Artificial grass

brendy · 23 Dec 2015 at 12:35

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
If only there was some mechanism to deal with this situation

I will get my thinking cap on and design something that would allow someone to transport liquid so some sort of long thin connection should I need a constant flow or some sort of container should I need a specific amount at a certain place

Its partly true if you read reports, the reality its probably little different to dry grass thats been soaked in dog wee and left to dry. Maybe a bit more moisture can get stuck in the sand but easily dealt with by a hose down should needs be, and you can in theory use more chemicals to deal with this situation than you can with grass.

Indeed, it is porous too so its not like it sits in a puddle neither so worth a quick spray hose every so often.

koolpc · 23 Dec 2015 at 12:38

So, out with the lawnmower and in with a new hoover?

Do cats still poo on the stuff?

Chief Wiggum · 23 Dec 2015 at 13:22

We had a contractor in to do ours, I built a framework to allow them to level the slope and they supplied all of the fill materials, Astro and graft. Was about £3k to get it done, but they did a better job that I could, plus they took all the old turf and topsoil too.
Before

After

R3X · 23 Dec 2015 at 13:39

3K sounds tad pricey but looks lovely, what happens when it rains or when a cat tries its business and then it rains though.

Was thinking of tarmac or slabs, or whatever is cheapest and just covering my whole back garden, since grass is annoying to cut every few weeks.

brendy · 23 Dec 2015 at 14:00

Not really had to lift anything off ours yet bar a few palm leaves from a garden on the opposite side of the street.
Our cherry blossom tree had its first flower this year and I never brushed anything up. It was gone from the grass in days whether wind or just turning brown and disappearing I dunno. It's been very easy to look after. Just the odd weed appearing along the edge.

Rammix · 23 Dec 2015 at 14:21

A friend of mine who owns a landscaping company said he'd do mine for about £30 per m2. That's digging out, hardcore and laying it not including the artificial grass it's self. Didn't think that's too bad, but he may have quoted mates rates I'm not sure...

Chief Wiggum · 23 Dec 2015 at 15:03

R3X said:
3K sounds tad pricey but looks lovely, what happens when it rains or when a cat tries its business and then it rains though.

Was thinking of tarmac or slabs, or whatever is cheapest and just covering my whole back garden, since grass is annoying to cut every few weeks.

Thanks

When they put it in it was chucking it down, stopped about 3pm, then by about 6pm we were sat out on it and it was dry. Just been out there now and it's slightly damp but the rain soaks away quite well. We got it because we have a massive leather jacket issue on our estate and the soil is also mostly clay so when it's wet it goes like a sponge and dry it goes rock hard and cracks. We've got a toddler running around so to allow her to run around and play on a slide etc and not worry about mud and things is great.

Maintenance wise, weed killer twice a year and then pull out anything that starts to grow on it, it needs a clean at the moment, when I get a dry day I'll pop out with the garden vac and pull up some seed cases and leaves that have fallen from the borders.
Not had a cat do its business on it, but have had hedgehogs, it just sits on the top of the pile and can be picked off. The pile is 26 or 28mm can't recall which.

I think it worked it out at about £54 per m2 fully installed. That didn't include the framework and stuff that I did to allow them to level it up but doing that has given a lot of extra space and they recommended it too as it drops off really fast by the garage, about 30cm or so along the bottom edge by the fence, then really drops down to next door.

R3X · 23 Dec 2015 at 18:33

thanks good info, will have to look into it

Ace Modder · 23 Dec 2015 at 22:44

Thanks for the feedback

R.O.S.S.I · 8 Mar 2016 at 15:51

Sorry to dig up this old thread. Just wondering what is the most way of laying this stuff. I've read numerous different ways. Some saying that I need to dig out my soil and lay a compacted hardcore base. Some saying I just need to whack my soil down and then lay it on a whacked bed of sand.

Whats the most common method of installation?

kiteloopy · 8 Mar 2016 at 18:00

Im looking at this stuff too. My garden is north facing and in the shadow of flats.

How likley is it that I can install this stuff in a conservation area? Would save me no end of greif with weeds.

MAPeX · 8 Mar 2016 at 18:13

R.O.S.S.I said:
Sorry to dig up this old thread. Just wondering what is the most way of laying this stuff. I've read numerous different ways. Some saying that I need to dig out my soil and lay a compacted hardcore base. Some saying I just need to whack my soil down and then lay it on a whacked bed of sand.

Whats the most common method of installation?

The method I used was as follows

Dig out area where grass is to go to depth of 150mm

Surround area with treated 100mm x 15mm timber

Fill with compacted MOT Type 1 100mm

Membrane

50mm Compacted Sharp Sand

Membrane

Artificial grass

Nail/Tack edges to Timber surround.

That's what I did on the last installation I did

R.O.S.S.I · 9 Mar 2016 at 05:55

MAPeX said:
The method I used was as follows

Dig out area where grass is to go to depth of 150mm

Surround area with treated 100mm x 15mm timber

Fill with compacted MOT Type 1 100mm

Membrane

50mm Compacted Sharp Sand

Membrane

Artificial grass

Nail/Tack edges to Timber surround.

That's what I did on the last installation I did

Ahhhh balls I was afraid I was going to have to dig it out 150mm. It's a fairly large area so it's probably going to take 5 or 6 tonne off MOT Type 1 to fill it.

Thats gomna be a right pain in the arse and more back breaking work

Oh well looks like I'll be needing another skip too. Will wait till my patio is finished before I entertain the grass part I think.

valve90210 · 9 Mar 2016 at 09:27

Definitely get a man with a mini digger if you're going to dig out, I dug out my front garden by hand when making a sub base for some parking grid, it took ages and really was a lot of very hard work. A man with a digger would have had the job done in a morning!!

R.O.S.S.I · 9 Mar 2016 at 10:30

Not sure a mini digger would get down the side of my house to be honest. Might have to rely on some good old hard graft and manual labour.................................................again.

To be fair I may actually get a couple of companies in to quote for the work to see how it stacks up to doing it myself.

valve90210 · 9 Mar 2016 at 11:58

What sort of gap do you have down the side of the house, there are some tiny diggers that fit through small gaps.

Good plan re the quotes, that kind of work take such a long time when you're doing it yourself and sometimes it's just better to get people in in terms of cost in your time.

tom_e · 9 Mar 2016 at 12:01

R.O.S.S.I said:
Not sure a mini digger would get down the side of my house to be honest. Might have to rely on some good old hard graft and manual labour.................................................again.

To be fair I may actually get a couple of companies in to quote for the work to see how it stacks up to doing it myself.

I'm sure someone in another thread mentioned that there are mini diggers that can get through a doorway so you should be able to find something unless it's a very small gap.

R.O.S.S.I · 9 Mar 2016 at 12:48

valve90210 said:
What sort of gap do you have down the side of the house, there are some tiny diggers that fit through small gaps.

Good plan re the quotes, that kind of work take such a long time when you're doing it yourself and sometimes it's just better to get people in in terms of cost in your time.

Exactly what i'm thinking it may be best to just see how much its going to cost to get some pros in to do it who will do it all in a couple of days as opposed to the 3-4 weeks it will inevitably take me.

valve90210 · 9 Mar 2016 at 13:32

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18512738

That's the link to my thread about the parking grid, it took such a long time to dig out, the whole project dragged on for ages as I only had time in the evenings when I got home from work, if I'd even just hired a digger, that side of it would have saved me weeks of work!!

I also like to weigh up the sense of satisfaction for having done a job with the satisfaction for that job being done and out of the way, which again often comes down in favour of getting someone in to do it!

Kemik · 9 Mar 2016 at 14:30

valve90210 said:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18512738

That's the link to my thread about the parking grid, it took such a long time to dig out, the whole project dragged on for ages as I only had time in the evenings when I got home from work, if I'd even just hired a digger, that side of it would have saved me weeks of work!!

I also like to weigh up the sense of satisfaction for having done a job with the satisfaction for that job being done and out of the way, which again often comes down in favour of getting someone in to do it!

Bah, I really wish I had done my driveway myself now instead of getting someone else to do it. How much do you think it cost you in total? I realise it was a while back... Do you think it would hold up to parking on daily or the grass wouldn't get enough sun?