How Artificial Grass Is Installed: Base Preparation and Drainage

We strip turf and topsoil to depth, then set the finished level first, working back from door thresholds, patio edges and any manhole covers. Getting the finished level right at this stage is what stops a lawn sitting proud of the patio or damming water against the house.

MOT Type 1 goes in and is compacted in layers, not tipped in one lift and driven over once. Compaction in layers is what prevents settlement dips appearing in year two. On heavy clay ground, which is common across much of the Essex patch, we increase the depth rather than pretend the clay will drain.

Over the stone goes a blinding layer of granite dust or sharp sand, screeded flat and to a slight fall. This is the layer you actually feel underfoot, so time spent here shows in the finished lawn.

Permeable grass over an impermeable base is a puddle waiting to happen. We keep the whole build up free draining and, where ground conditions or a surrounding hard surface prevent that, we design in a soakaway, a channel or a connection to an existing outfall rather than hoping for the best.

Falls are gentle, away from the house, and never towards a neighbouring boundary. Manholes are framed and remain accessible.

A weed membrane sits above the aggregate, not buried under it. Edging is fixed to driven stakes so it cannot creep. Grass is rolled out, left to relax, then cut with the pile all running the same direction, joined with aggregate tape and adhesive rather than tape alone at the edges, and finally dressed with kiln dried sand and power brushed to lift the pile.