When installing artificial grass yourself it is important to understand the best ways to cut and join your turf. Many people ask us if they will be able to see the joins in their artificial grass. While a join will never be completely invisible, they can be made less noticeable with the right placement and joining techniques. The most important points to consider are to take the time recreating the spacing that already exists between the stitches of the grass and joining with lots of turf pegs.
Read on for more information on cutting and joining your Tauro Turf! Need more help? Pop in to see one of our friendly team members and we can show you how to do it.
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When cutting artificial grass, we recommend using a fixed blade Stanley knife. Be sure to use a sharp blade as this will make cutting through the backing much easier. If you feel that it’s getting harder to cut, you may need to change blades.
If you are cutting along the width of the grass you can draw a line across the backing of the turf using chalk. This will help to create a straight guide for cutting.
As artificial grass is directional, it is important that all pieces of turf are running the same way. Laying two pieces running different ways will look like you have used two different turfs. So when joining two pieces of grass, make sure the blades are running the same way.
Tauro Turf artificial grass cuts very easily. If you take a look at the back of the grass, you can see the spacing between the stitches. When joining two pieces of turf, you want to create a space that is consistent with this spacing. To achieve this, it is recommended that you carefully cut the edge of one of the pieces close to the stitch, and the other away from the stitch. This will help keep the space between the two pieces consistent with the rest of the turf.
Butting two pieces of grass too close to each other will “mohawk” the grass blades. This means that the extra thickness of the blades along the join will create a visible line. Therefore keeping consistent spacing by cutting one edge away from the stitches is so important.
Joining grass along the stitch is the easiest way to cut and join artificial grass. Cutting and joining grass across the stitches is called a cross-join and is not usually recommended. This is because it is difficult to create a perfectly straight and square cut across the stiches. If you are cutting your turf across the stitching, it is recommended that you mark on the backing where you plan to cut. A straight line can be marked on the backing of the grass with chalk. You can then cut a line as straight as possible using a Stanley Knife.
When you cut across the stitches, some of the blades will come away from the edges, but artificial grass will not unravel like fabric as the tufts of grass blades are not attached to each other.
To join your artificial grass you will need;
- Joining Tape
- Scissors to cut the tape to length
- U-shape turf pegs
- A hammer
We recommend using joining tape on the joins to close the gap in the grass join and prevent any weeds growing through the joins of your artificial grass.
We sell two different types of joining tape. This includes a self-adhesive cloth tape and Butyl tape with a split backing. Both of these tapes come in 10m roll lengths. The Butyl tape is easier to install on your own, because of the split backing and it doesn’t stretch as you pull off the backing like the cloth tape can.
You may have also seen non-adhesive tape being used with glue trowelled on. We do not sell this type of joining tape as it can be very messy, often unnecessary and requires extra equipment. We recommend using the self-adhesive joining tape for easy application.
Position your two pieces of artificial grass so that you are happy with the look of the join. Check that they blend well together by brushing up or flattening the join with your hand. Mark the centre of the join (with a score in your cracker dust for example) at both ends so you know where to run the tape before flipping the edge of both pieces of grass out of the way.
Unroll the joining tape down the entire length of the join and cut it to size. Use turf pegs or nails to secure your taught length of joining tape, adhesive side up, along the length of your join.
The next steps depend on whether you choose to use our cloth tape or our Butyl, split backing joining tape. For installing our cloth tape, first remove the paper backing of the tape, revealing the strong adhesive. Flip your pieces of grass back over and down onto your joining tape. Using a zipper-like motion, carefully apply pressure along the length of the join to make sure it is bonded all the way along. Take your time as you secure both sides of the join, making sure that they both meet in the middle of the tape.
If you choose our split backing Butyl tape, simply lay the tape out on the cracker dust where the join is going to be. Then position the grass on top and match it up correctly. Flip the grass down on one side and peel back the tape. Match the grass back down, sticking one side of the join on top of the tape. Once you have secured the piece of grass all the way along, peel the other side of the backing out from underneath slowly pushing the other side of the grass join down.
The main difference between these two different tapes and the way they are installed is that one has a split backing and the other doesn’t. The cloth tape doesn’t have a split backing, so it requires more than one person as you have to place both sides of the join down at the same time. The split backing of the butyl tape allows you to take your time with one side, perfect it, then move on to the other side. This means that it is easy to install on your own.
The final step in perfecting your join is securing it down with your U-shape turf pegs at 300mm intervals, making sure one prong is either side of the join.
Continue reading to learn more about installing U-shaped turf pegs.
Once you have your grass in place with joining tape, secure the join with U-shape turf pegs. The addition of the turf pegs will better hide the join in your grass and help to keep the grass from lifting. Hammer in the pegs with one prong on either side of the join. We recommend placing the pegs every 300mm along the join to make sure it is secure. It’s important that you don’t trap any grass blades under the peg as you hammer. This is to ensure that the pegs are not visible. The best way to do this is by using the prong of a second peg to part the grass as you hammer into the space. This allows for a clear path for the peg to be hammered in without trapping blades of the grass.
Hammer in turf pegs around the edges of your artificial grass at around 300mm intervals. Make sure to install the turf pegs as close to the edge as possible. If there is concrete haunching along the perimeter of the area, such as paving, you may need to install the turf pegs further away from the edge.
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