Installing a synthetic grass lawn and making it
look good just requires following a few simple steps. Following these steps
will ensure a clean, professional looking installation. All it takes is a
little hard work and attention to detail.
1
Remove the existing
grass (or weeds, as the case may be). You can use a sod cutter for this task. A sod cutter can
be rented from your local tool rental company or home good store. The
advantages of a sod cutter are: they cut evenly across the lawn, they are much
less destructive to existing water lines and irrigation and if you have grass
you can roll it up and dispose of it which saves time
2
Excavate to an average
depth of at least two inches. While you can get away with less, you won't get as good
drainage which can be especially important if your turf will be coming in
contact with pets and their associated byproducts (ie. urine and feces).
3
Install a bendaboard
border along the perimeter of your installation, if desired.The advantages to using bendaboard are that your
turf will definitely not come up and cannot be pulled up by dogs. Alternatively
you can use 60d six inch nails every 4 inches (10.2 cm) on the perimeter.
·
If you elect to use a
bendaboard border, be sure to use a composite board material that will not
corrode. Wood won't suffice.
·
Dig a slight trench
along the border approximately six inches deep using a "mud gun"
(layman's term for a small jackhammer with a shovel bit - can be rented) or a
trenching pick and trenching shovel.
·
Put the bendaboard in
the trench so the top of the bendaboard is approximately one inch to 3/4"
below the finished surface - for example, if the turf lawn has a cement slab
next to it, the bendaboard border should be about one inch below the slab height.
·
Stake the board to the
ground so it is secure and backfill with gravel or the dirt that was excavated
and compact thoroughly
4
Cap any existing irrigation heads. Alternatively you can reconfigure them
to "spritz" the turf and keep the irrigation system. This works well
for really hot days to cool the turf or for pet owners who want to wash the
turf down automatically.
5
Add gravel. Quarter inch self compacting gravel is
recommended. Large gravel - half inch or above - will make getting a nice grade
very difficult. Add gravel so it comes about a quarter inch above the
bendaboard and is higher in the middle. If your area is a 20' by 20' square,
it's best to make the middle of your install one inch higher than the edges.
This will create a nice "mound" look. Flat synthetic turf installs
have a tendency to look fake!
One cubic yard of
gravel will cover 300 square feet one inch thick. Also, one cubic yard will
weigh about 2000lbs
6
Rake and compact. Rake using a 36" aluminum grading
rake. This rake has teeth on one side and the back has a flat grading blade.
Rake out the low spots as best as possible. Using a vibrating plate compactor
(another rented item), wet the area moderately with a hose and go over the area
from outside in one time.
7
Wet the area down
again. It should be
pretty wet at this point, not flooded but as though it had rained heavily for
about ten minutes.
8
Go over it again with
the plate compactor. At the end you
will have little lines from the edge of the plate compactor. Work these out with
the flat edge of your rake. You will also have gravel shifting upwards at your
edges where the plate compactor pushed the gravel up by the bendaboard. Remove
this or your install will look fake. You may need a fine broom to remove the
excess from the lines and excess material on the edges
9
Add a weed mat. Depending on your conditions, this may
or may not be a benefit. If you had a lot of paspalum, zoysia or bermuda grass
it would be a good idea unless it was thoroughly killed
10
Add the synthetic
turf. There are a few
things to know here. The turf usually comes in 15 foot (4.6 m) widths and
you always want to seam width wise. It is much harder to seam lengths together.
·
If your area is 20
feet (6.1 m) by 20 feet (6.1 m), for example, you will need one fifteen
foot wide section that is twenty feet long, and a second section that is 5 feet
(1.5 m) wide and twenty feet long. Unfortunately the remaining ten foot
wide by twenty feet long section would be an unused remnant. Unroll the first
section, laying it close to the edge and leaving a few inches to spare in front
and back lengthwise. For example if your area is 20x20 cut a strip about
20'6" long. Lay out your next section of 5' wide and 20' long
11
Make preliminary cuts. Before cutting too close around the
edges, cut out the excess factory material from the sides. We cut the third
stitch in. Once you have cut stitches out you now know you have two straight
edges that can be put together for your seam.
12
Make your seam. You have a few options. You can glue your
seam or you can use staples or nails. Using glue and professional seaming tape
is recommended. This gives a seam that is hard to detect and allows you to not
have nails in the field. This is important for playgrounds as well as the
stretching process.
·
To do the seam get the
two turf pieces next to each other, emulating the distance between them which
duplicates the stitching in the turf. What this means is if the stitches are
3/8" apart, you should pull the two turf pieces together until the stitches
are 3/8" apart. If you are too close you will have a "mohawk"
effect in which too many blades are competing for space. If you are too far it
will look empty. Too far is better than too close though.
·
Once you get your
spacing right and the seam looks good, put some nails about 18" away from
your seam. Just a few nails partially in every few feet will do. The nails are
just to keep your turf from shifting at all.
·
Now pull back each
piece of turf leaving a couple feet of gravel exposed. Lay out your seaming tape
(the tape should be 12" wide). Spread your glue over your seaming tape and
trowel out so it covers the tape evenly but thinly.
·
Let sit for about ten
minutes to get tacky. Put the turf back down over the seaming tape, being
careful not to let the blades get stuck in the glue. Put bags of sand or
similar over the entire seam to make sure it doesn't shift.
13
Remove the bags or
sand or similar, once your seam is cured (which may be the next day). You are now ready to stretch the turf.
For most installs, you can stretch lengthwise only and don't need to stretch
width wise. If the area is under 400sqft, you can get away with stretching from
one side only.
·
To do this, pull the
turf so it lines up well with the bottom or top of your install then fasten the
turf to your bendaboard or nail the turf down using your six inch nails.
·
Using your feet, kick
out the turf from the nailed side, trying to get out any wrinkles. Put six inch
nails halfway in every 3 feet (0.9 m) out and 5 feet (1.5 m) wide so
you don't lose your stretch. Keep stretching and nailing until you get to the
other side.
·
Once you get to the
other side you can make your final cuts by the edge or bendaboard and use your
screws or nails to fasten the turf. You can make your final cuts and fasten the
sides at this time as well. Once you have nailed or screwed down the perimeter
you can remove all the nails in the field.
14
Infill. Your last step is applying the infill.
Infill helps keep your blades upright, gives the turf a more realistic look and
helps keep your turf cool. For infill choices you have silica sand (cleaned
beach sand, basically), Durafill (acrylic coated sand, usually green in color),
crumb rubber (provides some fall rating but some have reported it can be a bit
toxic), and deodorizing infills for pets (a good example is Zeofill). For most
purposes sand is fine. If you have a lot of dogs we recommend a product like
Zeofill to reduce odors).
·
To apply the infill,
use a power-broom (or a lot of power and a heavy duty push-broom) and make the
blades stand upright. Then use a drop spreader or carefully use a flat shovel
and apply the infill to the turf at a rate of 1.5 lbs/sqft. After applying
brush again until the sand or other infill is evenly distributed. If your turf
has a dusty look at this point just hose it down and you are done!
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