Tag Archives: maintenece

What You Need to Know Before You Go for Artificial Grass

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A beautiful green lawn accentuates the beauty of the house. It is the pride of every homeowner. A lot of people do not spare any effort to make their lawn perfect. Sadly, everyone does not have the appropriate conditions to maintain a perfect lawn. 

Also, it is not something that is very simple to maintain. Having a beautiful green lawn in your yard looks nice but it takes a lot of time and effort to maintain it. So, if you know it is something you cannot handle, there is an alternative for you. 

Highly durable, beautiful, and easy to maintain, faux or artificial grass is an effective way to considerably reduce your hassle. It is used both indoors and outdoors. With the advent of production technology and the development in the types of material used, faux grass has successfully imitated natural grass with the perfect combination of the color and thickness of the fibers. It is a great solution for your lawn or terrace. 

So, in case you plan to get artificial grass for your house, here are some things you should know. 

Base and Drainage

Faux grass does not simply lay out on the floor like a rug. Generally, the ground is dug about 5 inches before it is laid out on the ground. After excavation, pipe drains are fitted that are designed specifically for your property to ensure that any water over the area is drained consistently and prevent any bacterial problems. 

A 2-3 inch of crushed rock and fine aggregate makes a thick base layer covering the drainage area. It is leveled to form a robust, water-permeable layer that is the foundation for the top grass layer. This combination of small and large rocks keeps faux grass stable. And not just that, it increases the life of the artificial grass and helps it remain composed during high foot traffic. 

Maintenance

While it is a lot less hassle to maintain faux grass than the real one, it does not mean that it is totally maintenance-free. Yes, you do not have to worry about weeding, mowing, or watering, but you cannot simply live your life ignoring its existence. 

You have to deal with a lot of things when it comes to artificial grass like stains if and when they occur. A spilled beverage is cumbersome but not a lot of trouble. The maintenance is not limited to spillage. Leaves can be a lot of trouble as well. If not taken care of, they can grind into the turf and in time can become really difficult to remove. Essentially, you need to work a little to ensure that your lawn or terrace looks great. 

Pricier But Cost-Effective

Faux grass does not come cheap. It costs about $10-14 per foot which when compared to about $0.50 per foot for sod seems quite expensive. In a nutshell, if you want to cover a 500 square foot yard, you will have to spend around $6000 and only about $200 for real grass. While it seems like a lot right now, down the road it will not be so much. 

You will be able to recoup the investment over time. If you get sow grass, you will end up spending a huge amount of money over time on maintenance. You will save on fertilizers, lawn services, water, and in about 7-8 years you will even out. To put things into perspective, you are paying more upfront but then you won’t have to worry about any regular costly maintenance year after year. 

Environment-Friendly

It is absolutely normal to believe that fake grass will not be good for the environment when compared to natural grass. Well, this is not exactly true. In reality, the natural grass in your lawns isn’t as green as you tend to assure it is. To maintain natural grass, you use a lot of water and chemicals to ensure its proper care. And we all know that it is not exactly going green when you are using so much water and chemicals. 

And not just that, the growing interest in faux grass has led to huge investments in this sector. This has further led to investment in sustainable materials such as sand, coconut fiber, and cork. So, if you want to think about the environment, having a natural garden is not exactly the right foot forward. 

Conclusion

Once you’ve understood the pros and cons of getting artificial grass for your property, take note of the aforementioned points about faux grass that you must learn. While it is not a simple answer to choose between natural and fake grass. This depends on various factors like budget and requirements. Especially, if you are living in areas that have adverse climate conditions for your grass like an arid and hot state, it is only wise to give your outdoors a makeover with artificial grass. 

To put things into perspective, if you do not have time and energy to maintain your lawn, you should go for artificial grass. It will give your house the aesthetic appeal you are looking for without having to go through any hassle. While this is all good, it does not mean that real grass does not have any benefits. Having real grass in your yard is ofcourse a luxury. It is just that faux grass is much better for people who do not like to be at the end of regular maintenance. 

Ultimately, it is upon you to decide whether you want real grass or artificial grass. We hope the aforementioned points helped you decide better. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. 

Ways to Make Your Front Yard More Social

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When thinking about exterior renovations, most people think about introducing changes to their backyard and spicing it up a bit. While this makes a lot of sense in the long run – after all, the backyard is where most of us hang out with our friends and spend quality time with our families – it’s still not the only exterior space that needs your attention. The front yard could use some love and care as well, and that’s something people rarely do in this day and age. So, instead of focusing on your backyard only, you could find ways to make the space in front of your home more special and inviting as well, and here are some of the best ways to do that.

Do Some Regular Maintenance

Before you can use your front yard and invite people to visit you, make sure your front yard is in the best shape possible. Luckily, these things are easy to handle, and it’s all about mowing the lawn, trimming the hedges, cleaning the trash, and decluttering the entire area from time to time.

What’s great about these things is that you don’t have to do them every single day, but you will need to dedicate your time and patience to them at least once a week. So, figure out what needs to be done, create a mowing schedule for the entire year, find time in your daily agenda, and start handling these things one by one.

Extend Your Patio

Most of us already have a patio in front of our houses, but the problem is that we don’t make the most of it at all. Instead of actually spending time here, we just use the patio as a welcoming area for all our visitors and guests, but that’s just not enough if you want to turn your front yard into your primary outdoor area for socialization.

What you can do, though, is extend your patio into the yard, and basically turn it into a continual space that will connect your home to your front lawn. It goes without saying that you need to maintain it first and make it ready for hanging out there, but you should also think about a pathway. If you choose to do that, use the same material as for your patio – whether it’s concrete, stone, bricks, or tile, using the same material is always better and easier than looking for another solution.

Build a Deck

This is probably the best and most effective way to introduce a massive change into your home and your front yard as well – building a deck is ultimately what’s going to turn the space in front of your home into a space where you can socialize with your friends and family. This deck doesn’t have to be too big, of course, but it needs to be stable, durable, and actually useful.

Even though building a deck on your own sounds like the most creative way to spend your weekend, it still isn’t the best idea in the world, especially if you have no skills, tools, ideas, and previous experience. That’s why hiring a professional who can build you a great deck is the way to go – not only is your deck going to be visually appealing, but it will also blend into your exterior style rather seamlessly. So, take this idea into consideration, and you’ll be able to throw parties on your deck sooner than you’ve thought.

Be Creative with the Lights

Spending time in the open usually means hanging out with your friends all day long, but that doesn’t mean your get-togethers need to stop. On the contrary, nobody can stop you from staying there until morning, if that’s something you love, but you will need to take care of your exterior lighting first.

Whether you have a deck, a patio, or a porch, there are a few easy solutions you can look into – for instance, you can add as many candles as you can, light them, and you’ll create an amazing atmosphere in a matter of minutes. This will create a great vibe for you and your friends, and that’s something you can’t put a price on. You can also invest in a great walkway, and thus take the look of your outdoor space to a whole new level. From solar lamps and string lights to lanterns and accent lights, there are lots of ideas you can choose from, so don’t be afraid to turn the ones you like the most into reality.

 

Spicing up your front yard isn’t as difficult and challenging as most people think, and it’s all about giving it the love and attention it deserves – in the end, if you do everything right, you can spend hours and hours there whenever you want, socializing with all the people you love.