Our thanks go out to Artificial Turf Supply for partnering with us on the development of a Water Conservation Demonstration Garden. The Demonstration Garden utilizes non-vegetative landscape features and water saving alternatives such as the synthetic turf provided by Artificial Turf Supply to show case how our customers can balance esthetically pleasing landscapes with water savings.
One additional comment… there was a general good impression of those that saw and touched the product (synthetic turf) when touring the sight and a general consensus that this particular product was an acceptable replacement for natural turf.
Sincerely,
Michael W. King
Customer Service Manager
El Toro Water District
Tel: (949) 837-7050 Ext. 203
Fax: (949) 837-4192
I thought the sample was excellent, and I really appreciated it.
However, I was talked into natural grass, which I had done about 5 weeks
back.
Yep… I regret it already.
4 of the squares have completely died, and my water bill is literally 5
times higher trying to get the new grass to settle in.
Thank you, and next time….. I’m going with the artificial.
Thanks again,
Robert Henderson
Las Vegas, NV
I was surprised when the roll of turf arrived a couple days ahead of my estimate. The trucking company did a good job keeping me posted.
The material came wrapped and in good condition. Let people know to have a couple of helpers available and to position the roll as close to the installation site as possible. MichaelI made some notes for a friend of mine. Use them however you want. mc
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D-I-Y Installation of Artificial Turf
Considerations -
Site and site prep
Tools
Labor & abilities
Materials
My thinking on stuff
Site and site prep
I decided to install turf (650 sf.) in my level yard in California -
Annual rainfall about 20 inches;
Max. one day rainfall about one inch.
No winter freeze.
The area is an irregular shape with curves and straights.
There are sprinklers and some low-voltage lighting installed.
Tools
I had most tools but found the following to be most helpful.
One wheelbarrow/cart - I have a medium size Scotts cart with four wheels
One sand tamper - about 10 lbs.
One decent corded drill with assortment of good quality bits.
One earth auger/drill bit
One workmate-type vise table
One of those 36″ picker-upper things to reduce bending.
A magnet on a stick helps with recovering dropped screws.
One good adjustable hose nozzle
One banged-up pick-up truck
Labor & abilities
I am semi-retired, 57, overweight and not very flexible (knees especially).
I count myself as 1/3 of a laborer & much of the brainpower.
I hired two day-laborers for about five days.
Communication is important - make sure at least one of the laborers speaks your language.
I speak Spitalianglish - English mixed with Spanish and Italian - quite comical at times.
Time & schedule
Be realistic - as a first time effort, my 650 sf. took about 5 full days.
Now that I have some experience, I could probably do a similar job in 4 days.
The time can be split up, but anything less than 4 hours at a time doesn’t accomplish much.
Watch the weather - I hit a heat wave which has an impact.
Materials
I used five 16 2×6 pressure-treated boards for the long runs. These are HEAVY.
Smaller 2×4 pressure-treated boards made up cross pieces.
I used fill of 3/8″ pea-gravel and #2 Olympia sand.
I bought these at Lyngso in Redwood City, CA in self-fill bags. About $5/bag
Lyngso has the bags. Save by reusing bags and tell them BEFORE you pay.
It took 80 bags (60 gravel, 20 sand). These are heavy too, 4 trips.
The total weight per square foot is 8-10 pounds - near 5 tons total.
I bought the medium weight turf with curly thatch (it really hides the screws).
Wafer headed screws for the turf - #6, 8, & 10 for wood and metals
12″ wooden gardening spikes (for lateral clamping).
Weed barrier fabric
Colored painters tape
35 feet of one-inch manila rope
40 metal connector plates (4″ x 7″)
My thinking on stuff
I decided to create a grid of pressure-treated 2×4s and 2×6s tied together with thin metal plates. No nails - everything screwed for strength and safety. I did not want anything popping up later, so I used lots of screws.
This allowed workable areas of about 70 sf. each with level boundaries for screeding.
After the lumber was installed, I drilled about 50 nine-inch deep holes with the earth auger.
These holes were filled with nine-inch lengths of manila rope and will allow water percolation.
Then position the gravel - water and tamp over and over.
Don’t be stingy, this stuff will settle over time but the lumber will not.
Bring the gravel level with the boards.
Add sand, water and tamp over and over.
Make the wood and materials as even as possible.
Edges butting up to concrete should be about ¼” lower to allow the turf to sit right.
Backfill with a bit of sand as needed
Used colored tape to mark board positions on concrete. Use these later with a taut line when screwing.
Cover everything with weed barrier before laying turf.
I overbought on turf a little to ensure that I reduced seams to one long straight one.
Measure twice or more before cutting.
When I did cut, it was not the final cut immediately.
I did a progression of trimming as I positioned and fastened down the turf.
The progressive trimming reduced weight and allowed progress tightening.
Lots of double-checking while trimming - costs nothing extra to check.
The wafer head screws did a good job securing the fabric to the wood.
If I need to I can unscrew areas for more sand, etc.
Make sure the turf orientation on abutting pieces is the same.
The butt seam shows and I am working on that.
I think the two pieces pressing against each other causes the darker color by pushing two blades against each other.
I plan on waiting a few days and then doing some fine scissor cutting to remove some individual blades.
I think this approach will do the trick
I oriented the whole area so that the best looking angle faced the part of the backyard most used (South).
I used bags of gravel/sand instead of a dumped delivery because I didn’t know how much would be needed.
I made sure to top them off at the material yard since the charge is for the bag and not by weight.
The bags were useful as pre-measured units for estimating additional purchases and for filling the cart.
Using bags instead of a bulk dump allowed me to keep my driveway open.
Doing the job myself let me make changes on the spot like using the overage material to push up under trees and bushes. If later I don’t like the look, I can re-trim back to the original line.
I pay my guys $15/hour (cash at the end of each day) - they work hard and do a good job.
I work alongside doing small stuff that speeds things up.
Two was a good number for me to work with. I wouldn’t go with more than three.
They will save you a lot of money versus having a contractor do the job.
I tried to have some other jobs (watering, minor gardening) ready to utilize time gaps.
I also provide lots of cold drinks, sometimes cold watermelon.
I usually provide early lunch (hamburger/burrito) to ensure the guys had eaten that day.
These guys don’t have much and some food and drink helps.
I don’t want to be concerned that a missed meal will be a problem.
The turf ran about $4 a sf. delivered. I figure another $5 a foot for everything else.
Final cost was $6,000 for the job versus about $10,000 using a contractor.
Questions?
Michael Cohn
Cohn1600@aol.com
The South Beach Plaza Hotel located in Miami Beach, Florida chooses ATS for the enhancement of the Rooftop Menagarie Lounge. This ultra exclusive, roof top lounge is a very special place and now even more luxurious with the addition of 7,000 square feet of the LXR PRO series artificial grass.
This very Special place enjoys not only unobstructed views of the Atlantic Ocean, Great Sunlight for Sunning, vast Panoramic views of Miami Beach and Downtown Miami, but truly it’s the Sunset that for 75 years has made this location oh so special.
With two full bars, 5 “living rooms”, 4 sunning areas, 3 Private Cabanas, The VIPs Lounge and Red Rope area, The South Beach Plaza Roof Top is one of the largest Historical Roof Top in South Beach, accessible by both elevator and stairs.
This vast Space is open year round and provides Entertainment and Relaxation to hotel guests and a select number of South Beach Plaza Hotel Special Event Pass Holders, as well as home to several annual VIP and Private Events.
For more information and pictures of this project and the South Beach Plaza Hotel please feel free to check out their website at www.beachplazahotel.com/rooftopmenegarielounge.html
Gametime Sports Academy goes with the best! Artificial Turf Supply is proud to have worked with Gametime Sports Academy to help construct the most innovative baseball trainging center immaginable. For additional information on this project or others, please contact your ArtifcialTurfSupply.com specialist.
We designed and specked your turf product in the KB Home models in Palmdale, Ca. I have attached some pictures for your review. The name of the Community is calico Terrace. We specified the Pet Pro Plus.
Fred A. Espinosa
Director of Sales
SKA Residential Landscaping Program
Authentic ArtificialTurfSupply.com Un-solicited Letters & E-mails
Customers Submitted Actual e-mails:
“Thanks!
You guys are great to deal with - sorry our business is so little!
Steve Olivier
Dave:
“We continue to enjoy our low maintenance lawns. Downstairs where the fruit trees drop their leaves and flowers we have resorted to using a vacuum cleaner and it works!
Jill”
Adam,
“I looked over a lot of samples and the 73S is the best bang for the buck. I showed my sample collection to no less than two dozen folks and it was a near unanimous decision - follow by the 90S as a clo$e runner up.
Thank you for your time and help.
Bob”
“I like your product, but more than that I love the customer service you are providing. I dealt with a company in Cal. and disliked the Rep immensely. As of now I am weighing options. You will be the company I deal with in the coming months. I am looking at doing partial installation verses the whole thing or the whole thing. 5,000$ in materials is no small number.
Thank you for your time and interest in my project.
Scot”
“I received delivery today. Installation was a snap and it looks as good as advertised. Wife loves it and dogs are overjoyed. Thanks for a great product.
Dennis West”
Dear David,
“I am contacting you to offer my personal recommendation for your turf lawn products. My story is probably a common one, which you must hear from many of your customers. I had three primary objectives in sourcing your product: Improve the aesthetic appeal of the condominium complex high use areas, Lower the annual cost of water, and increase the properties’ value.
The results of the project were quite dramatic. Not only was I able to install the product in a matter of hours, but I was able to utilize the product in areas that were previously un-accessible due to lack of direct sunlight. The net results was 100%+ satisfaction in reaching my objectives by opening unusable areas, improving the look and overall landscape, dramatically reducing the water utility cost (by 80%) and increasing the overall property value.
Dave, thank you (again) for your assistance in making this process possible. I would be happy to speak to any of your potential clients and tell them about my experience with you and your company.
Best regards,
Daniel Tautges - President, Europa Condominiums”
“Thanks for all of your help. There is a lot of interest being shown in my new lawn. I would expect that you will get more orders from this area.
Thanks again,
Earl”
Hi Jamieson,
“Just wanted to let you know that all went well with the installation of the turf this past weekend and that it looks great. I’m a very happy customer. I may have more customers for you as my neighbors like the way the turf looks. Reference the pics attached to see how it turned out.
Thanks again for all your help.
Ryan”
“Here are the pics of my lawn. It turned out great.
Ted Kruschke”
“First off, the turf looks great. I was able to put it down this week-end. We would like to purchase more artificial turf.
Sincerely,
Jo Martindale”
I have installed my artificial turf and it is lovely. I followed your instructions and it was a breeze. I have received more compliments on it than I could ever have expected.
Thanks,
Jacqueline Patrick”
“Our turf arrived in good time & in good condition without mishap.
Thanks,
Diana Ryder”
“We bought some of your company’s artificial turf that is made for pet’s (i.e. dogs) a few weeks ago, and have installed it. We followed your installation instructions to a “T”, and absolutely love the look!
Sincerely,
Kathy Snow”
Dear Artificial Turf Supply,
How can I thank you enough for your generous gifts that you donated to my classroom. Thank you for helping my students to become successful and confident readers and writers. I appreciate the time you spent considering my proposal.
I am sending you thank you notes from my students, this way I can share with you the amazing young people I work with everyday. Your donation is making a diference in the lives of the students in my classromm. The students are excited to go to reading and phonics centers. They get sad when center time is over. With the centers the students are working in small goups as well as large groups to practice sounds, blends, segmenting and chunking.
This could have never happened without your donation. Thank you so much for being generous and considerate. Your support of this project is making it possible for my students. Once more thank you.
Woth Love,
Rose
Rolling Green Elementary School
Boynton Beach, Florida