Do you have it? Do you like it? Is it good for kids? I know this is a regional thing where water is in short supply and expensive. We are redoing our sprinklers and sod and putting in some hardscape, but considering artificial turf. Its expensive but pays for itself eventually between lawn service and water bills. They say it can get a bit hot and we live in a warm climate. I'm after opinions. We have kids and they love to play in the yard so I'm specifically wondering how you like if for play.
thx
My daughter has played soccer on artificial turf and my son has played football on it. Neither likes it. They say it hurts more than grass when they fall.
There is a shopping center in my city, that has, artificial turf, as a part of their landscaping. This is for their outdoor areas which are high traffic areas, and along curbs along the parking lot etc.
AND, you cannot tell it is "fake" grass, until you go right up to it to peer closely at it. And it is very good looking and is not ugly at all. It looks, real. And yes, it reduces the water bill for the shopping center, AND the grass maintenance by the maintenance staff.
And it withstands the very heavy traffic by people.
And yes, it is HOT here. Sun all day long year round.
Also, there are different types of artificial turf and different qualities.
You can also, as an option, put artificial turf in SOME areas of your yard/exterior, and then real grass, on some other areas, designated where the kids may play. But again, with real grass, if you are a stickler about maintenance of it and want it green and untouched looking, then, you'd need to mow it/fertilize it/water it regularly.... and you may not want the kids on chemically fertilized grass/yard. And/or, you may not want the kids to get the grass all ugly looking, because kids playing normally may scuff up the grass and/or it may get all patchy looking or brown in spots where there is extra wear on it etc.
But yes, with less water sprinkling, it will lessen your water bill.
Thus, fake grass.
Not exactly the answer you were looking for, but my son hated playing football on it. It can be very hot and give "carpet-burn."
For mild play perhaps it is OK. I just know my son hated it for a contact sport like football in southern Florida where it is already extremely hot.
We have it, and we love it. It can get warm in warm weather. But generally speaking, if the turf is too hot, it's too hot for us to want to be outside anyway. And I love that it's never muddy.
We got a great deal on our turf, too. The company that sold it to us had a bunch of discontinued product on clearance. I always get compliments on it, and I don't think any of our friends have ever complained it was too hot.
Our daycare installed it last summer. The kids love it and I haven't heard anything bad about it. It was a little weird to have green grass in the middle of December, but in Minnesota we only have green grass about five months out of the year!
We don't like it because it's terrible for the environment. It gets to hot that it creates major hotspots within the area. If enough people or places were to put in astroturf, it can actually raise the temperature of the area where you live and cause environmental change. Not to mention the rubber used can leach into your groundwater.
For a sports/play field, it causes way more injuries than a normal grass field. More broken bones, abrasians, infections, etc.
Here's one article on some of the cons: http://www.ehow.com/about_###-###-####_cons-astro-turf.html.
I live in So. Ca. and I am currently, and have been a St. Lic. Family CHild Care Provider for almost 30 years. We had artificial turf put in about 8 years ago. We did out back yard due to a host of reasons. The main reason is the single story in back of us put on a second story, and the house next to that one extended out on their home. Between those two houses they totally blocked the sun from our grassy area. Good news was it was considerable cooler in the back yard on those terrible hot summer days (like we are currently having)..the back news was the grass was always wet..then moldy..then died. After resodding three times over a years period we decided it would be cheaper to get artificial and be done with it. Well..it solver the problem, but I will tell you it gets HOT. So hot that my kids are not allowed to go on it during the summer. It also gets a hot plastic odor when it's really hot ( 90 degrees plus ). It does look nice...and maintenance is a snap..but it does have a tendency to "dry out" and crackle when you walk on it. Having said all this, it was around 8 years ago, and the process and manufacturing may have improved drastically over the years. Hope this helps...Good luck with your decision.
We put in artificial turf in our backyard 6 years ago and love it. Our dogs were constantly tearing up our lawn, but now our yard looks great! It can get warm or even hot during heat waves (I live in So Cal), but as another poster observed, if it is that hot out, you don't want your kids outside anyway. We just have to hose it down like once per month. Otherwise, virtually no maintenance.
our city has artificial turf at our community park. the fields are for softball AND soccer so to prevent wear in certain areas and to help draining that is what they did when they built the new park. I HATE IT. When there is soccer and it is really hot it is like sitting in an oven. putting an easy up doesnt really help because the heat is already in the ground. Oh and you cant put any stakes in it for banner or umbrellas. Wanna know how hot it gets? well I dont have a reading but hot enough to MELT (yes MELT) the bottoms of your cleats. (and I think it was only about 85 degrees that day) sooooo while we dont have it for personal use and your use may be different but for actually playing on it, the heat is exacerbated on the turf.
