March 14, 2022

Why hiring the pros matters, and why Southwest Greens Northern CA West is leader in the industry for installation practices.

Perhaps you’re asking yourself, “Can I install artificial grass myself?” Sure, you can try to install artificial grass yourself, but it isn’t a simple task. The tools and equipment you’d need are costly, it takes a long time to DIY, and you may void any warranties on the turf. Now, let’s see why you need to have your artificial golf turf installed by a professional who follows the best practices for artificial turf installation.


WHY PROFESSIONAL ARTIFICIAL GRASS INSTALLATION

Whether or not you are looking to add a golf green to your yard, or you manage a commercial golf course, having artificial turf installed professionally will save you time, money, and headaches — and, in the long run, yield a better-looking green.


Saved Time

Even tiny DIY projects can quickly become a big problem. Haven’t we all been there? Excessive trips to the hardware store for tools and supplies we didn’t realize we’d need, plans not going to plan, days and days of hard work? By having your turf installed professionally, you will save so much time, and be able to enjoy the greens sooner.

In order to install artificial golf greens properly, you will need to level the ground, add a crushed aggregate base, add padding, place the turf, add infill, and roll the turf to have the best playability and to make it look realistic. Cutting edges so you have clean borders is also tricky and requires years of experience to get it just right. All of this necessitates some specialized tools and knowledge to do correctly in order to avoid goofy sections and edges that start peeling up creating a terrible look.


Difficult Soil/Landscape

Perfect soil is scarce. Most property owners can attest to this. It’s very rare to be able to push your shovel into the dirt with ease. Instead, we have to struggle with rocks, thick clay, or soil filled with roots from trees and plants nearby in many places. Even digging can become grueling work. Plus, if you are cutting into roots, you could be hurting surrounding plants and trees you want to keep healthy.

On so many of our turf installations, we have encountered obstacles like huge boulders, old (or new) irrigation lines, stumps, to name a few. Every one of these items must be removed or repurposed. Excavation can also produce tons of soil you don’t need — what will you do with it? We regularly have to ship this excess soil offsite.

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


Large Areas

When you install a golf green in a large area, seaming is among the most difficult elements of the turf to install correctly. This is the way two or more pieces are bound together. The process is similar to carpet installation, when turf seams are blended right, they’re not noticeable. Seams that aren’t done correctly will stand out and give an unattractive finished product.

Picture this: rolling a sheet of paper or a poster. Have you always gotten the alignment perfect when trying to pull-off a good roll? Rather than a clean edge, you sometimes end up with paper sticking out on one side. This same thing is possible when seaming artificial turf. One tiny mistake at the start of the process will ruin the whole project and look terrible in the end. Professional installers will have tons of experience joining seams and they’ll ensure everything looks fantastic before they are done.


THE SOUTHWEST GREENS WAY

There are three distinct things that separate Southwest Greens Northern CA West from others in the turf industry — craftsmanship, guarantees, and customer service. We do not believe in cookie-cutter artificial turf installations, and because of this, we have mastered the art and science of San Francisco artificial turf installation. We have honed our process with more than 6,000 golf greens around the world under our belts.

Take a quick glance at how our artificial putting green installation process works.

  • A crushed aggregate base, which, unlike concrete, can be moistened and molded to create challenging breaks and undulations.
  • Next, we install a cushion pad, at a minimum, that helps the ball roll and shot absorption, next comes our state-of-the-art polypropylene turf material that’s used to emulate the bright green color, softness, and playability of real grass.
  • The turf is then in-filled with a formulation of fine-coated silica sand to give it the touch and feel of natural grass.
  • Finally, the tops are rolled to create the effect of real bent grass green. We offer options including the installation of first and second cuts fringe, sand traps, bunkers, fairways, and roughs.

Watch our video on our installation process here.


READY FOR YOUR GREENS?

Make sure you view our grass collections. We are here to help when you’re ready. Contact us for a quote on your project — regardless of it’s a backyard putting green or a full-size golf course, we’ve got you covered.