The guide to buying your artificial turf – Schools & Childcare Edition
THE GUIDE TO BUYING YOUR ARTIFICIAL TURF SCHOOLS & CHILDCARE EDITION
You have decided to convert your school or childcare natural grass field to artificial turf? That is great news!
We applaud your decision to offer your school a surface that delivers consistent playability, safety, and easy maintenance.
So, what is next? How do you get started?
Most would think all artificial turf is the same, “green-side up please”, but that is the furthest from the truth. To help you plan your project we suggest following 3 simple steps.
1. Be clear on where you plan to have synthetic turf installed and what will happen on it
Each of project is unique, and thus will need very different synthetic turf. Here are a few examples of synthetic turf applied to school’s projects and the type of turf we would recommend.
Nice looking premises all year long
For this type of project, we usually recommend what we called a “landscape product”. It is the most grass-like looking product and come in wide variety of colours from the luxuriant English Meadow to the everlasting summer look of our Summer Prestige or Centennial range.
But they are not just meant to be pretty. It is also important to have an idea of the traffic intensity -the number of people that will walk or run on it during its life. The higher the traffic the more resistant the synthetic grass will need to be stay beautiful year after year.
Colourful playground, for the kids to enjoy their daily break
For this project, your synthetic turf will need to be safe, long-lasting, and not only made from boring green!
To meet all these requirements, we would recommend synthetic turf especially designed for childcare such as Multi Scape or Academy Pro: they are soft, comfortable and attractive. They can also feature highly cushioned soft pad options meeting the most stringent of fall height safety requirements.
The cherry on the cake, they are also available in a vast range of colours that can be installed in any creative design.
Multisport area
We understand that your field has to be home to more than one sport program and needs to be able to keep up with your busy schedule. Good news, it is at the heart of FieldTurf activity!
From design to colour patterns, we are here to help make your multi-purpose areas exceed expectations. We have the products to turn this into a reality and we are trusted worldwide : with more than 20 000 sports field installation and the endorsement of major sport league : FIH, World Rugby and FIFA, you can be sure you are making the right choice.
2. Learn a bit more about synthetic turf installation with the experts
Installing synthetic turf if not only laying the roll on the floor. It is essential to lay the synthetic turf on a stable foundation and to consider the use and the safety of the people that will walk, run, or play on it.
On top of proper foundation, infill is required for most of our product. Infill is here to help provide improved drainage, draw the water from the top surface down to the base of the product, which helps to reduce the unnecessary pooling of the water. Without infill the turf can become very flat and matted looking which can often result in a very slippery surface when wet.
For landscape product, sand infill is generally required to protects the longevity of the product and void it from unnecessary wear, it also helps support the product to stand up right.
For sports product, different type of infill exists depending on the type of field you are targeting. The FieldTurf team and your installer will advise the best infill to choose depending on your requirements.
Do not forget, each project is different, and you will need the advice and expertise of experienced installers and synthetic turf manufacturer to get the right system for your needs.
3. Do not forget the maintenance!
Compared to natural turf, synthetic turf requires much less maintenance: there is no need to water or use any harsh weed chemicals & the best part is – no mowing!
But this does not mean that you will just leave it be. Depending on the turf you have, the most common ways to maintain turf is to ensure any debris from trees is regularly removed. Keeping the area clean will ensure a beautiful surface for many years.
A last piece of advice: when you are building your field, you are in control. Set the proper minimums to ensure every supplier adheres to your guidelines. Plan for long-term durability and do not sacrifice on safety.
Just note that at FieldTurf Australia we are manufacturers only, we do not quote directly for supply & install.
However you can contact us and we will be more than happy give you some advice and refer your details on to one of our preferred and professional contractors to contact you for a quote.
You have a question, a project or want to know more about FieldTurf products? We invite you to come and visit our showroom to view our products and manufacturing process at our premises in Botany.
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