Why you should hire the professionals, and why Southwest Greens Pittsburgh is #1 for installation practices.

You may be asking yourself, “Can I install artificial grass myself?” Sure, you can install artificial grass yourself, but it isn’t an easy feat. The equipment and tools you’d need are pricey, it takes a while to do it yourself, and you could run the risk of voiding any warranties on the turf. So, 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

Regardless if you are looking to add an artificial golf green to your home, or you are managing a commercial golf course, having artificial turf professionally installed will save you headaches, time, and money — and, in the long run, give you a more attractive green.

Saved Time

Even ”easy” do-it-yourself projects can quickly turn into a big problem. Haven’t we all been there? Multiple trips to the big box store for tools and supplies we didn’t realize we need, plans not going to plan, many days of hard work? By having your turf installed professionally, you will save a lot of time, and you’ll enjoy the greens sooner.

In order to properly install artificial golf greens, must level the ground, add a crushed aggregate base, add padding, place the turf, add infill, and roll the turf to get the best playability and to make it look realistic. Cutting edges so you have clean borders can also be challenging and needs a lot of experience to get it right. All of this necessitates some specialized tools and knowledge to do correctly and avoid wonky sections or edges that peel up creating awful aesthetics.

Difficult Soil/Landscape

An ideal soil is rare. Many property owners will agree to this. It’s very rare to be able to sink your shovel into the soil without issues. Instead, we have to deal with rocks, clay, or soil that is filled with root systems from nearby plants and trees in many locations. Just digging can become grueling work. Plus, if you’re hacking into roots, you could be killing surrounding plants and trees you want.

We have dealt with obstacles such as large boulders, old (and new) irrigation lines, and stumps on many of our installation projects. All of these obstructions must be removed or repurposed. Excavation results in tons of soil you may not have a use for — what is your plan to deal with it? We often have to transport this excess soil offsite.

A pro artificial turf installer can address all of this for you. So if you don’t want to do very difficult manual labor or don’t know how to handle your excavated soil, hiring a pro installer for your project is your best choice.

Large Areas

When you install a golf green in a large area, seaming is one of the most challenging parts of the turf to do correctly. This is how two or more pieces are combined. Very similar to carpet installation, when the seams of artificial turf are blended correctly, they are not noticeable. When seams aren’t joined blended the right way, they’ll be easy to see and yield a disappointing finished product.

Imagine this: rolling up a poster or piece of paper. Have you always gotten perfect alignment when attempting to get a good roll? Rather than a clean edge, you sometimes end up with paper sticking out on one end. This same thing can happen with seaming artificial turf. One tiny misstep at the start of the process will ruin the whole project and look awful when finished. A professional installer will have plenty of experience joining seams and they will make certain everything looks fantastic before they are done.

THE SOUTHWEST GREENS WAY

There are three specific things that separate Southwest Greens Pittsburgh from others in the turf industry — craftsmanship, guarantees, and customer service. We don’t believe in cookie-cutter artificial turf installations, and because of that, we have mastered the art and science of Pittsburgh artificial turf installation. We have honed our process with at least 6,000 golf greens worldwide under our belts.

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

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

You can watch our installation process video here.

READY FOR YOUR GREENS?

Make sure to take a look at our grass collections. We are here to help when you’re ready. Contact us for a quote for your project — whether or not it is a backyard putting green or a full-blown golf course, we’ve got you covered.