LAKEWOOD RANCH & Waterside, FLORIDA · MANATEE & SARASOTA COUNTIES
Your Lakewood Ranch Backyard Deserves More Than a Polymer Box with a Grill in It.
Truly custom outdoor kitchens — built-in grills, pizza ovens, natural stone, masonry, cypress, and fire features — designed from scratch for the home you actually have. Not a showroom package. Not HDPE cabinets. The real thing.
CUSTOM OUTDOOR KITCHENS · ALUMINUM PERGOLAS · LOUVERED PERGOLAS · BUILT-IN GRILLS ·
OUTDOOR LIVING · COVERED PATIOS · OUTDOOR FIRE PITS · WOOD CEILINGS
Florida-Certified Building Contractor · Serving The Villages Since 2014
YOUR SITUATION
You Know Exactly What You Want.
You Just Can't Find Anyone To Actually Build It.
You've been to the showrooms. You've seen the polymer cabinet displays with the grill dropped in the middle and the quartz top glued on. You've gotten the quotes. And you keep walking away with the same feeling — that what you're being sold is a product, not a kitchen. A package assembled on your lanai, not a kitchen designed for your home.
Lakewood Ranch and Waterside attract homeowners with high standards — people who chose their home carefully, who know what quality looks like indoors, and who want the outdoor kitchen to match that level. What you want is a contractor who designs the outdoor kitchen the way a good architect designs a room — starting with your space, your home's character, your lifestyle — and builds it from masonry and stone and wood and steel. That's what HL Posey Builders does. And in Lakewood Ranch, it's rarer than it should be.
Lakewood Ranch's main footprint spans Manatee and Sarasota counties. Waterside at Lakewood Ranch sits in Sarasota County. We're licensed in both, have built throughout the Ranch — Esplanade, Lakewood Ranch Country Club, Waterside, Starling, Sweetwater, and across dozens of neighborhoods — and we know the HOA review processes and county building departments that govern your project.
THE LAKEWOOD RANCH MARKET REALITY
Why This Market Is Hard to Navigate
A note on custom vs. catalog: The outdoor kitchens you see most often in Lakewood Ranch showrooms — polymer or HDPE cabinet boxes with appliances dropped in — are a legitimate product category. They're quick to install, available in standard colors, and work fine for many homeowners. If that's what you want, there are several capable companies in this market who provide it. If what you want is something designed and built specifically for your home, using natural materials and genuine craftsmanship, call us.
THE DIFFERENCE THAT MATTERS
What Everyone Else Sells.
What We Actually Build.
Almost every outdoor kitchen company in Lakewood Ranch sells a version of the same thing — polymer or HDPE cabinet boxes in standard sizes with appliance cutouts and a countertop on top. It is not a custom outdoor kitchen. Here's the actual difference.
What most Lakewood Ranch companies offer
- Polymer or HDPE cabinet boxes in standard widths
- Limited configuration options based on manufacturer sizes and inventory
- Quartz or prefab countertops cut to fit the cabinet layout
- Facade veneers applied over the cabinet boxes
- No masonry, no custom stonework, no structural complexity
- No built-in pizza ovens, no custom fire features, no wood ceilings
- Often installed without a building permit
- Looks like what it is: a product assembled on your lanai
What HL Posey Builders actually builds
- Custom aluminum non-combustible construction for your specific space
- Natural stone facades — travertine, stacked stone, porcelain slab, large format tiles
- Granite, quartzite, and porcelain slab countertops fitted to the design
- Built-in pizza ovens, smokers, and fire features integrated structurally
- T&G wood ceilings, accents, and custom millwork
- Aluminum louvered pergola systems and custom pavilions overhead
- Florida-certified contractor — permitted, inspected, documented
- Looks like it was designed for your home. Because it was.
WHAT WE BUILD
Outdoor Kitchens, Pergolas, Fire Features & Complete Outdoor Living Spaces
Every project starts with your lanai, your home's architecture, your HOA standards, and how you intend to use the space. We design it from scratch and build it from materials that belong in a Lakewood Ranch home.
01
Custom Outdoor Kitchens & Summer Kitchens
Fully custom outdoor kitchens built from masonry, aluminum frame, and natural stone — not polymer boxes. Built-in gas grills, charcoal grills, smokers, pizza ovens, outdoor refrigerators, ice makers, beverage coolers, outdoor sinks, and bar setups integrated into a structure designed for your lanai dimensions, your view orientation, and your cooking habits. Stone or porcelain slab countertops. Natural stone or tile facades. Narural wood ceilings where the design calls for them. Everything specified for Lakewood Ranch's outdoor conditions — UV, humidity, and Florida's heat — and designed to look like it was always part of the home.
Built-in grills · Pizza ovens · Smokers · Outdoor kitchens · Summer kitchens · Stone countertops · Granite countertops · Quartzite · Outdoor refrigerators · Outdoor bars · Custom masonry · Travertine · Stacked stone
02
Aluminum Pergolas & Louvered Pergola Systems
Motorized louvered pergolas, solid-roof aluminum pavilions, and attached patio covers that provide genuine weather protection for your outdoor kitchen and living space. Louvered pergola roof systems open and close with a wall switch or app — giving you full Florida airflow on mild days and complete rain protection during the afternoon storms that define a Lakewood Ranch summer. All aluminum pergola systems are engineered to Florida Building Code wind-load requirements and sized to your exact lanai dimensions. We design and install the shade structure as part of the same project as the outdoor kitchen — one contractor, and one cohesive result.
Louvered pergolas · Aluminum pergolas · Motorized louvers · Pavilions · Patio covers · Shade structures · Covered outdoor kitchens · Attached pergolas
03
Outdoor Fire Features — Fire Pits, Fire Tables & Fireplaces
Custom gas fire pits, fire tables, fire pit bowls, linear outdoor fireplaces, and wood-fired or gas pizza ovens built into custom stone or porcelain surrounds. A fire feature changes how your outdoor kitchen gets used — it extends the evening, anchors the lounge area, and turns the outdoor space into a year-round destination. We handle the gas line work, and every layer of the finish as one contractor with no subcontractor handoffs between the kitchen and the fire feature. The result is a cohesive outdoor living space where the fire feature was designed as part of the kitchen from the beginning.
Gas fire pits · Fire tables · Outdoor fireplaces · Fire pit bowls · Linear fireplaces · Outdoor fire features · Pizza ovens · Gas fire features · Fire pit with stone surround · OUTDOOR ELECTRIC FIREOLACE
04
Complete Outdoor Living Spaces
Outdoor dining areas, lounge zones, outdoor bars with bar seating, built-in entertainment walls, accent lighting, and the outdoor kitchen — designed as one cohesive outdoor living space that flows from your home's interior style and makes full use of your lake view, preserve view, or golf-course backdrop. We design the full space before we build any of it. The kind of outdoor space that makes every Lakewood Ranch morning and every Waterside evening feel like the return on every decision that brought you here.
Outdoor living spaces · Outdoor dining · Outdoor lounge · Outdoor bar · Outdoor entertainment · Landscape lighting · Custom outdoor rooms · Outdoor kitchen Lakewood Ranch · Outdoor kitchen Waterside
HOW IT WORKS
From Vision to Becoming a Backyard
Hangout Hero — Three Steps
Step 1
Consultation · Commitment ·
Site Visit
Starting with an in-depth conversation about your space and ideas, we give you a budget range. You make a virtual visit to our showroom to see all the stuff that fills your vision. Then we come out to your house and make it all work.
Step 2
Final Selections and Order Materials
We guide you through the final selection of cabinet colors, countertops and backsplashes. Write it all up to determine the final scope of work so everyone is on the same page, including our licensed plumber and electrician.
Step 3
We Build. You Enjoy.
Construction begins on your scheduled date. The construction period generally takes around three weeks for an outdoor kitchen. The last day we install all the appliances and clean up all the dust. Always shooting to deliver a 5-star performance.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE WHEN IT IS DONE
This Is Why You
Chose Lakewood Ranch
A truly custom outdoor kitchen doesn't look like a showroom product delivered to your lanai. It looks like it was always there — part of the home's architecture, part of the view, part of the reason this address is worth what it is.
It's a Thursday in January. You haven't thought about winter for weeks.
The louvered pergola blades are angled for afternoon shade. The built-in grill is heating up. The fire table is lit. Neighbors are over without a formal invitation — because the outdoor kitchen makes it that easy. This is just another Thursday now.
Your neighbor's polymer cabinet kitchen looked dated in three years. Yours still looks like day one.
Word travels fast in The Villages. A well-built outdoor kitchen — one that's clearly amazing by all standards — gets noticed. We've built entire blocks one backyard at a time in communities like this. The referral is the best review we ever get.
The listing agent calls it a standout feature. The buyers don't negotiate it.
A custom-built outdoor kitchen in a Waterside or Esplanade home is a documented asset — in the listing photos, in the description, in the buyer conversation. It doesn't create closing questions. It helps close deals.
WHAT WE HELP YOU AVOID
The Shortcuts That Show Up Later
as Problems.
Lakewood Ranch is a large, active market and it attracts companies who cut corners — some intentionally, some because they simply don't know what they don't know. Three out of five companies building outdoor kitchens are illegally contracting. They have to be a State- Certified Contractor to combine trades and disciplines into one outdoor kitchen product.
If something goes wrong, YOU are on the hook. Not their liability insurance, not your homeowners insurance, JUST YOU. As a Certified Contractor, our general liability insurance costs twenty to thirty times more than that of a company operating as an unlicensed contractor.
Other companies will assure you that HOA approval "is not a problem" — right up until it is.
We'd rather have this conversation before you hire anyone than after a project goes sideways. These are the four things we're most often asked to fix.
List of Services
-
Materials that fail in Florida's outdoor conditionsList Item 1
The wrong countertop stains. The wrong stainless corrodes. The wrong framing oxidizes and stains the deck. We specify materials that perform in this specific environment — not materials that look good in a showroom catalog.
-
An unpermitted structure at closing timeList Item 2
Unpermitted structures on decks in Lakewood Ranch surface at closing and can kill deals, require expensive tear-outs, or force price reductions. Every structural project we build is permitted and inspected.
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A pergola or patio cover that fails its first Florida summerList Item 4
Pergola systems not engineered for Florida's wind-load requirements and UV exposure fail — structurally or cosmetically — faster than homeowners expect. We spec aluminum systems rated for this climate and install them to code.
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An outdoor kitchen built by a contractor whose main business is something else
Pool companies, cabinet showrooms, lawn service companies — they all do outdoor kitchens in Lakewood Ranch. We only do outdoor kitchens, pergolas, fire features, and outdoor living spaces. That focus produces a different result.
Check out the legitimacy of anyone you hire to do anything at your house.
Check if they are a legitimate business and who owns it:
https://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/ByName
Check if they have a Florida Contractors License:
WHY HL POSEY
The Custom Outdoor Kitchen Builder
Lakewood Ranch Needs
The Lakewood Ranch market has no shortage of companies that sell polymer cabinet outdoor kitchens. What it has very few of is licensed contractors who design and build truly custom outdoor kitchens — masonry, stone, custom frame, built-in pizza ovens, natural stone facades, wood ceilings — from scratch, for your specific home, with a Florida contractor's license and a complete understanding of Florida building codes.
HL Posey Builders is a Florida-certified building contractor. We design every outdoor kitchen from the ground up, starting with your space and your home's character. We build with natural stone, porcelain, granite, masonry, aluminum frames, cypress, and cedar — the materials that make a Lakewood Ranch outdoor kitchen look like it was part of the original home design.
FLORIDA CONTRACTOR LICENSE
CBC 1253975
Verifiable at MyFloridaLicense.com.
We display this on every proposal, every permit application, and every project sign — because it matters and is required by Florida State law.
List of Services
-
Truly custom — not a showroom product installed on your lanaiList Item 1
We design your outdoor kitchen from scratch. Dimensions, materials, stone selection, appliance layout — everything specific to your space, your home, and your taste. Not to what fits a polymer cabinet's standard width.
-
Natural stone, masonry, and custom materials throughoutList Item 3
Travertine, stacked stone, porcelain slab, tile, granite, quartzite, IPE wood, cedar — materials that age well in Florida's outdoor conditions and look appropriate in a home of Lakewood Ranch's quality level.
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Built-in pizza ovens, fire features, and complex integrationsList Item 4
Polymer cabinet companies can't build a structural masonry pizza oven or integrate a custom fire pit into a stone surround that matches the kitchen's facade. We can, and we do it regularly.
-
Louvered pergola and pavilion by the same contractor
We design and install your aluminum louvered pergola system as part of the same project, by the same team. No handing off to a separate pergola company mid-project.
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A fixed-price proposal — not an estimate that grows
We price the full scope before work begins. Materials, appliances, pergola system, permit fees — everything in one written number before you sign. If something is hidden, we include an allowance. No change-order surprises mid-project.
QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU CALL
What The Villages Homeowners
Want to Know First
What's the real difference between a custom outdoor kitchen and a polymer cabinet kitchen?
A polymer or HDPE cabinet outdoor kitchen is a pre-manufactured product — cabinet boxes in standard widths, with appliance cutouts, assembled and installed on your lanai. It functions reasonably well and looks fine in a showroom. The structural limitations are real: you're constrained to standard cabinet sizes, you can't integrate complex elements like a masonry pizza oven or a custom stone firebox, and the result always reads as a product that was installed rather than a kitchen that was built. A truly custom outdoor kitchen starts with a blank page — your specific lanai dimensions, your home's architectural character, your material preferences — and is built from masonry, steel frame, stone, and custom materials to those exact specifications. No standard widths. No standard configurations. If you want a built-in pizza oven in a stone surround with a quartzite countertop and a cypress ceiling overhead, that's a custom build. It can't come from a catalog.
What outdoor kitchen materials hold up best in Lakewood Ranch?
Lakewood Ranch's outdoor conditions — intense UV, high humidity, heavy summer rainfall — are demanding on materials not chosen for them. For countertops, large-format porcelain and quartzite outperform granite outdoors (granite is porous and stains) and outperform the solid-surface materials in some prefab systems, which can discolor under UV over time. For facades, natural stone veneer, large-format porcelain tile, and stucco-finish masonry hold up better than the polymer cladding used on some prefab systems. For framing, aluminum construction is more dimensionally stable in Florida's humidity than wood or composite materials. For appliances and hardware, quality 304-grade stainless is appropriate for Lakewood Ranch's inland location. We make all of these material calls as part of the design process, based on your specific lot and exposure.
Can you build a pizza oven into a custom outdoor kitchen?
Yes — and it's one of the most common requests we get in Lakewood Ranch. A built-in pizza oven needs to be integrated structurally into the kitchen's frame, properly vented, and finished with heat-rated materials on the surround. That's a masonry or aluminum-frame construction task — not something accommodated by a standard polymer cabinet system. We design the pizza oven into the kitchen from the beginning, positioned relative to the grill and prep areas for a functional workflow, finished with stone or porcelain to match the kitchen's design. The result is a pizza oven that looks like it was always part of the kitchen's architecture, not an appliance added afterward.
What does a custom outdoor kitchen cost in Lakewood Ranch?
A truly custom outdoor kitchen in Lakewood Ranch — aluminum fram, natural stone facade, granite or quartzite countertop, built-in grill, refrigeration, and sink — typically starts around $16,000 for a straightforward layout and runs to $100,000 or more for a full outdoor living space with a louvered pergola, pizza oven, fire feature, bar seating, and premium stone throughout. This is meaningfully less than a polymer cabinet system — and the result is meaningfully different. We provide a fixed-price proposal after the on-site consultation. That number covers everything — design, materials, appliances, allowances, and installation — and it doesn't change once you've signed.
Does my Lakewood Ranch HOA need to approve an outdoor kitchen or pergola?
In all Lakewood Ranch neighborhoods, any roofed structure you add the answer is yes.For outdoor kitchens it varies from community to community primarily based on where it's going. The Ranch's Community Development Districts and individual neighborhood HOAs govern exterior additions through an architectural review process — covering materials, colors, structure heights, setbacks from property lines, and visibility from shared spaces. Requirements vary by neighborhood. We review the applicable design standards for your specific neighborhood before finalizing a design and prepare the full HOA submission package — site plan, elevations, material specs, product documentation — as part of your project. For Waterside specifically, the Waterside Community Association has its own review process that we include in any Waterside project scope.
Let's Get Started!
Contact Us
Contact Us Today!
HL Posey Builders
(239) 893-3700
Building in Marco Island, Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero, Fort Myers, Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, Cape Coral, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Boca Grande, Venice, Sarasota, Tampa, St. Petersburgh, and The Villages since 2007.
We Have Fun!
Construction is hard, hot, dusty, and sweaty leaving us a bit stinky.
If you see us goofing off a little here and there... we're merely surviving the day or shooting a Public Service Announcement.
"Working with Elena & Laurie was SEAMLESS...
From the very begining, the customer service that Alyssa gave us, to the incredible knowledge of materials, appliances, and operational logistics that Elena offered during consultation made the process flawless! Though the project was relatively small the appreciation to their quality & craftmanship is HUGE.
Thank you Posey Builders for a job well done."
The Royale Tern HOA of Sanibel | Google Review
