Artificial Grass Installation Loughborough

Artificial Grass Installers Loughborough

The Artificial Grass Installers Loughborough team have vast experience installing a range of synthetic grasses to a range of surfaces and from several m2 to hundreds of m2 areas.

Regardless of the size of the installation we will take the same care an attention to detail from the smallest of domestic installs to the largest of sports pitches. One of the most important parts to get right for an artificial grass installation it to take time with the customer to fully understand the brief and expectations.

Granted, most of the time customer simple say replace the lawn area with artificial turf but depending on the existing lay out there may be some opportunity to make some subtle, or in some cases, larger changes at the same time. Depending on the slope of your garden and the edging options it make be possible to take the slope out and provide a flat lawn. New edging may need to be laid to help contain the surrounding soil from encroaching onto your new artificial lawn to prevent weed growth starting on top of your artificial lawn. We want you to be ecstatic once we've finished our work - preparation is Key!

Artificial Turf Fitters Loughborough

As mentioned upstanding your brief of what you want is very important and also offering up appropriate advice is also important too. It is easy to simply say 'yes' to everything a customer wants but as specialist artificial grass fitters in Loughborough we owe it to our customers to advise on any potential issues which may arise from a request which we know will lead to damage or maintenance issues further down the line.

This same principle applies to commercial installations too. It can be easy to pick a lush looking grass because your think it looks the best but if this is to be fitted on a heavy traffic area such as a terrace where you may be expecting customers to be standing around chatting and drinking for long periods of time day in, day out this type of grass will not look like the sample for long! As already mentioned, the grass you choice needs to be suitable for its intended use and we will guide on practicality and purpose over emotional preference when it is definitely not a good choice.

If we are putting or name and guarantee on an install we owe it to you and ourselves to provide excellent advice which will ensure and excellent installation of your artificial grass.

Artificial Turf Installation Loughborough

Whilst we may have provided you with an initial estimated quote prior to any work commencing we will survey the area to ensure that the estimated quote is your final price. If when during the survey we find that perhaps you overestimated some measurements and this effects how we can fit the grass and reduce waste then the price may come down, similarly the reverse may have happened and the price may need to go up to reflect this.

Either way, once we have conducted our survey your price will be fixed and for domestic customers nothing needs to be paid until the installation is complete and you sign off that your are completely satisfied.

We will have a good look at the surrounding area of your proposed new synthetic lawn to check the best way to edge off your lawn. If you have an existing wall or patio we can fit right up to those. The main decision comes around edging next to a flower bed. Ideally you don't want the flower bed soil to be higher than the level or artificial grass as inevitably following rain, weeding or even bird or animal activity soil can easily spread over the artificial lawn. Whilst this can be brushed off quite easily are hosed down if fine soil it simply creates another maintenance chore. The best and most common way to deal with this is to edge the artificial lawn with sleeper down the sides running along the flower beds.

For curved edges often a stone or block paving edge works well or alternatively plastic or wooden border edging can be used too.

Ground Preparation when Installing Artificial Grass

We can stress the importance of doing this step well. Ground preparation when installing artificial grass is probably the area which differentiates a good artificial grass fitter from a poor one in terms of 'invisible' quality.

Clearly, most people will look at the finished install of a new lawn and pay particular attention to the edging and to the joints and if a good job is done here i.e. it look s good then most customers will be very satisfied with the installation they have received. However, what an inspection like this does not reveal is how deep and what was used underneath the top layer of artificial turf.

If you want to ensure proper drained your sub-base should go down at least 10cm. This provides depth for water to run through from the top layer before reaching the soil, which will have a slower rate of water absorption. If this layer is too shallow then that top water will be help up by the soil and will result in puddling on top of your artificial grass.

Whilst we're not saying that this may never happen. With freak weather not being quite as freaky as it once was an exceptionally hard and long downpour may result in some puddling but this should be a very rare occurrence and as mentioned only associated with extreme weather conditions.

Hopefully you can appreciate that over a large are going down to half this level will save on a significant quantity of aggregate and whilst the aggregate itself may not be the most expensive of materials the excavation and removal of soil will take additional time and money to dispose of. Since this is an aspect of artificial grass installation, that is generally not scrutinised, you can see how some, less honest, installers can provide you with a cheaper quote. Ideally limestone aggregate will also provide additional acid neutralizing properties, which along with our neutralising weed membrane and proper sub base will mean that our installation will provide a premium quality artificila grass for dogs.

Artificial Turf Fitters

Whilst some people will think that artificial grass fitters are similar to carpet fitters this is definitely not the case. Firstly, the type of ground to floor preparation required from indoors to out is very difference and drainage is never a considerations for an indoor floor fitter. In fact in many instances the feature of the floor not being able to absorb water is more likely to be a benefit to a home owner.

Part of our fitting process will also involve check with you if there is anything you are at least aware of running under your lawn. Depending on how long you have lived in your property and what you have had done whilst there you would be surprised how many times we have come across wires or pipes running under a lawn.

Typically this would be an electric cable hidden under or sometimes along the edge of a lawn running from the house or an outdoor socket to a shed at the other end of the garden. We have also come across hose pipes buried under lawns to discreetly provide watering facilities to plants at the far end of a garden.

Once we have done our checks we will start to remove the top layer of turf and then the soil beneath it under we get to the desired depth.

We will then construct and lay down our frame for attaching the fake grass to which may vary from edge to edge depending on how each side is to be finished.

After the frame is in place we lay down, spread and flattening out our aggregate base. Once we are happy with that we will then add an additional layer of sand on top of that which will be flattened out to provide a very flat and even surface on which to lay the weed membrane. Again we take no shortcuts here ensuring that the membrane rolls  overlap each other to provide comprehensive coverage. Where we have planned joints a jointing tape will be laid on top of the membrane.

Once the membrane and jointing tape is down with then position all our artificial grass rolls the same way to ensure the pile direction matches from one roll to the next and then roll out the grass. You only want to roll out the grass once to minimise disturbing the sand, membrane and jointing tape underneath.

We then use adhesive along the joint to provide a seamless connection. Again some installer may use pins which are prone to come out and do not provide as neat a joint - this is another shortcut to save on time and costs.

Finally we cut the grass and screw down all the edges of your artificial lawn for a secure fit and then brush up the pile which has been compacted by being storage in a roll to bring up the synthetic grass blades.

Finalising Artificial Grass Installation

When it comes to finalising an artificial grass installation we self inspect the whole area. We ensure that there is a flat fit to the base with no air pockets, lumps or rolls. We check along all edges to ensure a firm and discrete fix. We check along joints to again check for a firm and discrete fit. Once we have done this and are satisfied that we can comfortably put our 10 year guarantee to it we will then invite you to do the same.

We will also walk around the whole area to check everything has been left neat and tidy and if you wanted to keep any of the grass off-cuts these have been left in the place agreed, whilst smaller pieces are collected to be recycled. Only once you are completed happy with our work will we raise an invoice.