Artificial Grass Installation in San Mateo & Santa Clara County
Are you tired of watering your grass and forking out money just to maintain your lawn? If so, it might be time to consider installing artificial grass in your outdoor living space. Not only will you be able to eliminate the chore of mowing the lawn, but you won’t have to water or aerate your lawn. Not to mention, synthetic grass looks lush all year round, no matter the weather.
What artificial turf really costs here.
Every other Bay Area turf page asks you to call for a number. These are the rates we actually sell at, the same ones on our estimates, so you can work out roughly what your yard costs before anyone visits.
Artificial turf, installed
From $17 / sq ftLawn areas, all-in. The turf itself is a fraction of it: the base, the drainage and the edge restraint are what keep a synthetic lawn flat, draining and looking real in year five.
- Demo and excavation of the old lawn
- Compacted aggregate base, Class II road base
- Drainage set for the site
- Premium synthetic turf
- Infill and power-brushing
- Bender-board or paver edge restraint
Putting greens
Quoted per designCups, contours and fringe. Priced per design rather than per square foot, because the break, the number of cups and the fringe detail change the build more than the area does.
- Contoured sub-base shaped to the intended break
- Putting-specific turf and fringe transition
- Cup and hole set to your spec
- Chipping approach where there is room
Decorative rock and DG borders
From $10 / sq ftThe companion areas around turf. Usually cheaper per square foot than turf, and usually the right answer for the strips where nobody actually walks or plays.
- Weed barrier and edging
- Decomposed granite, stabilized where it is a path
- Decorative rock in the sizes that stay put
Common add-ons, itemized
Priced separatelyEverything below appears on your estimate as its own line rather than buried in a square-foot rate, so you can see what you are paying for and take any of it off.
- Pet-system turf and infill · itemized
- Paver or bender-board edging · itemized
- Landscape lighting · systems from $4,000
- Drainage beyond the standard site set · itemized
Priced to your area, base depth and drainage needs. Pet and putting applications use specific turf and infill, so they are quoted on the turf they actually need rather than at the lawn rate. Sequoia builds start at a $25,000 project minimum.
Why Choose Sequoia Outdoor?
We take care of the design, purchasing, preparation and installation. Need your artificial turf replaced or repaired? We do that too!
Why Install Artificial Grass?
Chances are if you have a large grassy front or backyard, your water bill might feel painful, especially during the summer months. Synthetic turf is a great way to drastically reduce your monthly bill, boost your curb appeal and compliment the aesthetic of your house. Synthetic turf is low maintenance making it especially appealing to homeowners who are often out of town on business, take a lot of vacations, or rent the property out. After the turf installation process, you’re looking at a very low-cost and low-maintenance lawn.
Turf is especially appealing for pet owners because of its easy cleanup. Not to mention, you won’t have to worry about your dog tearing up the grass or digging holes in it. Call today to learn how artificial grass is a safe, sanitary, and low-maintenance lawn option for homes with dogs.
The Artificial Turf Installers Bay Area Residents Prefer
We install synthetic grass across San Mateo County and can take on any artificial turf project, from pet runs to full-yard replacements and putting greens. If you’re interested in learning more about how we can help with your artificial grass project, call us today!
Three kinds of turf work, one engineered base.
Every synthetic lawn we lay sits on the same compacted section. What changes is the turf specified on top of it and how the edges are held. Turf is rarely the whole job: it usually arrives with a paver patio, lighting and planting on the same plan, and you can see what complete yards cost in our completed projects.
Lawn replacementFull lawn replacement
The core of the work: the water-hungry lawn comes out, an engineered base goes in, and the turf goes over it. Most of our turf projects are this, often alongside a patio or walkway built in the same sequence.
Pet turfPet turf and dog runs
Pet-specific turf and infill over a base built to drain fast, because the failure mode with dogs is odor held in a base that holds water. Bordered so the dogs cannot work an edge loose.
Side yardsSide yards and awkward ground
The strips where grass never grew properly anyway: narrow runs, deep shade, slopes and the ground under trees. Turf earns its keep fastest exactly where a real lawn was always going to struggle.
What artificial turf is good at, and what it is not.
Turf suits some areas and is the wrong choice in others. Here is the even-handed version, because you will find all of this out eventually and it is cheaper to find out now.
| Water | It removes routine lawn irrigation for that surface. You will still use a hose to rinse a pet area or to cool the surface on a hot afternoon, so it is a large reduction rather than zero. |
|---|---|
| Heat | Synthetic turf runs considerably hotter than living grass in direct sun. That matters where children play barefoot, where a dog lies down, and on a south-facing area with no shade. We will tell you where turf is the wrong answer and what to use instead. |
| Maintenance | Lower, not none. Debris comes off, pet waste comes up promptly, high-traffic fibers get brushed back up, and the edges, seams, infill and drainage want an eye on them once a year. |
| Drainage | Permeable backing does not rescue a bad base. If the grade and the base underneath are wrong, water sits regardless of what the turf can pass. The system gets designed together or it does not work. |
| Appearance | Whether it reads as a lawn or as a carpet is decided by the product, the blade direction, where the seams land, the edge detail and what is planted around it. Two installations of the same turf can look nothing alike. |
| Environment | It cuts irrigation and mowing, and it is a manufactured surface with heat, habitat and end-of-life tradeoffs. We will happily price it against drought-tolerant planting and decomposed granite so you can compare rather than take our word for it. |
| Lifespan | Driven by the product, the UV exposure, the traffic, the pets, the installation and the maintenance. Compare the specific manufacturer warranty on the turf in each bid rather than any installer’s claim about how long turf lasts. |
If low water is the goal rather than turf specifically, our design team will price it against drought-tolerant planting and decomposed granite on the same plan.
Fifteen stages, and the buried ones decide it.
Turf is the last afternoon of the job. Everything that determines whether it is still flat in year five happens underneath it, which is why we publish the specification rather than leaving it to whoever is on site that day. Depths and products vary with the property, the use and the turf selected.
- 01
Design and planning
One of our design consultants walks the area with you and sets the layout before anything is ordered. The goal at this stage is the fewest seams the space allows, because a seam is the thing you will notice in year five.
- 02
Pre-demolition
Every utility gets located first: electrical, gas, water, irrigation. If there is an existing sprinkler system we cap it at this point rather than discovering it with a Bobcat bucket.
- 03
Demolition
The existing soft or hard surface comes out, usually with a Bobcat. Where a Bobcat cannot reach, or the space is too small for one, it comes out with hand tools. Areas around trees are worked by hand so the root plate is not torn up.
- 04
Excavation
We excavate 2½ to 4½ inches from final grade, depending on the base and infill the specification calls for.
- 05
Grading and drainage
Finished elevations get set and the water is given somewhere to go. Where the space needs more than surface fall, drains go in at this stage, before anything covers them.
- 06
Border and edge restraint
Bender board or a paver mow strip goes in around the perimeter wherever the turf meets a soft surface. It is what stops the edge lifting and the infill migrating out of the system.
- 07
Sub-base compaction
The sub-base is compacted with a plate compactor before any road base goes down. Air gaps left at this stage are what become undulations and depressions two summers later.
- 08
Base preparation and compaction
Roughly 2 to 3 inches of Class II road base is spread across the area, hosed down and compacted to a 95% minimum compaction rate. At proper compaction a Bobcat driven across it leaves no tire marks, which is the field test we use before anything goes on top.
- 09
Weed barrier
Not mandatory, and we recommend it. Turf itself suppresses most weed growth but nothing guarantees it, and a barrier under the base is far cheaper than lifting turf to deal with it later.
- 10
Turf preparation
Turf arrives rolled like carpet. It gets rolled out completely and left in the sun before installation so the memory comes out of it. Skip this and the wrinkles and bunching set permanently.
- 11
Seaming and trimming
Every roll is laid running the same direction, so the blades all face the same way and the field reads as one lawn rather than as panels. Seams are cut and joined so the join falls where you are least likely to walk or look.
- 12
Perimeter fastening
The perimeter is nailed down with 40 to 60d nails, 4 to 6 inches long, set every 1 to 2 feet around the installation.
- 13
Blade preparation
A power broom sweeps the turf against the direction of the blades, standing the fibers upright so the infill drops to the backing instead of sitting on top of them.
- 14
Infill installation
Infill weights the turf down, keeps the fibers standing and, depending which one the specification calls for, does the antimicrobial and heat work as well. Pet areas get a different infill from lawn areas, and the proposal names which.
- 15
Final trim, walkthrough and clean-up
A walkthrough for stray blades and edges, then the lawn is hosed down. You see the finished surface before we leave the site.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Many of our Bay Area customers opt for more than one service to achieve the yard they’re looking for. Browse our projects page to see our pavers, landscape design and outdoor living services in action with artificial grass installation.
Ask all three bidders the same four questions and the differences show up fast. What depth of base, and compacted to what percentage? Which specific turf and which infill, by product name rather than “premium artificial grass”? What edge restraint, and is it in the price? And what does the manufacturer warranty on that turf actually cover? We publish our answers on this page and photograph the buried stages before they are covered, so you can check ours against what arrives on site.
Lawn areas start around $17 per square foot all-in on the Peninsula and in the South Bay, which covers demolition, the compacted base, drainage, premium turf, infill and edge restraint. Decorative rock and DG borders start around $10. Putting greens are quoted per design. Sequoia builds start at a $25,000 project minimum, so turf is usually one part of a larger yard.
Both come down to the base, which is why we specify it rather than leaving it to the crew on the day. Roughly 2–3 inches of Class II road base, compacted to a 95% minimum, then proof-rolled with a bobcat: at proper compaction the machine leaves no tire marks. Undulations and depressions later are a compaction failure, not a turf failure.
A properly installed synthetic lawn on a correct base has a long service life, and the manufacturer warranty on the turf itself is the thing to compare between bids. What shortens it in practice is an under-compacted base, no edge restraint, or infill that was never power-brushed in.
It depends on the product, and that is the honest answer rather than a flat yes. Suitability comes down to the turf, the backing, the infill and the manufacturer’s own documentation, so we name the exact products in the proposal and you can read what the maker says about them. Pet areas also need the base built to drain quickly, prompt waste removal and regular rinsing, because odor in a pet area is nearly always a drainage problem rather than a turf problem.
Yes. Cups, contours and fringe, quoted per design because the break and the number of cups drive the build far more than the square footage does. Chipping approaches too where the space allows.
Synthetic turf runs hotter than a living lawn in direct sun, which is worth knowing before you put it where people sit barefoot at midday. We will tell you where turf is the wrong answer for an area and what to use instead.