What should I check when buying a house with artificial turf?
Check ten things: infill depth, seams, edges, drainage, smell, algae, the pet zone, any putting green, fiber wear, and burn or melt damage. Most findings are cleaning, infill or a repair in the low hundreds; the ones that matter are a settled base, failing backing or urine in the base, which mean replacement. TIMELESS Turf Restoration inspects turf on Grand Strand homes before closing and says which you have.
Before the showing: ask the seller
- Who installed it, and in what year.
- The product name, and whether the manufacturer and installer paperwork is available.
- When it was last professionally cleaned, and by whom.
- Whether pets used it, how many, and where.
- Where the yard drains to, and whether anything has ever pooled.
- Whether any seams or edges have been repaired.
A seller who has answers to these has looked after the yard. Silence on the pet question is an answer too.
The 10-point walkthrough
Go mid-afternoon on a warm day if you can. Heat brings out the smell and low sun shows the seams.
| # | Check | How | If you find it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Infill depth | Part the fibers in a path, the pet zone and an untouched corner; compare | Low on paths: redistribution $0.35 to $0.65 per sq ft. Bare backing: new infill $0.75 to $1.50 per sq ft |
| 2 | Seams | Sight along the yard in low sun; run a hand across any line you see | A visible line is cosmetic. A gap or a raised edge is a seam repair from $250 each |
| 3 | Edges | Press beside every border; look for nails standing proud and rotted bender board | Edge re-securing from $175 |
| 4 | Drainage | Run a hose for five minutes on the lowest spot, or visit after rain | Water that drains in minutes is fine. Water that stands an hour is a blocked drain, saturated infill or a settled base |
| 5 | Smell | Kneel in the sunniest spot and in the spot a dog would use | Ammonia: Premium Restoration plus heavy odor treatment $75 to $150. Stronger under a lifted edge: urine in the base |
| 6 | Algae | North side, fence line, under the deck, anywhere shaded | Green or black film: treated inside a Premium Restoration |
| 7 | Pet zone | Part the fibers where the smell is; look for dark, crusted infill | Infill extraction and replacement in the zone, usually under 200 sq ft |
| 8 | Putting green | Roll a ball; look for bumps, bare fibers, pollen paste in the sand | Green restoration and top-dress, quoted by green |
| 9 | Fiber wear | Hand-broom a flat patch against the grain | Fibers that stand up are matted: brushing. Fibers that stay short are worn: patch from $250 |
| 10 | Burn or melt marks | Near the grill, the fire pit, and in a stripe facing any large window | Patch from $250. If it is a window reflection, it will happen again until the window is screened |
Brian prices it by square foot before any work starts, and every job ends blown clean.
The three findings that are not cleaning
Everything in the table is a few hundred dollars except three things. A settled base: water pools in the same place after every rain and the surface has a dip you can feel. Failing backing: tug a tuft in the sunniest spot and the fibers come away with backing attached, or the backing shows cracks. Urine in the base: the smell is stronger under a lifted edge than on the surface, which means years of a dog on the same spot without rinsing. Any of these is a replacement of that section, a four-figure item, and belongs in your offer. Our clean-or-replace guide has the full five tells.
The arithmetic for your offer
Take a 1,000-square-foot backyard where you found one open seam, a smelly pet zone of about 150 square feet, and general dirt. Premium Restoration: $399. Seam repair: $250. New odor-control infill in the pet zone at the top of the range: 150 × $1.50 = $225. Total $874, done in a day. That is a reasonable number to ask the seller to credit, and a fraction of what replacing the yard would cost. If the same walkthrough turned up a settled base across a third of the yard, the number is several times that and the conversation is different.
After closing
- Book the restoration before you move furniture onto it.
- Get the infill measured and written down; that is your baseline.
- Find the drains and know where they go before the first storm.
- If there is a green, have it top-dressed after the next pollen season, not before.
- Put the yard on a calendar: the Grand Strand calendar is the one we use.
When to call us
Call during the inspection period if the walkthrough turned up anything in the table, or if you would rather we did the walkthrough. The inspection comes with a written quote at no charge. A Premium Restoration runs $299 for up to 500 square feet, $399 for 501 to 1,000 and $499 for 1,001 to 1,500; repairs and infill are quoted per the price table. If the yard needs replacing, we say so and hand it to the installer.
Free quote, priced by square foot. You approve any add-on before we do it.
