Why you should hire the pros, and why Southwest Greens East Bay is #1 for installation practices.

Perhaps you are asking yourself, “Can I install artificial grass myself?” Sure, you could try to install artificial grass yourself, but it is not easy. The tools and equipment you need are costly, it takes a long time to do it yourself, and you could run the risk of voiding the warranty. Let’s take a look at why you really should have your synthetic golf turf professionally installed and artificial turf installation best practices.

WHY PROFESSIONAL ARTIFICIAL GRASS INSTALLATION

Whether or not you’re adding a golf green to your personal property, or a commercial golf course, having artificial turf professionally installed will save you time, headaches, and money — and, over time, give you a better-looking green.

Saved Time

Even small do-it-yourself projects can easily evolve into a big problem. Haven’t we all been there? Multiple trips to the home improvement store for tools and supplies we didn’t know we needed, plans not going to plan, many days of hard work? By having your turf installed professionally, you will save so much time, and you will enjoy the greens sooner.

To install artificial golf greens properly, must level the ground, add a base of crushed aggregate, add padding, lay the turf, add infill, and roll the turf to get the best playability and to make it look realistic. Trimming edges so you have clean borders is also difficult and requires years of experience to get it right. All of this necessitates some specialized tools and knowledge to install correctly to avoid messy sections and edges that peel up creating unpleasant aesthetics.

Difficult Soil/Landscape

Perfect soil is rare. Many property owners can attest to this. It’s very rare to be able to get your shovel into the soil without issues. Instead, we have to deal with rocky soil, clay, or soil that is filled with roots from nearby plants and trees in many locations. Just digging can become grueling work. And, if you’re digging into roots, you could be killing surrounding plants and trees you want to keep healthy.

On so many of our installation projects, we have had to deal with obstacles like large boulders, old (and new) irrigation lines, tree stumps, to name a few. All of these obstructions have to be repurposed or removed. Excavation also produces tons of soil you may not need — where would you go with it? Frequently we have to transport this unwanted soil offsite.

A pro installer can arrange all of this on your behalf. So if you’re not looking to do very challenging manual labor or won’t know how to dispose of your excavated soil, hiring an installation professional for your project is your best choice.

Large Areas

When you install a golf green in a large area, seaming is one of the trickiest aspects of the turf to get right. Seeming is how two or more pieces are joined together. The process is similar to carpet installation, when the seams of artificial turf are done correctly, they aren’t noticeable. Seams not joined correctly will be noticeable and yield a terrible looking finished product.

Picture this: rolling up a sheet of paper or a poster. Do you always get perfect alignment when attempting to pull-off a good roll? Sometimes instead of a clean edge, end up with paper sticking out on one end. This same thing is possible when seaming artificial turf. One minor error in the beginning will mess up the whole project and look bad in the end. A professional installer will have a lot of experience installing seams and they’ll ensure everything looks great before they’re done.

THE SOUTHWEST GREENS WAY

There are three specific things that separate Southwest Greens East Bay from the rest in the turf industry — craftsmanship, guarantees, and customer service. We do not believe in one-size-fits-all artificial turf installations, and because of that, we’ve mastered the art and the science of Oakley artificial turf installation. We’ve built our process with over 6,000 golf greens worldwide under our belts.

Here’s a quick look at how our artificial putting green installation process works.

• A crushed aggregate base, which can be moistened and molded to form challenging breaks and undulations, unlike concrete.
• Next, we install at least a cushion pad that helps the ball roll and shot absorption, then we install our state-of-the-art polypropylene turf material that is used to recreate the vibrant green color, softness, and playability of natural grass.
• Then we in-fill the turf with a formulation of fine-coated silica sand to give it the touch and feel of real grass.
• Finally, the tops are rolled to make the effect of natural bent grass green. Options available are installing first and second cuts fringe, bunkers, sand traps, roughs, and fairways.

You can watch our installation process video here.

READY FOR YOUR GREENS?

Please take a look at our grass collections. We’re here to help when you are ready. Contact us for a quote on your project — whether it’s a backyard putting green or a full-size golf course, we’ve got you covered.