Synthetic Turf: Thinking of Replacing My Natural Grass (1 Viewer)

[Chaos Commish]

It's pretty popular out here in the desert. We've been over 100 every day since late May with 2 full months over 105 daily, breaching 115 several times. You don't want to water out here. Alot of people do. It's dumb and wasteful. Alot of people xeriscape, but many hate it. I put in 900 sq ft of synthetic turf at my mom's house. We rent it and no tenant has been willing to put in the effort in this climate to keep it up. My mom hates rocks and succulents. It looks good. You can't tell it from living grass on a drive by. I bought two 15x30' rolls for $2200 and paid about $150 for some Mexican labor to help install it. No regrets. If I lived there I'd do the backyard too.

ETA: It's all over upscale Vegas neighborhoods too. No way you can drive through Sumerlin South and tell me which yards are synthetic and which are real without getting out and looking closer.

 

[apalmer]

Can't you just truck in a crap load of dirt and build up your grade away from the house? That's what us hillbillies in the Midwest do.

What and give up all that free fake milk from the artificial cows?

 

[the moops]

Why do people love grass so much? Put some shrubs and native grasses and other #### that doesnt need watering 7 months out of the year.

A desert landscape wouldn't look very good in my front yard. And we (my daughter) and the neighborhood kids actually use the front yard... it's great in our cul de sac.

Why live in the desert if you don't like the natural landscape then?

 

[Dark Matter]

$10-15 sf is what I've found. Check with your local water district to see if they are giving rebates for removing doing the switch. I've seen as much as $1.00/sf in SoCal.

 

[cstu]

I think a lawn with artificial turf is kind of silly. For one thing, you're likely to tear an ACL walking out to pick up the morning paper.

But then again, a lawn with grass is also kind of silly if you don't have a pet goat.

Therefore, I recommend going against artificial turf, and instead getting a pet goat.

Field Turf is obviously the way to go.

 

[kutta]

Why do people love grass so much? Put some shrubs and native grasses and other #### that doesnt need watering 7 months out of the year.

A desert landscape wouldn't look very good in my front yard. And we (my daughter) and the neighborhood kids actually use the front yard... it's great in our cul de sac.

Why live in the desert if you don't like the natural landscape then?

Landscaping in your front yard is probably pretty far down the list of reasons to live somewhere.

 

[Mario Kart]

Okay, dumb question maybe but how easy is it to steal this stuff from someones yard? Has there been any such theft of this stuff you guys know about?

 

[T Bell]

Okay, dumb question maybe but how easy is it to steal this stuff from someones yard? Has there been any such theft of this stuff you guys know about?

Bury plastic honey badgers beneath the turf.

 

[Otis]

Will you plant some of those lego trees?

 

[OC Zed]

Okay, dumb question maybe but how easy is it to steal this stuff from someones yard? Has there been any such theft of this stuff you guys know about?

I think it would be pretty difficult. The turf comes in big, rolled sheets, so they're pretty heavy and bulky. And you have two underlying layers underneath the turf that are also necessary. Finally, this would have to be done in plain sight of everyone in the neighborhood as we're talking about the front yard.

 

[OC Zed]

Will you plant some of those lego trees?

 

[kutta]

We are looking into getting some "pet turf" for our 5 lb. dog. The yard has no grass, but they make this stuff that dogs can go on. We priced it at $4.50 a sq. ft, plus $3-$4 per sq. ft. for installation. This is on the high end though because it is specifically made to allow dog pee to go through it.

 

[FBG26]

It's pretty popular out here in the desert. We've been over 100 every day since late May with 2 full months over 105 daily, breaching 115 several times. You don't want to water out here. Alot of people do. It's dumb and wasteful. Alot of people xeriscape, but many hate it. I put in 900 sq ft of synthetic turf at my mom's house. We rent it and no tenant has been willing to put in the effort in this climate to keep it up. My mom hates rocks and succulents. It looks good. You can't tell it from living grass on a drive by. I bought two 15x30' rolls for $2200 and paid about $150 for some Mexican labor to help install it. No regrets. If I lived there I'd do the backyard too.

ETA: It's all over upscale Vegas neighborhoods too. No way you can drive through Sumerlin South and tell me which yards are synthetic and which are real without getting out and looking closer.

I get that it is pretty stupid to have actual grass in that climate, but Field Turf is so hot I wouldn't want that either. On a sunny 100 degree day, the temp on the field has to be 130+. Unless you don't plan to actually go out on to the grass and are doing it for strictly aesthetic purposes, then I suppose it makes sense.

 

[boots11234]

This sounds like a really desperate attempt to find justification for covering your property with fake grass.

Why do you love fake grass this much?

GF/wife has a fake bush?

 

[OC Zed]

I put the synthetic grass idea on the backburner for the last few months and decided to revisit it again in conjuction with doing other landscaping work around my property. A Tiger Turf contractor came out yesterday for a consultation and to give me a quote. I was really impressed with the quality of the samples - the stuff looked and felt really close to my real grass.

Pic 1

Pic 2

So he measured 1,584 square feet for my front yard and driveway strips and quoted me $10,600 for the top-of-the line turf (seen on the right in Pic 2). My local water district offers a $1/sf rebate for replacing your real grass, thus knocking my total cost down by $1,600 to $9,000. This is getting a bit more palatable.

 

[Hipple II]

I put the synthetic grass idea on the backburner for the last few months and decided to revisit it again in conjuction with doing other landscaping work around my property. A Tiger Turf contractor came out yesterday for a consultation and to give me a quote. I was really impressed with the quality of the samples - the stuff looked and felt really close to my real grass.

Pic 1

Pic 2

So he measured 1,584 square feet for my front yard and driveway strips and quoted me $10,600 for the top-of-the line turf (seen on the right in Pic 2). My local water district offers a $1/sf rebate for replacing your real grass, thus knocking my total cost down by $1,600 to $9,000. This is getting a bit more palatable.

that seems still a bit pricey for such a small area. you should have a competitor come out/pit em against each other at least.

 

[OC Zed]

I put the synthetic grass idea on the backburner for the last few months and decided to revisit it again in conjuction with doing other landscaping work around my property. A Tiger Turf contractor came out yesterday for a consultation and to give me a quote. I was really impressed with the quality of the samples - the stuff looked and felt really close to my real grass.

Pic 1

Pic 2

So he measured 1,584 square feet for my front yard and driveway strips and quoted me $10,600 for the top-of-the line turf (seen on the right in Pic 2). My local water district offers a $1/sf rebate for replacing your real grass, thus knocking my total cost down by $1,600 to $9,000. This is getting a bit more palatable.

that seems still a bit pricey for such a small area. you should have a competitor come out/pit em against each other at least.

Ya, I do plan on getting more quotes, but I wasn't alarmed by the number considering it's for a "premium" turf, includes installation and I live in a high cost of living area. There are plenty of local contractors with products from the same and different manufacturers, so I'm sure the prices are going to vary here. If I find someone with a comparable product that is cheaper, then all the better.

 

[Caesar]

I did about 1500 sq ft in my back yard a couple of years ago before I moved out of Southern CA. I did it myself and it was honestly the biggest pain in my ### I have ever done. I had no help, and it took me longer than I really would have liked. I think it took a month over just the weekends.

You have the turf, but that is only part of the cost. You also have to put down a base (decomposed granite is recommended) and then you have to level it and do all that crap. That is after digging 6 inches down into the ground, and let me tell you, the dirt in San Diego is so hard that I couldn't get an electric auger to go through. I made the mistake of getting a sod cutter first and taking the grass off. That was a mistake because I found that the areas where there was still a little grass, the roots allowed the water to soak in some and I was able to actually dig there much easier.

After you get the decomposed granite down and then you roll out the big sheets of turf, you still have to nail it down, which sounds stupid, but it helps to keep it from curling up. Also, you have to put some rubber pellets or stuff down on top. There are a couple of reasons for that. One is to make sure that it helps to keep the turf down and the other is to make the grass stand up and look more real. You do have to rake it in so that the rubber pieces spread out evenly or you end up with clumps.

As I said, it was the biggest pain in the ###, but the end result looked very nice and I felt good about it. I can't say how it has help up for the past couple of years, but I have had no complaints from the tenants.

I think your price of 9k for the best stuff installed is probably pretty decent. I think I ended up paying 3k for the average stuff and a LOT of time and hard work. Carrying over 10 tons of dirt and granite from the front yard to the back yard did not help my back problems much, I can tell you that.

 

[Chaos Commish]

I would agree the price is pretty standard, certainly not a rip off, OCZ. But, my installation experience was the opposite of Caesar's. Did my reading and video watching for a good month before going for it. Bought a turf product called SP-80 with a thick enough backing to require no substrate. I raked the dirt smooth about 6am, watered, leveled and tamped it down with sheets of ply, laid down weed block, then the seam material, rolled it out, attached the seam, cut square planters around two trees, had two Mexicans kick it tight (like carpet) while I protected the seam and nailed it down. I was done the same day by 4pm and that included filling the new tree planters with rubber mulch. I did a perfectly square 30x30 (900 sq ft) piece which simplified things. Still, we could have rolled and installed 1500 sq ft in couple more hours depending on shape and cuts, I guess.

It was under $2500 bucks. Your product is probably 5 grand and the rest is installation. Unless you have some bizarre issues, I'd consider a diy installation after solid research. If the material is 5k and you put another grand into installation materials and labor and get the 1600 back from the water company... you're looking at $4400 total... or so.

I checked on the house I did this morning (it's a rental). It looks great as good as it did the day we installed it, and it's been abused by high heat, high winds and freezing temps Orange County will never experience.

 

[OC Zed]

I would agree the price is pretty standard, certainly not a rip off, OCZ. But, my installation experience was the opposite of Caesar's. Did my reading and video watching for a good month before going for it. Bought a turf product called SP-80 with a thick enough backing to require no substrate. I raked the dirt smooth about 6am, watered, leveled and tamped it down with sheets of ply, laid down weed block, then the seam material, rolled it out, attached the seam, cut square planters around two trees, had two Mexicans kick it tight (like carpet) while I protected the seam and nailed it down. I was done the same day by 4pm and that included filling the new tree planters with rubber mulch. I did a perfectly square 30x30 (900 sq ft) piece which simplified things. Still, we could have rolled and installed 1500 sq ft in couple more hours depending on shape and cuts, I guess.

It was under $2500 bucks. Your product is probably 5 grand and the rest is installation. Unless you have some bizarre issues, I'd consider a diy installation after solid research. If the material is 5k and you put another grand into installation materials and labor and get the 1600 back from the water company... you're looking at $4400 total... or so.

I checked on the house I did this morning (it's a rental). It looks great as good as it did the day we installed it, and it's been abused by high heat, high winds and freezing temps Orange County will never experience.

Good stuff here. That $4,400 price tag would be a no-brainer for me if I was the least bit handy. And the area in question isn't a perfect square or flat unfortunately. The main area is a rectangle with another 3'x5' patch extending off to the side. I also have 4 or 5 grass strips in my driveway that run about 70' that would also have to be done. I've seen day laborers digging through this dirt on some other projects before and it took those guys a lot longer than expected (same clay soil as Caeser I bet). I have a high confidence that my experience would be 10x worse than Caeser's.