Most homeowners ask us this question within the first five minutes of a consultation: how long is this actually going to take? It’s a fair question, and the honest answer usually surprises people. A full landscape design-build project in Acadiana — one that includes a master plan, hardscape, and planting — typically runs two to nine months from the first phone call to the final walkthrough. That’s before weather gets involved. Of course, That depends on the project. This article references A full backyard makeover such as a swimming pool or outdoor kitchen, Hardscape patios and walkways, irrigation, drainage, lighting, regrading and sod, etc.
We’d rather tell you that up front than have you find out three weeks into a rainy June. In this article, we’ll walk through each phase of a design-build project, what tends to slow things down in Lafayette specifically, and how to think about your timeline before you ever break ground.
Phase One: Consultation and Site Assessment (1–3 Weeks)
Every project starts with a site visit, not a sales pitch. We walk the property, talk through what you want the space to do for your family, and assess what we’re actually working with — soil composition, drainage patterns, existing trees, elevation changes, and utility lines. In Lafayette, that assessment almost always includes a hard look at drainage. Our clay soil doesn’t absorb water quickly, and a design that ignores that will cause problems long after the crew leaves. This phase usually takes one to three weeks, depending on how quickly we can coordinate a site visit and gather property survey information.
Phase Two: Master Plan Design (3–6 Weeks)
This is where a licensed landscape architect earns their place on the team. A master plan isn’t a sketch of where the patio goes — it’s a layered document that accounts for grading, irrigation zones, plant placement, hardscape materials, and how each phase of construction sequences against the others. For a smaller project — a patio and planting bed refresh, for example — design can wrap in two-three weeks. A full estate project with a pool, outdoor kitchen, and pergola typically takes six to eight weeks, including a round or two of revisions with you before the plan is finalized.
Phase Three: Engineering, Permitting, and Bidding (2–6 Weeks)
Anything structural — a pool, a retaining wall over a certain height, significant drainage work — sometimes requires engineering review and, in most cases, a permit from the parish or city. Permitting timelines in Lafayette Parish vary depending on scope and current review volume, but we build two to six weeks into the schedule for this step. This phase often runs concurrently with material sourcing, which helps offset some of the wait.
Phase Four: Material Sourcing and Scheduling
This is the phase clients underestimate the most, and it’s often the longest single wait in the entire project. Specialty stone, pool equipment, custom ironwork, and mature specimen trees — a large live oak or a well-formed Southern magnolia, for instance — can carry lead times of anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. We also have to schedule your project against our crew’s existing commitments. A firm that tells you material sourcing takes no time at all is either not sourcing quality materials or not being straight with you.
Phase Five: Construction and Installation (4 Weeks to 6+ Months)
Construction sequencing matters more than most people realize. We handle site prep and demolition first, then grading and drainage, then hardscape and structures, and only then does planting happen — installing plants before the hard work is finished just means replacing damaged plants later. A patio and landscaping refresh might take one to four weeks of active construction. A full estate build-out with a pool and multiple structures can run four to six months.
Louisiana’s weather is the variable no contract can fully control. Our heaviest rain typically falls in late spring and early summer, and a single wet week can push excavation and concrete work back further than people expect. We build weather buffer into every schedule we give a client — a company that promises a fixed date regardless of rainfall isn’t being realistic with you.
Phase Six: Plant Establishment and Final Walkthrough
Once installation is complete, we don’t consider the project finished the moment the last plant goes in the ground. Newly installed plants need time to settle before we do a final walkthrough and punch list — rushing this step is how you end up with stressed plants and a callback six weeks later. This final stretch usually adds one to two weeks after construction wraps.
What We’ve Learned After 20+ Years in Acadiana
One thing consistently separates a smooth design-build project from a frustrating one: how much buffer is built into the schedule from day one. Drainage surprises, material delays, and a wet week in May aren’t signs something went wrong — they’re normal parts of building in Louisiana. The firms that give you an unrealistically fast timeline upfront are usually the ones asking for extensions later.
Factors That Add Time to Any Project
A few variables show up again and again as the reason a timeline stretches beyond the initial estimate. Scope changes mid-project — a homeowner deciding to add a fire feature after the master plan is already finalized — will push everything downstream. Utility conflicts discovered during excavation, like a gas line running through a proposed planting bed, require a design adjustment before work can continue. And on estate properties with mature live oaks, we sometimes have to design around root systems we can’t disturb, which can mean revising a hardscape layout after the fact rather than before.
None of these are signs of a poorly run project. They’re the reality of building on real Louisiana properties instead of a blank, idealized lot. The difference between a frustrating project and a smooth one usually isn’t whether these things happen — it’s whether your landscape partner communicates about them as they come up instead of letting you find out later.
A Rough Guide by Project Size
To put real numbers to it: a smaller refresh — new planting beds, a patio replacement, updated lighting — often moves from consultation to completion in four to eight weeks total. A mid-size project involving a new patio, pergola, and planting overhaul typically runs two to four months. A full estate transformation with a pool, outdoor kitchen, and complete master plan build-out commonly takes six to nine months, sometimes longer if it spans a rainy season or requires significant engineering. These are ranges, not guarantees, but they’re a more useful starting point than “it depends.”
Planning Your Own Timeline
If you’re hoping to have a finished outdoor space by a specific date — a milestone birthday, a family gathering, next spring — the math matters more than you’d think. Working backward from a target date, and starting the conversation four to nine months ahead of it, gives a project the room it needs to be done right instead of rushed. If you’re weighing a project for next year and haven’t started that conversation yet, now is a good time to.