Is it possible to have fewer seams and scrap pieces when installing artificial grass?
If you are preparing a budget for synthetic grass installation, you must consider and offer all the options of quantity, prices, and quality with honesty and clarity to the client.
Make sure to write every detail in the contract, like the warranty warnings, the durability of the materials, and the subsequent maintenance that the client needs to consider to ensure the useful life and beauty of the installation.
It would be perfect for every installer and client to have as few seams as possible in the artificial grass projects, and at the same time, have the least waste of material and thus save costs. But sadly, those initial savings can become unavoidable expenses in the future. That will depend, above all, on the shape of the area that you will cover with artificial grass.
Shapes of the surfaces to work on:
- If the area is shaped like a square or rectangular and it does not have obstacles (like trees, fixed objects, walkways, etc.) in the way, such as a soccer field or a backyard with nothing else, the project will have fewer seams, and you only need to add an extra 10% of artificial grass when you calculate the exact measurement of the land.
- If the area is circular or sinuous, and it does not have obstacles, it is possible that the grass needs few joints in the installation. However, as the grass rolls are elongated there will be more waste due to the cuts that must be made on the circular edges. For this reason, for this type of surface, an additional 15% of grass must be added to the size of the area.
- If the area is irregular like golf courses are, and there are also obstacles or you want to use different types of grass to differentiate spaces, you have to calculate between 15% or 20% extra artificial grass than the initial measurement because a space with these characteristics will have more scrap pieces when mowing the lawn. In addition, this type of installation will have a greater number of seams.
Extra strips = savings? Yes or no?
You could think that by having extra strips of artificial turf you could just use it to make joints and fill in some spaces (for example, triangular land will always have more waste due to its shape), and by doing this, save some money. But, that is NOT the case, and here is why:
The grass must always be installed with the fiber looking in the same direction, so you cannot join pieces of grass with the leaves looking in different directions, as it is very noticeable and it makes the whole project look very fake.
But don't worry, those remnants of artificial grass won't go to waste!
Use of remnants
The leftovers of artificial grass will be very helpful in the case the project has problems in the future, such as:
- burning or melting due to placing a very hot machine on it,
- melting due to too much hot air blowing on it directly, or the reflection of glass, metal, or white fences (this can be easily avoided. Read this article where we explained what to do if that happens: “Top 3 tips to prevent artificial grass from melting”
- damaged by some chemical or corrosive material,
- scratch or bite of pets,
- cut caused by a natural grass clipper when you are close to it.
If any of this happens, the customer will not need to buy more artificial grass and incur an unforeseen expense to fix it. The problem would be not having remnants and not getting the same type of artificial grass or batch as your original project. Therefore, that initial cost of investing in 10%, 15%, or 20% of extra material can become a saving in the future.
Savings!
Investing in an artificial grass project will always be safe. Do you want to know why? Find out in this article “Can you really save money by switching to artificial grass? Learn how”
Hey installer friend!
If you are interested in training as a professional installer of artificial grass projects, we invite you to join our classes at Diamond University. We teach classes at all of our South Florida locations in both English and Spanish. Contact us for more information about the dates, times, and locations so that you can choose the one that is most convenient for you.
Don't miss this opportunity to join the Billion Dollar Industry!
