, took measured 2.75 inch hail twenty minutes later.
For scale, the UL 2218 Class 4 impact test, the highest classification there is, drops a two inch ball. Hereford exceeded that diameter in one afternoon.
Which building code applies in Hereford?
Hereford adopted the 2018 International Building Code including appendices A through G by Ordinance 05.10.21 on 10 May 2021, with a tiered permit fee schedule starting at $20 for work under $1,000 of valuation.
We found no separate IRC adoption in the codified building article, which distinguishes Hereford from Canyon and Pampa. State law still makes the IRC the residential code inside a Texas municipality, so the residential provisions apply regardless.
Does the ground here crack brick walls?
The county soil survey says so directly. It states that Pullman soils have high shrink and swell potential causing cracking of building foundations, brick walls, road surfaces, sidewalks and pipelines.
That is directly relevant to us, because a brick veneer wall is what most people want to attach a patio cover to, and the code already prohibits hanging load on veneer. Ground that moves under it is a second reason to design the structure to stand on its own.
Cost
Price a cover for a Hereford address
The calculators take your dimensions, your roof type, your wall and your jurisdiction, and return a band with the permit worked out rather than guessed at.
Next step
Send the address and a photo of the wall
What your exterior wall is made of, and which permit desk your address falls under, decide more about the project than the dimensions do.