Artificial Grass Installation in Free State

Quality turf is non-toxic and lead-free (check the certification), and pet-friendly ranges drain urine and can be rinsed. Antimicrobial infills help with odour. Confirm the product is certified for the intended use rather than a generic import.

Far less than a real lawn: occasional brushing to keep the pile upright, rinsing, and removing leaves and pet mess. It never needs mowing, watering or feeding — the main upkeep is keeping debris off so moss doesn't establish on the surface.

Cost is driven by area and the quality of the turf, but the groundwork matters just as much: excavating the old lawn, laying and compacting a sub-base, adding a weed membrane and joining the rolls. Cheap quotes often skimp on the base, which is exactly where failures show up.

A quality product installed on a proper base lasts around 15-20 years, with UV stabilisers preventing fading. Lifespan collapses when the sub-base is thin or poorly drained — the turf itself rarely fails first, the ground under it does.

Good turf is perforated and, over a correctly built free-draining sub-base, drains as well as or better than natural lawn. Poor drainage — a compacted or clay base with no permeable layer — causes puddling and smell, so ask exactly how the installer handles drainage.

A typical build-up is: excavate ~75-100mm, lay a compacted crushed-stone sub-base, a sharp-sand or granite-dust screed, a weed-membrane, then the turf pinned and joined, sometimes with a kiln-dried sand infill. Skipping layers is the number-one cause of lumps, weeds and movement.

Laying straight onto turf or soil is a false economy — it sinks, ruts, grows weeds through and drains badly. A proper install removes the topsoil and builds an engineered base. If a quote skips excavation, expect problems within a year or two.

A fully installed lawn runs roughly R350-1,000 per m² depending on turf quality and base depth. It's popular in water-restricted areas since it needs no irrigation, though the surface heats up in full sun.