Installing Grass Tex product is easy. It just takes a little courage the first time, great support from your Grass Tex retailer if you run into a problem or two, lots of Gatorade and time. Here is a rule to help you gauge the time needed to do your project from start to finish. With five men, using only hand tools, you can install approximately 500 square feet in one day. On the other hand, if you have three men and power equipment (small tractor/Bobcat, you can install approximately 1000 square feet in one day.

You will need the following materials for this install:

1. Replicated Grass (Grass Tex product is Best!)

2. Decomposed Granite (1 cubic yard per 108 square feet of area being grassed

spread to a consistency of 3" thick over the entire area). Decomposed Granite is a generic term for any crushed rock product that you would use to create a hard pack base for your replicated grass. Decomposed Granite has several different terms that the various rock yards in the State refer to it as. Names such as "Blue Fines", "Gray Fines", "1/4" by dust", "Path Fines" to name a few. Also, what is available in Northern California is different that what is in Southern California. If you are not sure, explain to your rock yard what you are trying to do. They will help you get the right rock for what you are doing. Do NOT use "Gold Fines". This product will fail when subjected to the slightest amount of moisture.

3. 2"x4" Plastic Bender Board in 20’ lengths (standard) with 12" plastic stakes used for

securing the bender board in place

4. Special galvanized nail available at your Grass Tex retailer (one case of 600 nails will

do 600 feet of lawn area being covered). It is a 6" galvanized timber tie from Prime

Source/Grip Rite. You can also use a galvanized nail called at "Gutter Spike". You can find this easier than the other nail by going to any roofing supply house. They will have this nail, no problem.

5. Sod cutter if removing old lawn (rented at any local tool rental yard)

6. Utility Knives and box of utility knife blades (keep them sharp by changing them often!)

7. One man compactor (rented from any local tool rental yard)

8. Air Compressor with staple gun with ¾"x ¾"long by ¼" wide staples (one box)

9. 36" wide grading rack (also rented at the local tool rental yard)

10. Shovels, picks, sledge hammers

11. Wheelbarrow

12. If possible or if necessary, power equipment such as a small tractor/Bobcat

Step 1: Prepare area to be "grassed" by removing soil to 3" below grade. Do this via pick and shovel, tractor or by any other means possible. This step will be what takes the most time and will be the most physically strenuous for the entire project. Also, if there is old grass on top, we suggest that you rent a sod cutting machine and remove/dispose of this material first. Important note: The rock yard where you purchased your Grass Tex product will sometimes take the clean dirt that you have just removed. Call them for details on how to make this happen.

Step 2: Frame the entire outside perimeter of the area being done with the 2"x4" plastic bender board. Make sure that you have this product installed so that the 2" part is facing the sky (or up). Stake this material with 12" stakes every 3 to 4 feet using your sledge hammer. Where there is a joint at the place where two bender board sections meet, be sure to stake the end of the one you are finishing up and the start of the new one you are adding. The purpose of the plastic bender board is that it is the material you staple the grass into at all points around the complete perimeter.

Step 3: Replace this newly vacated area with 3" layer of decomposed granite. Be sure to compact this area with vibrator plate/one man compactor. Our suggestion is that you add one inch of material, then compact, add the next inch and compact and so on. It is definitely possible to have one man running the compactor at all times as the decomposed granite is being spread. Also, use a light application of water from a hose over the area being worked to keep dust down and help the product compact well. NOTE: for every 100 square feet of area being done, you need 1 cubic yard of decomposed granite. Also note: If you have extreme gopher problems, we suggest that you use a gopher guard product just in case. Place this gopher guard material at the bottom of the area being filled with decomposed granite BEFORE you add the 3" of "DG".

At this time, while compacting the final one inch of material, you are also running your grading rake over the area time and again until you achieve the desired smoothness that you want. We say the smoother the better. You can definitely have the grass area undulate; you just have to make sure that all areas are as smooth as possible in relation to themselves.

Step 4: Now you are ready to install your grass:

Take the first piece of material that you are going to install, (saying that you have measured your first 15’ wide by whatever length you need and you have cut this from while it is still rolled up, place it where as it unrolls, you would cover the . Be sure to have the product’s "Dark Side" (the side that the blades lean towards) facing the best views from your home. By doing this, you achieve the darker look of the product rather than the lighter side (or the side where light reflects off the blades most, due to their leaning one direction, causing the blades to appear lighter or shinier). Calculate this issue and start unrolling the roll accordingly. You may have to spin the roll around 180 degrees or start from the far side of the area being grassed.

After you have rolled out your first 15 foot wide piece of grass, it is important to trim off the edge material that comes with the product from Grass Tex. This "selvedge" edge is best trimmed off by flipping the product over partially (a few feet in from both sides) and trimmed off using your sharp bladed utility knife. Cutting the product from the back is always recommended and is the easiest way to make good, clean cuts. Cut the "selvedge edge" one row into the tufted material all the way along the roll. Do this on both sides of the roll.

Next, line it up so that there is enough of the grass to hang over the entire side’s edge. If the edge is completely straight, you would only need to run the product up over the top of the plastic bender board so that the grass completely covers the bender board but does not hang over it. NOTE: Now is the best time to nail/staple this left edge permanently into the bender board edge. Use the stapler/compressor to do this. This will lock the first roll in place. You can draw your next roll of product up to the opposing side of the first roll and know that it is "true".

Take your next roll and run it right next to the one you did first, trimming the "selvedge" edge again from this second roll so that both rolls line up cleanly and as close to each other as possible without overlapping. Have your second roll line up with the first roll up and down the complete length of the seam/edge between both rolls. Take your 6" galvanized nails (6HGTT/HG Timber Tie from Grip Rite) and begin nailing both sides of your seam with them. Put one nail on the left side of the seam, ½" away from the edge, and tap it through the product and down into the rock/soil below. Nail this nail until it is flush with the backing material of the grass. Do not over-nail it so that a dimple is created. Next, repeat this process on the right side of the seam. Repeat this leftside/rightside process every four to six inches up and down the entire seam.

Once you are done with this seam, take your air compressor/stapler and secure the top and bottom of this second roll into the plastic 2"x4" that you have laid the material on top of so that the material covers the 2"x4" but doesn’t overlap it. Nail a plentiful supply of galvanized 18 gauge 1"x1/4"x1" staples all along these edges. If there are curves in your layout, this is no problem. You would again lay out the grass so that product is at least covering/overlapping all 2"x4" set at perimeters. You would then take a sharp blade(s…many blades to be safe as they dull very quickly) and trim the excess grass from the roll to create a nice edge that follows curve of your lawn.

Once you done all of this, you would then take hundreds of the 6" galvanized Grip Rite nails and nail them randomly throughout the field of the total area. Use a 12" on center as the rule. I suggest that you do not nail the whole nail in until you have done a whole area. This way, you can see where you are placing the nails. Once you have done a section, take another nail, flip it on its head and place in on the head of the nail that you are hammering in. Take your hammer and hit the top of the one nail which will in turn, drive the other nail in. This keeps the hammer from pounding on the blades of grass.

Final Step:

Now that the total area is installed, do any clean up and consider the job done. If you have any further questions, please contact the landscape supply house that you purchased the material from. Please also be sure to brag that this operation is easier than you thought that it would be!!

Thank you again for choosing Grass Tex.