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Artificial Grass - Recommendations?

5,920 Views | 35 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by AgLA06
Mikeyshooter
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AG
Looking into artificial grass for my backyard. Anyone have a good recommendation?

Also what kind of cost would I be looking at for ~30' x 50'?
Teddy Perkins
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AG
I paid $8 per square foot but had a much smaller area so you may get a discount at that size. I would not recommend the contractor we used. Just be cautioned, if it gets direct sun it gets extremely hot.
redag06
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I'm interested in artificial grass in some areas surrounding a pool. Interested in anyone that does very small area.
RK
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we are about to do a similar area. we have been rough-quoted $9ish/ft.

our plan is to leave the sprinklers in place, so we can run them briefly to cool it off, if needed.
MAS444
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We just did this and I highly recommend Chris Helms of Helms Landscaping. We did a small area and I believe it came out to around 8 - 9/ft2.
CowtownAg06
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Jeff at Four Seasons Outdoor Living did an awesome job on our yard. He's a also an Ag.
Daytona22
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We used Wakasa. They did a good job. I'd recommend them. I received quotes anywhere from $9.25 to $12 / sq ft.


RK
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That's who we are using.
Cromagnum
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AG
So what do you do when all the junk from the flower beds spill over on to it, like after a heavy rain?
Daytona22
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AG
Our rock edging does a good job keeping it all in and drains towards the back of the flower beds and not towards the yard. Never had an issue with it.
TxAg05
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We used Wakasa as well to do our backyard. Very happy with the result.
Duck Blind
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Cromagnum said:

So what do you do when all the junk from the flower beds spill over on to it, like after a heavy rain?


Sweep it into a dust pan. No kidding. We turfed our back yard and it's great. Dogs love it. No muddy backyard or dog prints everywhere.
Crazy Ag 97
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We used Wakasa. About 6 months after install we had some issues with settlement where they had removed some bushes and didn't compact it good enough, called them and they came out the next day to investigate, agreed it was their fault and had a crew out the out the following weekend to fix it. Been very happy with them and their customer service, I would use them again. We were at about $12/ft for our small yard all in including demo, trim boards, and an area we wanted rocked. That said, ewe choose one of the higher end products that they use at doggy day care facilities to withstand the day to day of our dog running on it, so that pushed our cost up a couple dollars/foot.
cab559
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How much does including a putting green add to the overall cost for that portion? Anyone know?
KDubAg
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Bumped an old post..

Wanted to check to see how the turf is holding up for you guys. Especially wanted to know about dogs and pee smell. We are going to do our backyard soon. We have two Great Danes.

I've reached out to Helms and Jeff at Four Seasons already too
htxag09
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In a place like houston I don't think pet urine or smell is an issue. It rains enough to rinse it off. They also use a biocide infill when installing. Obviously you have to pick up poop, but same for grass. We've had ours for 10ish years and never had an issue with that.

Biggest "issue" I've seen with various turf yards is window burn. Make sure you discuss with the installer and they see if they think it'll be an issue. If so, you can do solar screens or a turf with a higher heat resistance.
KDubAg
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Thanks for the response. That's pretty much the info I have gathered online.
WillieAg08
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We just gave the green light to Texans Turf. We got quotes from two other companies and all were roughly the same price, $9-$10/sqf. Dan with Texans Turf seemed the most knowledgeable and explained the process better than the others and that's why we chose to go with them.
KDubAg
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We got a quote from them as well. I can't remember the guys name but he was a tall fit guy. Texans Turf was the least expensive quote.

We ended up going with Chris Helms Landscaping today. We shall see.
Mr.Bond
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KDubAg said:

We got a quote from them as well. I can't remember the guys name but he was a tall fit guy. Texans Turf was the least expensive quote.

We ended up going with Chris Helms Landscaping today. We shall see.
What made you not choose Texans Turf?
Im looking for Ray Finkle.... and a clean pair of shorts. Im just a very big Finkle fan. This is my Graceland, sir.


MAGA

evestor1
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Glad I checked this thread. I was thinking of putting in a putting green 15x30 or so. I was quoted normal price for material and the guy asked if i wanted install ... he quoted me 24/ft for install. I immediately gave up.


I am going to call some of the boards recs now.
AndesAg92
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RK said:

we are about to do a similar area. we have been rough-quoted $9ish/ft.

our plan is to leave the sprinklers in place, so we can run them briefly to cool it off, if needed.


Our new house we just moved into has a turfed back yard. Sprinklers in fixed the heat problem. It drains extremely well and the sprinklers get it cooled down enough even during this weeks heat wave. We're also pretty shaded so that helps obviously.
terradactylexpress
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The price per sqft goes down as the size goes up, had several quotes in the $9 range for ~2300 SQ ft this month
KDubAg
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Although they were the cheapest, I think that guy was pretty quick getting in and out. More of a salesperson like than personable. I always feel you get what you pay for. I think they said they will take "up to 4 inches" of top soil out and he said it's usually around 3 inches.

I liked the idea of Helms putting a border around every part of the yard. Texan put a border as needed.

Texans could be a great choice, idk.
trestamu
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Curious about how the turf handles the dog urine. We bought a house with turf installed in the backyard. Two dogs (golden retriever and lab mix) and we couldn't stand the smell. Tried all kinds of biocide, etc and nothing would get it out. Ended up replacing with grass. Wonder if it was poor turf product or underlay.
MAS444
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Wasn't a problem for us. Every now and then you could smell it if it hadn't rained in a while - but we'd just water it all down and it was fine again. They say a vinegar mixture works even better but we didn't ever have to do that.
AndesAg92
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trestamu said:

Curious about how the turf handles the dog urine. We bought a house with turf installed in the backyard. Two dogs (golden retriever and lab mix) and we couldn't stand the smell. Tried all kinds of biocide, etc and nothing would get it out. Ended up replacing with grass. Wonder if it was poor turf product or underlay.


I have several friends with turfed backyards and dogs. Have spent significant time there and have never seen an issue with dog piss smell or heard them mention it at all.
KDubAg
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trestamu said:

Curious about how the turf handles the dog urine. We bought a house with turf installed in the backyard. Two dogs (golden retriever and lab mix) and we couldn't stand the smell. Tried all kinds of biocide, etc and nothing would get it out. Ended up replacing with grass. Wonder if it was poor turf product or underlay.
To answer your question and guide anybody else thinking about it...

We have about 1300 sqft of turf. We also have two great danes. We initially had grass but the danes were constantly tearing up the grass, killing it with the urine and rolling around on the dirt. Kept adding new St. Augustine sod down and finally had enough. Patio was dirty, house was dirty, dogs were dirty.

Installed turf in February. Patio stays clean, house is cleaner, dogs are clean. Don't have to wipe down mud in the house or spray the patio as much. Less dirt to sweep in the house.

Going into this I knew there was a chance of having urine smell. It does happen. Sometimes it worse, sometimes it not there. I do use a variety of products, to spray it down. I do water their pee down as much as I can just about every time they go outside.

So to me it was pick your poison. Turf with some pee smell and constantly treating it, or crappy grass dirt area with dirty dogs, dirty house and muddy patio.

I probably use more water on the turf than I did on the grass. Lol. We do have irrigation under the turf as well.

I'm thinking it would be more easily manageable and less water if I didn't have two XXL dogs.

The turf looks great, love it. The cost of products and water, not so much.
PerdidoKey2030
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We had artificalgrassdirecttx.com do our side yard and backyard back in April. Total turnkey cost was $9 @ 2000 square feet. We went turnkey, ask for Hugo Guerra, managing partner, he does a lot of the actual site visits on northeast side of Houston (Kingwood for us). Wish we would of done this 10 years ago, no regrets, nothing but compliments and great for kids doing tumbling or soccer anytime in the back yard. Went with the Natural 90 w/ 1.75 inch pile height. Would post pics if I could... Also purchased fake ivy panels and DYI vine screen wall looking out kitchen window along driveway to block view of neighbors lack of landscaping skills. AGDTX provides turf to numerous landscaping companies in Houston & San Antonio and also has DIY or turnkey option with preferred installers.
Keeper of The Spirits
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No urine smells for us been on turf for 3 years now
trestamu
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Seeing all the responses and knowing that prior owner cut some corners on various things, it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't plan, install and maintain it with care. I would've left sprinkler heads intact which he didn't do and there was a lot of unevenness which tells me he didn't prep the area right. And I doubt he cleaned/maintained it.
KDubAg
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trestamu said:

Seeing all the responses and knowing that prior owner cut some corners on various things, it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't plan, install and maintain it with care. I would've left sprinkler heads intact which he didn't do and there was a lot of unevenness which tells me he didn't prep the area right. And I doubt he cleaned/maintained it.


Which company? Texans Turf?
KDubAg
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Keeper of The Spirits said:

No urine smells for us been on turf for 3 years now


Are you using a certain product or have a process down?

I'm doing some trial and error stuff to see what works the best.
trestamu
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I'm referring to the prior owner of my house. Not sure who he had install the turf and pretty certain after installation, he wasn't do much to maintain.
Aggie09Derek
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Have turf at our current house but not at the one we are about to move into...

Going to turf inside the gate and backyard but would it be weird to turf the front? My wife thinks so but I am just thinking about how nice it'll be to never have to worry about mowing/weed eating that small little part.

No HOA to worry about

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