Excavation

In preparation for your artificial grass, the first job is to remove any existing grass. This can be done with a turf cutter or sharp turf spade. Remove the grass. You then need to continue excavating until you find a solid base. Once you are suitably happy the ground is solid under foot you can compact the ground. This can be done with a vibrating plate (wacker) or even the back of a spade. On a standard job we only remove the orignial lawn with a turf cutter. Additional excavation or levelling requirements are available on request and quotation.

Perimeters

For your artificial grass lawn perimeters you require a standard 4 x 1 tanalised wood and 18 inch ground stakes. Using the stakes insert them into the ground around your perimeter and fix the wood to the stakes. You can either have your perimeters set into the ground or raised to create a wrapped grass edge effect. Remember – the higher your edges are the more aggregate you require. You should screw the wood to the stakes (not nail) as this provides a much stronger grip. When fitting up to edges such as block paving and stone slabs, the wood should sit below the depth of the slab according to the pile height of the artificial grass. This will mean your grass will be level with the height of the slab. You will encounter problems when passing any materials set in concrete. "As Good As Grass" fitters are trained to remove these obstacles using specialist tools.

Back fill

Depending on the depth of your excavation we back fill with a compacting fines aggregate. This can be granite dust (grano), sharp sand, grit sand or limestone dust. If we have excavated over 3 inches we use a two tier back fill. We cover two thirds of the depth with a crush and run aggregate otherwise known as “type 1”. This is a standard compacting aggregate and can be purchased from any Builders Merchants. The final third is covered by a fines aggregate as already mentioned. The aggregate should be applied evenly and you should compact until it is solid. Look over the area and remove any troughs and crests with the back of a rake or brush. To ensure no plant life grows back you can spray the area with a complete weed and plant killer. The aggregate should reach the top of your wood perimeter.

Lay and Seam

The pieces should be rough cut to size allowing for 20 centimeters all round. Move them into position. When seaming two pieces together remove the excess from the sides of the artificial grass. Butt the two pieces together and work the seam until it is invisible. Once you have done this for all the seams, rest weights across the seams so the grass cannot move. Now rough cut the perimeter and remember to wrap the artificial grass over the wood and cut at the foot of the wood. You can now lightly tack the perimeter before setting the seams. Open up your seam and slide the tape under it. Apply the glue to the tape and slowly fold down the sides working from one side to the other. Once you have done this you can walk down the seam to add weight and push the grass onto the tape. Make sure the artificial grass does not separate or crest if too close. You can now continue to nail in the perimeter.

Dress Grass

Depending on the pile height we recommend different levels of dressing. If you have purchased a non sand filled surface you do not need to dress the grass. A 25mm sand filled artificial grass requires 7kg per sq metre. A 45mm- 55mm grass requires at least 25kg of sand. A 25kg bag is available from most builders merchants for £3, this works out to cover £1 a sq metre (25mm surface) and £1.50 a sq metre for a 45-55mm surface. The sand should be applied evenly on a dry day. If you do not have a drop spreader you can puncture the bags and then slide them evenly at the same rate over the surface. Avoid casting the sand off a spade as this will only result in uneven sand levels.

This is too much, can you install it for me?

We offer a full artificial lawns installation service. Our typical price is between £30 - £40 a sq metre but this can be reduced to £27.50 a sq metre depending on size of area. We will be pleased to provide you with a full quotation for any of our artificial grass products. Call the office and ask for sales.