There are many benefits of artificial grass. Artificial grass does not just eliminate the need to constantly water your lawn, saving you on your water bills, but it also eliminates the need for regular maintenance. You have to put very little effort to maintain its beautiful, lush green appearance. Installing artificial turf is a hassle-free and cost-effective way to achieve the look of a manicured lawn in your back or front yard. Sounds great, right? Before you go ahead and enjoy your synthetic grass, there are a few mistakes that you need to make sure you avoid.
Choosing the wrong type of grass
Did you know that there are a many types of artificial grass you can choose from these days? The final decision on which one you buy will come down to factors such as your budget, the overall look that you are after and the usage.
Buying solely based on price
Making the switch to turf is a big investment, but you’ll actually save more money in the long run compared to maintaining real grass. Artificial grass turf from some brands may seem expensive but you get what you pay for. Even if you pay a seemingly high price, you get high quality. If you want your turf to last for a long time, you must be prepared to pay. Cheap turfs are usually of low quality, which means that they will not only look cheap and shabby but will also deteriorate faster. If you want to have beautiful, lasting results, you’ll need to take your time choosing the right material for your lifestyle and unique needs.
Installing the turf on uneven land
Can you imagine having a carpet in your house that is all bumpy and uneven? Well, having a synthetic lawn like this is something you will want to avoid just as much. You must assess the landscape of the space where you want to install the artificial turf. If there are obstacles like tree roots and stumps, you need to remove them. This is because laying your turf on an uneven surface will make your lawn look, well, uneven.
Not paying attention to the drainage
While artificial grass provides better drainage than natural grass, you can enjoy that benefit only if you install it the right way. Always remember to get a base that allows water to drain away easily. If your artificial grass doesn’t have adequate drainage, you could have issues with flooding whenever it rains. Installing a base made out of a porous material will allow rain to seep through your grass for years to come.
Not measuring accurately
Before you can even start your project, you’ll need to know how much artificial grass your landscape needs. If you end up not having enough, your second order may end up looking a bit different since artificial grass is made in batches.
Buying the grass a bit at a time
A common mistake that householders make is to buy their artificial grass a little bit at a time, rather than all at once. This might seem like a sensible approach, but there are some possible problems with it that you might not be aware of. For example, what if you go back to buy more and discover that there is none left of the type of grass that you need? Even if you can find the same grass, what if it is from a different batch and, therefore, doesn’t look exactly the same as the turf that you already have at home?
Making the joints obvious
There may be parts in your garden where you need to make joints between different rolls of artificial turf. Thankfully, this isn’t going to be obvious or cause you a problem, provided you get the joints right. It is pretty easy to make the joints seamless just by paying attention to how you fit them together. However, if you aren’t entirely confident about doing this on your own, you might decide to leave it to the experts rather than do it as a DIY job.
Not securing firmly
Clearly, one of the worst mistakes that you can make in this respect is to have an artificial lawn that isn’t firmly secured. This is something that is going to make the lawn look a lot less attractive than it should be, and it might even turn out to be dangerous. One of the jobs in the laying process not to be missed is that of securing the artificial turf around the edges. This can be done easily by nailing the edges, but if you forget to do this then it could give you big problems in the future.
Not applying a weed barrier
An awesome perk of having artificial grass is that you’ll never have to spend hours pulling out weeds ever again. When installed correctly, artificial grass will have a protective weed barrier that will prevent future growths. If you miss this step, weeds have the potential to sprout from underground and pierce through your artificial grass.
Throwing out extra scraps
If you’ve made it to the end of your tough project, you may be excited to clean up and move on. Throwing out extra turf scraps is never a good idea because you can use them to make minor repairs over the years if certain patches start looking worn down or damaged.
Our many years of manufacturing synthetic turf and working with customers and professional installers puts us in prime position to offer the right advice on what to avoid with artificial grass. Be sure to check out our Pro Tips for Installing Artificial Grass.
