It’s no surprise that artificial turf is growing in popularity at an alarming rate with so many benefits compared to real turf, but what exactly is involved with the preparation and laying of artificial turf, and how much does it all cost? Below we are going to work out an average of what you should pay per squared meter to give you a better idea on whether or not fake grass meets your budget.

Briefly, what’s involved with the preparation of installing fake grass?

I have the worst luck when it comes to pricing up artificial turf jobs for potential customers, and it must be because a lot of people don’t realize what’s involved, but then who would! But it’s not a case of simply rolling out some fake grass and nailing it down to whatever is in its way, a lot of prep work has to go into the work first. Here are the steps to laying your artificial turf:

1. Dig out the area to where you will be laying your new fake grass, to a depth of 100mm along the edges, and 75mm towards the center.
2. With the help of steaks, install edging boards around the edge of the area to where your artificial grass will be installed. The top of the edging boards should be to the height of the grass, and be sure to level using a spirit level.
3. Lay 40mm of type 1 MOT and tamper it down using a wacker plate. This is to create a hard surface before laying the sharp sand.
4. Lay 30mm of sharp sand to the top of the edging boards, and tamper it down level using a wacker plate.
5. Lay membrane to prevent any weeds from growing.
6. Now it’s time to lay the fake turf! In case you are wondering, the type1 MOT will not only stop the turf from sinking, but will also provide a hard surface for 6 inch nails to fix into when nailing the turf down.

How much does it cost to install fake grass?

I am going to try my best to explain this properly without causing confusion! I want to work out a price per squared meter, but first we need to work on a 50 squared meter basis. This is because we need to work out a price of labor too, and 50 squared meters of artificial turf installation will typically take 2 of us 2-3 days to complete. First, lets look at the materials needed for 50 squared meters of fake grass installation.

Materials needed

Type 1 MOT
1 bulk bag of type 1 MOT covers 8 squared meters at a depth of 50mm. This means that we will need 6 bags to cover 50 squared meters, which comes to a total of £300.00.

Sharp sand 
1 bulk bag of sharp sand covers 16 squared meters at a depth of 25mm. This means that we will need 4 bags (to be safe) to cover 50 squared meters, which comes to a total of £200.00.

Edging boards
For 50 squared meters of artificial turf, this would typically mean that we would need 102 meters of edging boards and batten which comes to a total of £280.00.

Membrane
This is used prevent weeds from growing beneath the fake grass. This is only cheap at £40.00.

Artificial turf
We spend an average of £15.00 per squared meter of artificial turf, although prices start from £5.00 which will affect the price. At £15.00 per squared meter, this means that to cover 50 squared meters will cost approximately £750.00

Skip for waste removal
This is a tricky one to price as on some occasions we have needed just 1 7 yard skip, and 2 on other occasions. So we will work out our estimate based on 1.5 skips which comes to £420.00.

Total for all materials
All materials comes to £1990.00.

Cost of labour to install 50 squared meters of artificial grass

This will vary depending on where you are based, but for hard landscaping work based in and around London, we charge an hourly rate of £22.50 per person, equivalent to £180.00 per day, or £360.00 per day for 2 of us.

On a job like this where 50 squared meters of fake grass were to be installed, we would allow 3 working days to complete the work. Of course this can go up or down depending on factors such as ease of access, the distance from the garden to the skip etc.. If we say 2 of us for 3 working days, this comes to a total of £1080.00.

How much you should pay to have artificial turf installed per squared meter.

Looking at the above, the total amount for fake grass and labor comes to approximately £3070, which when divided by the 50 squared meters, comes to a cost of £60.00 per squared meter. Often, us professionals will add 5-10% on top of the price to cover ourselves should additional materials or skips be needed, but expect to pay between £60.00 and £70.00 per squared meter of artificial turf.

Of course this can vary on location due to labour costs. But all materials shouldn’t be far apart in terms of price, but using the above formula, it should be easy to work out how much you should be paying per squared meter when getting a quote!

Remember, there are cheaper alternatives available compared to the £15.00 one above, but this will most likely reflect the quality and blade length. You could of course give this a go yourself which I will be writing instructions about soon, but for now, if your stuck between choosing fake grass and real grass then why not have a look at which one is better for you by clicking here.