What to Ask Your Artificial Turf Installer Before Signing a Contract
You could ask your artificial turf installer which fast food restaurant has the best fries, and that’s valuable info.
But it might be wise to stick to turf questions. You’ve about to make a pretty big investment. Maybe celebrate with fries after your new lawn is done.
What artificial turf installer questions should you ask? What’s the warranty? What pile height should I choose? How can I reach you during the whole process? How will you make sure the seams don’t show?
Let’s learn more about questions to ask before installing artificial grass, including:
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How Can I Reach You Through the Artificial Turf Installation Process?
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What Steps Will You Take During the Artificial Turf Installation Process?
1. How Do You Make Sure the Seams Won’t Show?
This is the number one question to ask, in our opinion, but hardly anybody asks it.
If you can see the seams between the sections of your artificial turf, or they start coming apart, game over. Your lawn won’t look like real grass.
This is more likely to happen with older and lower-cost artificial grass. But seams can also show or split over time if the installation wasn’t done by skilled and experienced installers.
How to choose an artificial turf installer? Ask your turf installer up front: what do they do to make sure your seams look, well, seamless?
They should be able to explain that their crews are skilled and experienced and the specific techniques they use to ensure invisible seams.
2. What’s the Warranty?
You want your artificial turf guaranteed for as many years as possible.
A 25-year warranty is standard for Sarasota artificial turf installation. A 5-year warranty is a red flag. That means the company is installing cheap turf they don’t expect to last.
3. When Can You Install My Artificial Turf?
If your Sarasota artificial grass contractor says, “We can be there in two days!” you say, “Hurray!” right?
Hold on. Think about that for a minute. Why can they get there so soon? Don’t they have any other customers? Why not? Hmmmm…
Here at Tropical Gardens, we’re usually booked three to six weeks out on Sarasota artificial turf installation.
Why? Because a lot of customers have booked us to do their installation. That should reassure you, right? Plenty of people trust us and our work. A high-quality lawn you’ll love for years is worth the wait.
4. How Can I Reach You Through the Artificial Turf Installation Process?
This is important. It’s really frustrating when you can’t get in touch with a business.
We hear a lot of our new customers complain about other landscaping companies — they can’t get them on the phone or there’s no one there who speaks English. That’s a huge frustration
Ask about their communication.
When you work with us, you have the company owner’s cell phone number. You have your project manager’s cell phone number.
Our office is fully staffed, so someone will always answer your call.
Also worth noting: Tropical Gardens project managers only manage two landscaping projects at a time, spending four hours a day at each one, so your project gets plenty of attention. And there’s always an English speaker on your site.
5. What Pile Height and Face Weight Should I Choose?
If you feel like you’re speaking a foreign language when you ask these questions, you’re sort of right. Artificial turf definitely has its own lingo.
Here’s a bit of a crash course:
Artificial turf is described in ounces called “face weight,” which refers to how dense the grass is. The higher the weight, the more durable and long lasting it is.
You can get turf in 65 ounce, 75 oz, 90 oz or 110 oz.
If your lawn will see a lot of action from dogs chasing squirrels or kids practicing to be soccer superstars, you’ll want denser, shorter turf with higher face weight.
If you plan to mostly gaze out at your lawn with a smug smile and gloat that you never have to mow, you can get away with a lighter option.
Meanwhile, the length of the grass blades is called “pile height.” Shorter height of 1-2 inches is durable and good for those active soccer stars, while longer blades of 3.5 inches looks lush but be aware it can mat faster.
Your Sarasota artificial grass contractor should be able to talk you through the
options and help you choose what will work best for you.
Here at Tropical Gardens, we often recommend the 75-oz turf made by Magnolia.
It looks realistic, drains well, feels soft on your feet and offers a good warranty.
6. How Long Have You Been Installing Artificial Turf?
How to choose an artificial turf installer? How long have they been installing artificial turf? You learn from experience. Practice makes perfect. We’re starting to sound like your grandmother here, but it’s true.
Here’s an example: one of our clients had an unsightly dip in the artificial turf installed by another company and they didn’t know why. We knew. The installers ground down a tree stump that was in the way then installed the turf over it. They should have completely removed the stump, not just ground it down.
Ask about experience. We've been in business since 2007 and doing Sarasota artificial turf installation for the past 20 years.
Our experienced installers have the skills to make sure your artificial lawn looks like real grass, from expertly compacting the surface to precisely cutting the turf to adding that important infill so the grass blades stand up straight and look natural. Which brings us to…
7. What Type of Infill Will You Use?
Infill is a really important component of the artificial turf installation process, so it’s worth asking about it.
Infill is the granular material that keeps artificial grass blades standing upright and adds weight to secure the turf, preventing wrinkles and movement.
Here at Tropical Gardens we use Envirofill, little green beads that are non-toxic, inhibit mold and are cooler underfoot than other options. They’re also the best option if you have a dog.
Anti- microbial protection is infused into Envirofill during the manufacturing process to help prevent the growth of bacteria and microbes that can cause stains and odors.
Bonus: the green color blends perfectly with the turf.
8. What Steps Will You Take During the Artificial Turf Installation Process?
Expert artificial turf installation involves a few key steps, and you want to know your installers are getting it right and not cutting corners.
Here are the key steps you want to hear:
- Crews will excavate your lawn area, removing several inches of sod and dirt, as well as any plant roots.
- They’ll create an appropriate slope for proper drainage, add several inches of a sand and gravel base and compact it so it’s nice and firm.
- They’ll unroll the artificial turf, cut it to fit and use seam tape on the bottom side of the turf to expertly join the seams so they don’t show.
- They’ll pay close attention to “nap,” which means the natural direction the synthetic fibers run, similar to carpet. It’s really important to lay artificial grass with the nap running the same way and toward the main viewing angle for a consistent, lush green look.
- Crews will fasten the turf around the perimeter with heavy-duty staples to poly “bender boards” to secure it, stretching it tight along the way.
Which leads to another good question to ask:
9. Do You Do Anything That Sets Your Installation Apart?
While some Sarasota artificial grass contractors fold the turf over the boards and staple it, we don’t like the way that looks. The folded edges don’t look real.
Tropical Gardens crews cut the turf and staple it on top of the boards so the turf ends in a natural-looking edge, just like real grass.
How to choose an artificial turf installer? Give them a chance to point out how they shine.
10. Can I See Examples of Your Artificial Turf Work?
It’s reassuring to drive past a home with artificial turf, and it looks like real grass. Ask if you can drive by a home where the company installed artificial turf so you can take a look.
11. What Maintenance is Needed to Keep the Turf Looking Good?
You want a landscaping company that cares about your property long-term, not an installer that will dash after the artificial grass installation process.
They should tell you a few key maintenance tips:
- Rinse your turf occasionally with water to keep it clean. Use a blower or rake to remove any debris, including fallen leaves.
- Brush your turf occasionally with a plastic leaf rake, a power broom or a push broom with stiff bristles. Brush the blades in the opposite direction of the turf to help keep the blades standing up straight.
- Clean up spills quickly. Grab a clean cloth and clean up as much of the spill as possible. Follow up with water and a mild detergent and give the soiled area a good scrub. Use a stiff-bristled brush if needed.
- Your artificial turf installer should tell you that your infill needs to be replenished occasionally. Infill settles and wears down over time. If you power broom your artificial turf and it still doesn’t stand up nice and straight, it probably needs more infill. Plan to replenish your infill every 3-5 years.
- Have a dog? You can still have artificial turf, but it means a few extra maintenance tips, including hosing down your turf with a water hose or your irrigation system weekly then treating it with bleach or vinegar. We like Simple Green, a multi-purpose cleaner that works great on dog odors and for cleaning artificial grass surfaces. It’s a water-based, biodegradable alternative to harsher chemicals.
12. Why Should I Hire You?
Give your Sarasota artificial grass contractor a chance to boast a bit. They should have plenty of reasons why you should partner with them.
How to Choose an Artificial Turf Installer? Talk to Us
We’d love to tell you all the reasons why you should partner with us for your Sarasota artificial turf installation.
At Tropical Gardens Landscape, we make things easy from the very beginning. We sit down with you, not with 50 turf samples and confusing choices, but with a few solid options we know you’ll love.
We know you’ll love them, because we’ve already taken the time to discover your needs and learn about your outdoor lifestyle.
Then, we handle everything, from preparing your yard, to expertly installing your artificial turf to cleaning up afterwards.
We’ll even leave you with artificial turf maintenance tips so you can keep your new lawn looking great for years to come.
Bonus: we’re a full-service Sarasota landscaping company — not just artificial turf experts. That means we can help with all your landscaping needs, from designing your outdoor space to installing and maintaining tropical plants to building a pergola or outdoor kitchen.
Give us a call or fill out our form today! Our team of Sarasota landscaping pros can’t wait to transform your needy lawn into a beautiful, easy-care green oasis.
