Artificial Turf

[eytonxav]

Having a few turf contractors out this week to quote my backyard. Both contractors are highly rated. Anyone that has had turf installed have any suggestions or concerns to look out for and how has it held up after several years? Did you get a warranty?

 

[VanWinkle]

Interesting subject about which I have no experience. I am also looking forward to the replies.

VW

 

[TripleLindy]

I’m also in the DFW area (Flower Mound) and my neighbors had turf put in their backyard. They’ve since moved, so I don’t know any details, but I’m interested in doing the same, so I’ll follow this thread. My one comment about their installation is that there is a visible seam in one section, which detracts from the overall appearance.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I bought from a company in Arizona called artificial turf supply company and they shipped it to Nevada. I bought the high quality pet turf. Nevada’s sun is strong and always shining and 10 years later the buyers of my house thought it was new. It was much cheaper to buy directly from them and they sell mostly to apartment complexes and shopping centers. They sent me samples of the ones I requested so I could choose.

 

[pacergal]

My Ds and DBiL have put artificial turf in at both of their last houses. It was quite a production and tons of prep work and the company did a great job.
They loved it and was simple to care for (they got the pet turf)--if I recall, just a spray from the hose and ?simple green around the pet areas to keep it clean, discourage mold/mildew.

First place they were there for about 5 years, held up well. Current place also about 5 years, still looks new.

 

[COcheesehead]

I have a small patch in our yard for the dog. The rest of our yard is all xeriscaped.
In summer it looks real. In winter it looks weird. It will retain odors after awhile and will need some cleaning. They make solutions to spray on it.

We used this brand of grass.
https://www.synlawn.com/. They sell it at Lowe’s. 8 year fade warranty. Paid $40 for our 3’ x 6’ patch.

 

[djsander]

We live in New Mexico. Don’t have any experience, but our across the street neighbors moved in about the same time as us. We could see sections of artificial turf in the side yards. Talking to them they told us the previous owners had putting greens all the way around the house. Basically their own personal miniature golf course. We just got a small roll out piece and laid it on our back patio to give us some green.

 

[Ally]

We have three former feral cats who live in our backyard catio, which is made of three 10’x10’ dog kennels that we installed and opened up into a 10’x 30’ area. We installed a remnant of high quality artificial turf we bought from a turf company in half of it. They love it and we do, too. The back part still has some natural ground, because they seem to like to lie on damp dirt in the summers. I wish we could afford it everywhere in our yards.

 

[REWahoo]

The back part still has some natural ground, because they seem to like to lie on damp dirt in the summers. I wish we could afford it everywhere in our yards.

I know what you mean. We're even dryer than you are and don't dare water the lawn. No "damp dirt" here.

 

[badatmath]

1. The power company used to discourage it as it is apparently hotter than cement. 2. My friends dog got very sick from eating the fill and would have died had the not found the problem and removed the turf.

 

[Ally]

1. The power company used to discourage it as it is apparently hotter than cement. 2. My friends dog got very sick from eating the fill and would have died had the not found the problem and removed the turf.

The really good type doesn’t get too hot. We have 100 degree weather and we still sit on it with our cats. It’s sort of like sitting on a patio chair, just slightly warmer. It’s the outside heat that bothers us the most.

Our cats don’t eat or scratch it at all, thankfully.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Ours didn’t get hot. I have laid on it to play with the 4 dogs that I had then. They recommended sand to make the grass stand up and that’s what we used so not sure what fill is that was mentioned.

 

[eytonxav]

One of the contractors indicated it would be about 4 degrees hotter than regular grass. The base material underneath the grass is an aggregate that get tamped down and I imagine that is what holds the heat vs regular dirt.

I have low E windows, and there is a possibility of reflections burning the turf. One contractor did not think it likely to occur while the other one said install solar screens.

I am still waiting for one quote, but the other quote was $4700 for 475 sq ft, with 3 year labor and 15 year product warranty. They do add a substance that breaks down dog urine to avoid odors

 

[ElizabethT]

Get the best quality you can afford, and I mean really. Our artificial turf was high quality, and after five years continues to look absolutely beautiful. Conversely, cheap continues to look cheap, year after year after year.

Of considerable importance as well is the direction the turf is laid in. Be sure to notice the difference in color based on the direction it is laid out ( forward vs rear facing, as example).
The color will change based on what direction you are looking at it from, so determine what direction is your look and color preference, and then tell your installer.

 

[ElizabethT]

I’m also in the DFW area (Flower Mound) and my neighbors had turf put in their backyard. They’ve since moved, so I don’t know any details, but I’m interested in doing the same, so I’ll follow this thread. My one comment about their installation is that there is a visible seam in one section, which detracts from the overall appearance.

That should not occur, so it may be they went with a lower cost product or installer. I have a large area of our backyard covered with artificial turf, and there are absolutely no visible seams.

As I said above, this is not a product that justifies going lower cost. You will absolutely get - and see - what you paid for, each and every year going forward.

 

[eytonxav]

Get the best quality you can afford, and I mean really. Our artificial turf was high quality, and after five years continues to look absolutely beautiful. Conversely, cheap continues to look cheap, year after year after year.

Of considerable importance as well is the direction the turf is laid in. Be sure to notice the difference in color based on the direction it is laid out ( forward vs rear facing, as example).
The color will change based on what direction you are looking at it from, so determine what direction is your look and color preference, and then tell your installer.

Yes, I am opting for higher quality heavier weight turf.

 

[COcheesehead]

One of the contractors indicated it would be about 4 degrees hotter than regular grass. The base material underneath the grass is an aggregate that get tamped down and I imagine that is what holds the heat vs regular dirt.

I have low E windows, and there is a possibility of reflections burning the turf. One contractor did not think it likely to occur while the other one said install solar screens.

I am still waiting for one quote, but the other quote was $4700 for 475 sq ft, with 3 year labor and 15 year product warranty. They do add a substance that breaks down dog urine to avoid odors

The Synlawn I bought at Lowe’s is pretty good quality, looks more natural and runs about $2.50/sq ft. I had to install it, but if that gives you another data point.
I installed it over a bed of crusher fines which is like sand, pinned it into place and added a rock border. All together took me less than two hours.

 

[folivier]

Wonder how well this turf stands up to wind storms? Or torrential rains?
I'd hate to see my turf floating away during one of our double inch rainstorms.
But it'd be nice to not have to mow the grass once or twice each week.

 

[badatmath]

Ours didn’t get hot. I have laid on it to play with the 4 dogs that I had then. They recommended sand to make the grass stand up and that’s what we used so not sure what fill is that was mentioned.

It was supposed to be some "cooling" thing. It was also probably 10 years ago. It is likely better/different now.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Bad, we put the turf in ourselves 10 years ago. My friend had it done professionally and they also used sand.,

 

[Midpack]

Interesting subject about which I have no experience. I am also looking forward to the replies.

VW

+1. Me too. A few months ago I saw a yard in an upscale neighborhood nearby and it looked so nice I had to back up and look to see if it was real grass or artificial turf - I was the latter, entire yard. I have no idea how old it was, or what it cost, but it was stunning! And I looked for seams, couldn’t see any!

 

[COcheesehead]

Wonder how well this turf stands up to wind storms? Or torrential rains?
I'd hate to see my turf floating away during one of our double inch rainstorms.
But it'd be nice to not have to mow the grass once or twice each week.

It percolates - has holes in it to drain. It also get pinned or pinned and sanded. I never worried about either wind or rain.

 

[Ally]

Wonder how well this turf stands up to wind storms? Or torrential rains?
I'd hate to see my turf floating away during one of our double inch rainstorms.
But it'd be nice to not have to mow the grass once or twice each week.

I live in West Texas where we have both. We have the recommended sand under ours and water never stands on ours like it does in the other part of our yard. We have heavy winds and dust storms. At most, my husband occasionally uses a leaf blower on it, if there is a heavy dust storm.

 

[ElizabethT]

Wonder how well this turf stands up to wind storms? Or torrential rains?
I'd hate to see my turf floating away during one of our double inch rainstorms.
But it'd be nice to not have to mow the grass once or twice each week.

Non-visible drains are set throughout our turf. No drainage issues ever, including during our recent news-making slew of atmospheric rivers.

I’ve never heard of turf lifting during our Santa Ana’s. If you’re talking tornado level winds, well. . .

 

[eytonxav]

Non-visible drains are set throughout our turf. No drainage issues ever, including during our recent news-making slew of atmospheric rivers.

I’ve never heard of turf lifting during our Santa Ana’s. If you’re talking tornado level winds, well. . .

Those tornados can remove regular grass as well