- When asked what people are looking for
when it comes to tackling a landscape remodel,
most people respond with low maintenance,
and when it comes to ground cover,
few things are as low-maintenance as artificial turf.
Advancements in turf tech have come a long way
from the classic green carpet days,
so today, I'm gonna show you how you can install
a beautiful artificial turf lawn at your home.
(upbeat rock music)
My name is Aaron Massey,
and welcome back to another episode of "Homeschool'd".
Nowadays, quality turf can be tough to distinguish
from actual grass, making it a very attractive,
low-maintenance lawn alternative
for a lot of homeowners, including myself.
I rate these projects by how many F-bombs
you're likely to drop while tackling the project.
This one is pretty difficult,
because it's pretty labor intensive
and requires some specialty tools
depending on your application.
This is one of those rare instances
where I'll say that this isn't really a pure DIY job,
meaning that it's not really something
I recommend doing on your own.
That's not to say it can't be done, as you'll see,
but at least having several people available to help you
will make your life so much easier.
So, for this project,
I'll be using the SYN Augustine 547 artificial turf,
which was provided to me by SYNLawn.
I found SYNLawn after doing a lot of research
on artificial turf,
and what I really like about this product
is that SYNLawn and uses a bio-based material
that is made from soybeans
to create a realistic-looking turf
that is both environmentally friendly
and it's manufactured in the United States.
The first and most important step
to getting a quality installation
is to properly prepare the base.
In this case, I'm working in a newly constructed area
behind a couple retaining walls,
so it requires filling with base material,
vibrating it to force material to settle,
and to grade the base properly.
If you're installing over an existing lawn area,
your first step will be to kill the existing lawn
and remove as much of it as possible.
If you have a solid base to work from
and want to skip ahead over the next part,
I'll leave a time code link down below
to take you to the next steps.
If you need to fill and grade the area like I do,
I'll show you how you can do that now.
One of the most important steps
is making sure the area is graded properly,
and what that means is that it's sloped properly
for adequate drainage.
In this case, I worked with my building transit
to create a grading map of the area.
The transit allows you to set a level point of reference
so you can measure the elevation differences
across your area to create a grading map.
Now, that may sound a little bit complicated,
but once you get the hang of it,
it's really not that difficult.
What you're trying to do is figure out the elevation change
from one point to another point.
Once you get used to it a few times,
it's pretty easy to do.
In this case, I want the highest elevation
to be up against the house
and slope towards the outer walls, a quarter inch per foot.
So, since this area is roughly 18 feet wide,
I want the highest area by the house
to be 4 1/2 inches higher than the outer wall grade.
As I bring in fill and compact it,
I repeatedly check the grade
to make sure that it is what I need it to be.
Compaction is important,
because the loose soil or fill will settle over time.
So, compaction speeds up that process
and will make sure the installation lasts
for a very long time.
Adding water throughout the process
helps the soil or fill dirt settle,
and also helps keep the dust down.
You can rent both a vibratory plate like this one,
which is good for vibrating
about four inches deep of material,
or a jumping jack like this one,
which allows you to compact a little thicker base material
and is good for around edges.
If you are adding a lot of fill to an area,
it's a good idea to compact it in layers along the way
until you get the elevation
about a half inch to three quarters of an inch
below where you want your final turf elevation to be.
Now, this is where I made a mistake
on my initial installation.
As I reached my final grade,
I should have used a fill material with a smaller aggregate,
like decomposed granite, for the final four inches.
And aggregate is basically the stone material
that's in your fill, so if you have small stone,
you can compact it a lot easier.
The road base that I used had larger rocks in it,
even though it was supposed to be small,
so it didn't compact super smooth
when I rolled out the turf initially,
and I could feel all the little discrepancies.
More on that later,
but that's why I'm saying that the preparation
is the most important part of the installation.
Once you've established the proper grade
and compacted the base, you can roll out the turf
and cut it to the proper size
using a utility knife or a turf-cutting tool.
Be sure to cut the turf slightly larger
than the area that you're installing it.
That way, you can trim off any excess later on
and ensure complete coverage.
If your area is larger than the turf roll,
you'll need to seam the turf,
which I'll show you how to do shortly.
Getting the turf into the area
I needed to install it was a little tricky,
and where I definitely could have used
an extra set of hands to move.
So, once I had the piece cut and rolled out in the area,
that's when I realized my base preparation
wasn't gonna work,
because I could feel all the little bumps and stones
and stuff caused by the larger aggregate.
So, what I ended up doing
was scraped back a little bit of the fill
and screeded a thin layer of sand on top
to create a very flat, nice, soft surface.
If I were to do it again,
I would use a decomposed granite base
for the final few inches of fill.
Now, to seam the pieces together,
I ripped another strip of the turf,
paying close attention to make sure that the fibers
were oriented in the same direction,
and then aligned the edges along with the other piece.
Once I made sure the pieces lined up properly,
I used a few landscape spikes to hold the pieces in place
and folded open the seam.
Next, I rolled out some turf seam tape
and staked it in place along the length of the seam.
Now, I don't recommend you buy
these cheap landscapes staples off of Amazon,
unless you want to waste half of them by bending them.
I'd recommend just buying
six-inch galvanized landscapes spikes.
From there, you'll want to apply a liberal amount
of outdoor carpet adhesive to the tape
and spread it evenly across the whole thing
using a notched trowel.
Let the glue set up for about 10 to 15 minutes,
and then slowly work your way down the seam,
connecting the two sides and securing the seam in place
with landscape spikes.
Pay careful attention to make sure
that you get a tight seam between the two pieces.
Once you've let the glue set up,
make your way around the perimeter of the installed area
and use landscape spikes to secure the turf in place.
If you notice any wrinkles or loose areas in your turf,
you can use a carpet kicker like this one
to help you get the turf nice and tight.
You can use a variety of different tools
to cut off the excess on the edges,
but I had the best luck
with just a regular sharp utility knife.
Work your way around the entire perimeter,
tightening, staking, and cutting as you go.
Take your time to carefully cut around any obstacles
like trees, planter, beds, or drains like this one.
Once you have the turf laid out and installed,
next you'll add the infill.
Many people are familiar with the little rubber pellets
you see in sporting applications, but for residential use,
the most common infill is actually sand.
In this case I'm using Envirofill sand,
which is an anti-microbial sand that helps prevent bacteria,
mold, and mildew from forming in your turf,
and is perfect for play areas and pets.
The infill helps the grass fibers of the turf stand up,
adds weight to hold the turf in place,
and keeps the turf cooler
than the rubber infill alternatives.
I used a large seed spreader
to spread the sand around the turf,
making sure to get complete coverage,
and I used about one bag per 20 square feet
as instructed on the bag.
And finally, once the sand is installed,
the final step for the installation
is to use a stiff bristle push broom
or a turf rake to sweep the sand into the fibers
and help them stand up.
Make sure to work in the same direction across the turf
to help create a uniform surface.
From there, you can do any last minute touch-ups
around the edges or at the seams with a pair of scissors,
which will be the last time
you'll ever have to cut this grass.
And that's it, you are finished with this project.
So, that's it for this project.
I hope you guys enjoyed it
and I hope you learned something new.
I know I did, as this was my first time
installing synthetic turf like this.
As I mentioned earlier, it's not a project
that I recommend that you tackle as one person,
but it's definitely something
you and a few friends can knock out in a weekend.
My family absolutely loves the way this space came together,
and it's such a comfortable and nice play area for my son,
and I know a lot of you are gonna ask about the heat.
It does get much hotter than normal grass in the direct sun,
but as we're typically not spending a ton of time outside
in the middle of the hot, hot day,
it's not a huge deal for us,
and it's very comfortable in the mornings
and in the late afternoons
I want to say a quick thank you to SYNLawn
for providing the turf that I used in this video,
and I want you guys to go check out SYNLawn
if you are interested
in installing synthetic turf in your yard.
I highly recommend it.
They have a wide variety of different turf types available,
from putting greens to playgrounds, athletic fields,
you name it, and I'll leave a link down below
where you can see all of their products.
And if you guys liked this video,
I encourage you to subscribe to the channel
and click that notification bell
so you never miss out on any of the new content I put out.
And, as always, you can check out all my how-to
and home improvement projects on my website
at mrfixitdiy.com.
Thank you so much for watching.
I'll see you next time.
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