So, you’re interested in artificial grass for your house but don’t want to pay the installation fees up front? Today, we’ll teach you how to install fake grass on a budget, making adjustments along the route to reduce the cost of your installation.
But make no mistake about it: To make this work, you’ll need to be willing to get your hands filthy, invest a significant amount of time and effort, and problem-solve along the way.
Furthermore, while many of the solutions listed below will lower your cost, they will also increase the amount of labor you must perform yourself. Even if you have aid, you’ll be utilizing hand tools like a shovel and regularly carrying up to 25 dirhams.
Five components to nearly every installation may be changed to minimize the cost of artificial grass installation without jeopardizing its performance or longevity. They are as follows:
- Remains of Artificial Grass
- A foundation
- Site Design
- Seaming Technique
- Installation Instruments
1. Artificial Grass Remnants of High Quality and Low Cost
Artificial grass remnants might save you money depending on the entire square footage of your project. Remnants are left-over grass from previous works that are sold at a reduced price. They come in a variety of sizes, although they are rarely more significant than 15′ by 15′.
Remnant availability varies by area, and they must be picked up from the store rather than shipped; however, you may browse available remnants online before visiting! Simply choose your closest location from the drop-down menu and browse what’s available.
However, keep in mind that fake grasses are made in color batches. This implies that two identically made rolls of the same product type might have minor color differences. If having residual pieces from the same dye lot isn’t a concern for you, that’s fantastic! However, if it does, you may check with your Purchase Green salesperson to see if the dye lots are the same or different before you buy.
Many DIYers, however, have placed residual pieces from various color batches. Individual pieces are sometimes put in separate regions or have planters or other landscaping objects between them to divert the eye from the (slightly) noticeable color variation.
2. The Low-Cost Sub-base secret
After excavating a few inches and installing the grass, the subbase goes where your natural grass was. Its main purpose is to keep the natural expansion and contraction of your yard’s native soil from harming the lawn, resulting in wrinkles.
It’s one of three things in most professional installations:
Crushed miscellaneous base (CMB), class II road base, or decomposed granite are the three options.
Because of its greater drainage and capacity to provide a continuous level surface, decomposed granite is regarded as the best of the three. Certain types of installations, such as putting greens, require a higher level of decomposed granite sub-foundation to perform and survive.
The issue with decomposed granite is that it is costly.
Is there a way to get around this?
In most circumstances, artificial grass can be made to work well and last for a long time using just a modest amount of decomposed granite. To achieve optimum drainage and overall performance, only the top few inches of the subbase must contain decomposed granite. This means you may fill most of your excavated space with low-cost class II or CMB, then top it off with a few inches of decomposed granite. This will significantly reduce the cost while also ensuring that the outcomes are fair.
3. Reduce Material Waste and Re-evaluate Your Layout to Save Money
Unless your installation area is the precise form and size of a roll of turf, it’s very hard to use up all of the grass you purchase in your installation. Most likely, some cutting and seaming of numerous sections will be required, and some grass will be wasted. The issue is to find out how to make the most of a grass roll that is 13′ or 15′ broads. One approach to achieve this is to disregard the conventional grain direction rule.
One of the biggest causes of wasted grass is the grain orientation of artificial grass. Grain direction refers to the major pointing direction of the grass blades, which is normally downward from the top of the roll.
Artificial grass components are normally installed with the grain towards the main vantage point,’ resulting in the most aesthetically beautiful lawn. The main viewpoint is the one from which the grass will be seen the most. The home is generally the main viewpoint for backyard installations. The major observation point for front yards is the street.
When you’re constrained to putting grass pieces in just one direction, however, irregularly shaped installation sites can sometimes result in unnecessary material waste. Suppose immaculate aesthetics aren’t a priority for you. In that case, there’s a high possibility you can save money by placing the grass pieces you’ve ordered in whichever configuration best suits the installation location, independent of grain direction.
4. The Seaming Method Workaround
When installing Artificial Grass, you’ll most likely have to cut and seam together various pieces of turf, as previously described. Most of the time, seaming tape, seaming glue, and nails are used to accomplish this. This procedure is the safest and most dependable but also the most costly. While seaming tape and glue costs may be insignificant for a little project, they may quickly add up for bigger ones.
The low-cost alternative? Simply use a lot of nails. Although not as secure, this is an excellent seaming solution for some setups. Nails may and frequently make work loss over time and with significant foot activity, so we only advocate this procedure if your grass is not subjected to much of that.
If you have an extensive installation area with little foot traffic, a box or two of affordable 5-inch nails could suffice.
5. Tools for Saving Money
There are several possibilities for specialized instruments for putting fake grass. Professional installation workers have a plethora of instruments at their disposal to make the job go faster, such as a sod cutter, plate crusher, power broom, grass cutter, turf gripper, puller, kicker, and so on. If you wanted to do it right, you could rent all of these gear to automate your installation process and wow your neighbors.
But we’re assuming you’re not following the rules. If so, we propose ditching the high-tech gear and going back to basics using hand tools. It turns out that low-tech hand tools can do almost everything those power tools can. Substitute a pick-ax for the sod cutter, a hand compactor for the plate compactor, a push broom for the power broom, and a carpet knife for the turf cutter. Just be prepared to work up a sweat and put in some significant elbow grease!
Don’t forget to check out our other post on: How to Take Care of Your Garden’s Artificial Grass for a Stunning Look
