Florida-Certified Building Contractor · Serving Lee County Since 2007
Outdoor Kitchens Built for the Way Fort Myers Lives
Custom-designed outdoor kitchens, pergolas, and living spaces — engineered for the Gulf Coast climate and built by a Florida-certified contractor who has worked Lee County since 2007.
CUSTOM OUTDOOR KITCHENS · PERGOLAS · LOUVERED PERGOLAS · BUILT-IN GRILLS ·
OUTDOOR LIVING · COVERED PATIOS · SUMMER KITCHENS · WOOD CEILINGS
Florida-Certified Building Contractor · Serving Lee County Since 2007 · Custom Outdoor Kitchen Builder
Since 2007
BUILDING IN LEE COUNTY — AMONG THE LONGEST SERVING CONTRACTORS
271
Sunny days per year — your kitchen works year-round
12mo
Outdoor living season — no winter shutdown IN FORT MYERS
"In Fort Myers, the backyard isn't extra square footage — it's the reason people move here. The only question is whether it was built to survive the climate that makes it worth having."
— YOUR SITUATION
You Can Picture the Backyard. The Hard Part Is Finding Someone to Build It Right.
Fort Myers rewards outdoor living like few places in the country. From the canal-front streets of Iona and the boating neighborhoods off McGregor, to the estate homes along the Caloosahatchee, to the gated communities of Gateway and the acreage out in Buckingham — the backyard is where life here actually happens. Eleven months a year, the lanai beats the living room.
You already know what your space should be: an outdoor kitchen designed around how you actually cook and entertain, a louvered pergola so an afternoon storm doesn't end the evening, a fire feature for the handful of nights the temperature finally drops.
The vision isn't the challenge. The challenge is trusting the right company to execute it — one who understands what Gulf Coast salt air and humidity do to standard materials, who knows Lee County's permitting and your HOA's review process, and who builds something that still looks right after five summers and a hurricane season or two. That's the gap HL Posey Builders has filled in Fort Myers since 2007.
The Problem Most Contractors Don't Address
Southwest Florida Punishes the Wrong Materials.
Lee County's water is its greatest lifestyle asset and its hardest test for outdoor kitchen materials. Any property near a saltwater or brackish canal — Iona, the McGregor corridor, Fort Myers Beach, the Caloosahatchee frontage — lives in a corrosive environment that destroys standard materials faster than most contractors will admit before the deposit clears.
Standard imported 304-grade stainless shows surface rust and pitting within a season on a saltwater lot. Granite countertops are porous and absorb salt residue outdoors, demanding ongoing sealing. Pergola frames that aren't anchored to engineered footings don't meet Lee County's wind-load code — a fact that surfaces at inspection, or worse, in the next named storm.
These aren't edge cases. They're the most common failures produced by companies that just want to sell you something today. We've built on Lee County's water long enough to know every one of these failure points and to design around them from the first conversation — not after the first service call.
— Why Material Selection Matters Here
What the Gulf Coast Climate Does to an Outdoor Kitchen —
and How We Build for It
Appliances & Hardware
On saltwater and brackish properties we specify USA-manufactured 304-grade stainless for all appliances and hardware — not the "imported 304", 201, or 430-grade found in mass-market lines. The difference is measurable within a single Florida summer near the water.
USA 304-Grade Stainless · Dometic
Twin Eagles ·
Delta Heat · Coyote · AOG · Alfresco
Countertops & Surfaces
The best outdoor surface — and the most expensive — is a full-body porcelain slab such as Dekton: UV-stable, non-porous, no sealing. The practical choice for most is granite or dolomite — genuine stone that's porous and needs periodic sealing. Quartzite is harder but still seals. We help you choose by exposure, not a catalog.
Large-Format Porcelain · Quartzite · Dolomite · Granite
Structure & Framing
Powder-Coated Aluminum · Engineered Footings · Wind-Load Rated · Cedar Options
Ready to get started?
Become a 'Hangout Hero' Today!
CALL (239) 893-3700
— HOW IT WORKS
A Simple Path From Vision to Finished Outdoor Kitchen
We Listen:
We start with an in-depth conversation about your space and ideas, then give you a budget range. Visit our showroom in person or virtually to see everything that fits your vision — then we come to your home and make it all work.
We Design:
We design your hangout and tell you what your investment will be. We guide the final selection of cabinet colors, countertops, and backsplashes, and write up the full scope so everyone's on the same page — including our licensed plumber and electrician.
We Build. You Enjoy:
Construction begins on your scheduled date and generally runs about three weeks for an outdoor kitchen. The last day we install the appliances and clean up every bit of dust. Always shooting for a 5-star performance.
— WHAT WE BUILD
Designed for Your Backyard —
Never a Catalog Kitchen
No catalog builds. No standard layouts. We design every project around your specific backyard, your home's architecture, your lot's conditions, and how you actually intend to use the space.
Outdoor Kitchens & Summer Kitchens
Full cooking environments with professional-grade appliances, integrated refrigeration and wine storage, and custom stone or porcelain countertops rated for Florida's UV exposure and humidity.
Outdoor Kitchens Fort Myers · Summer Kitchen · Built-in Grill · Pizza Oven · Canal-Front · Iona · McGregor · Gateway
Pergolas & Shade Structures
Aluminum, wood, or hybrid pergola systems designed to meet Lee County wind-load requirements — with louvered-roof options that let you control sun and rain in real time.
Cedar Wood · Aluminum · Hurricane-Rated · Louvered Pergola · HOA Drawing Packages
Outdoor Living Spaces
Full outdoor environments — dining, lounge, bar, fire feature, and entertainment wall — designed as one cohesive space that reads as an intentional extension of your interior, not an afterthought on a lanai.
Poolside · Lanai · Garden Estates · Gulf-View Properties
Fire Features & Pizza Ovens
Linear gas fireplaces, custom fire pit tables, and wood-fired or gas pizza ovens built into premium stone surrounds. We manage the gas line, the permitting, and every layer of finish — one contractor, no handoffs.
Natural Gas · Propane · Wood · Alfa · Forno Bravo
Lanai Wood Ceilings
A wood lanai ceiling instantly upgrades your outdoor area by adding architectural depth, structural texture, and high-end warmth. We install tens of thousands of square feet of wood ceilings every year.
WOOD CEILINGS · TONGUE & GROOVE WOOD CEILING · CEDAR CEILING PLANKS · FAUX WOOD CEILING · MODERN WOOD CEILING
Full Design + Build
One licensed contractor manages concept, design, engineering drawings, county permitting, construction, and final inspection. No subcontractor juggling. No design-build disconnect. One point of accountability.
HOA Packages · Drawings & Specifications · Turnkey
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE WHEN IT 'S DONE
This Is the Fort Myers You Moved Here For
It's a Wednesday in February.
You haven't thought about winter in weeks. The built-in grill is running, the fire table is lit, the louvered pergola blades are angled against the late sun. This is just Wednesday now — and it's the version of Wednesday you moved to Fort Myers to have.
The neighbor asks who built it.
You give them our number. A well-built outdoor kitchen — materials that clearly haven't rusted, a pergola that clearly isn't going anywhere — gets noticed. We've built entire streets one backyard at a time in Lee County. The referral is the review that matters most to us.
You go to sell.
The outdoor kitchen is in the listing headline. The inspector finds nothing to flag. A licensed-contractor-built outdoor kitchen is a documented asset that transfers cleanly — no removal, no disclosure complications. It closes the deal rather than complicating it.
WHAT WE HELP YOU AVOID
The Shortcuts That Show Up at the Worst Possible Moment
Fort Myers is one of the most active — and most saturated — outdoor kitchen markets in Southwest Florida. Plenty of crews will quote your project; fewer than half are fully licensed for every component of it. Here's what we help you avoid.
Materials that fail in a coastal environment
The wrong stainless grade pits within a season near the water. The wrong countertop absorbs salt and stains. A frame that isn't rated for this wind zone fails before the next storm. We spec for where you actually live.
An unpermitted structure at closing
Lee County actively enforces unpermitted work. A pergola or covered structure without a permit surfaces in buyer inspections, can require removal before closing, and turns what you paid for into a liability. We permit every project, every time.
A pergola that doesn't hold in a storm
Lee County is a high-velocity wind zone. Surface-mounted pergolas without proper footings fail in named storms. Every structure we install uses engineered footings and connection hardware rated for this zone.
An HOA rejection after materials are ordered
Communities like Gateway, Miromar Lakes, and the Iona-area associations each have architectural standards. We review your covenants before we finalize design, so approval isn't a gamble.
Not sure who to trust with your backyard? Start Here ↓
WHY HL POSEY BUILDERS
A Certified Contractor, Not a Handyman.
HL Posey Builders has been building outdoor kitchens, pergolas, and outdoor living spaces in Fort Myers and Lee County since 2007. Headquartered in Cape Coral, the Fort Myers market is right at our doorstep — our showroom is minutes away, and where we know the county building department, the HOA processes, the neighborhood conditions, and the specific demands of a Gulf Coast outdoor environment better than any contractor who drives in from outside the county to bid a job.
Outdoor kitchens and outdoor living spaces are the entire business. Not a pool add-on. Not a side service attached to a landscaping route. Not a line item on a home builder's service menu. Every design decision, every material specification, every structural detail we make is informed by our years of building exclusively in this trade, in this climate, in this county.
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 Florida State law requires it.
List of Services
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Lee County's longest-serving dedicated outdoor kitchen contractorList Item 1
Since 2007 building exclusively outdoor kitchens, pergolas, and outdoor living spaces in Lee County. Not a side business. Not a new market entry. The deepest local experience available for this trade in this county.
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Built to Lee County codeList Item 2
We know the wind-load requirements, setback rules, and HOA approval process. We've done this hundreds of times in this county.
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Materials matched to your environmentList Item 3
Water-front or inland, we specify materials that hold up to salt air, UV, and Florida rain — not catalog items that look good in a showroom and fail in three years.
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HOA submission expertise across Lee County communitiesList Item 4
Gateway, Miromar Lakes, Verandah, Iona communities, and dozens more — we know the architectural review requirements and have navigated them enough times to prepare first-submission packages that don't bounce back for resubmittal.
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Single point of responsibility
Design, HOA submission, Lee County permit, construction, inspection — all run through HL Posey. One point of contact. One fixed price before we start. No subcontractor handoffs. No accountability gaps. No change orders after the project has begun.
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Transparent, fixed-price proposals
We price the full scope before work begins, with allowances for unknowns. If something unexpected arises on-site, we tell you immediately — no surprise change orders after the fact.
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:
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Check if they have a Florida Contractors License:
COMMON QUESTIONS
Lee County Homeowners Ask Us FAQ
What materials hold up best to the salt air in Fort Myers?
For water-front and coastal properties we spec 304-grade stainless steel for all appliances and hardware (not the 201 and 430-grade in most big-box products), porcelain, quartzite, and granite countertops, and powder-coated aluminum framing rather than raw steel or standard aluminum. For cabinetry we use NatureKast, Challenger Designs aluminum, and Station Grill aluminum rather than wood or polymer. These aren't upsells — they're what keeps you from replacing components in year two.
Does Fort Myers go through the City or Lee County for permits?
It depends on where you are. Property inside the City of Fort Myers limits permits through the city's building department; unincorporated Lee County addresses — much of Iona, San Carlos Park, and surrounding areas — go through Lee County. Submitting to the wrong jurisdiction costs weeks. We confirm the correct authority for your exact address before we file, and we permit through both regularly.
Can I build an outdoor kitchen in my HOA community?
Usually yes, but HOAs in Lee County communities — particularly Miromar Lakes, Iona, and the Gateway area — have specific standards around height, materials, colors, and setbacks. We're familiar with the submission process for most major Lee County HOAs and prepare the documentation your association requires as part of your project. We review your covenants before we finalize design so there are no surprises at approval.
What does an outdoor kitchen cost in Fort Myers?
A properly built outdoor kitchen in Lee County typically runs from $15,000 for a straightforward grill-and-counter setup to $80,000 or more for a full outdoor living space with pergola, fire feature, refrigeration, and premium stone. The number varies with square footage, appliance selection, countertop material, and structure type. We provide a detailed, fixed-price proposal — no ranges, no surprises on the invoice.
Are you hurricane-rated? Will my outdoor kitchen survive a storm?
Every structure we build meets Lee County's current Florida Building Code wind-load requirements, strengthened after the 2004–2005 seasons and again after Ian in 2022. Our pergola systems use hurricane-rated anchoring and connection hardware, and our open-air structures are designed to let wind pass through rather than catch it. We can also discuss storm-prep options like removable louvered panels. No structure is truly storm-proof, but ours are built to code and built to last.
How long does an outdoor kitchen project take from start to finish?
A typical outdoor kitchen runs 10 to 14 weeks from signed contract. It takes 2 to 8 weeks to get all your material to our warehouse, a week or two to get you on the schedule, and 2 to 4 weeks to build. If the project needs HOA approval or a permit, that portion is out of our control and can add 4 to 12 weeks.
HL Posey Builders is Southwest Florida's premier custom outdoor kitchen builder and Florida State Certified Building Contractor (License # CBC 1253975). We design, permit, and build outdoor kitchens, aluminum and louvered pergolas, fire features, wood ceilings, screen enclosures, and full backyard living spaces across Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Naples, Sarasota, Tampa Bay, and statewide. Every build is Florida-engineered, properly permitted, and built to outlast Florida's toughest conditions. Two showrooms. Thousands of Hangout Heroes. One team you can trust.
Your Outdoor Kitchen Builder Nearby in: Cape Coral, Estero and Babcock Ranch
