Artificial Turf Drainage in Roseville, CA

Artificial turf only drains as well as the ground under it. This service is for Roseville homeowners whose synthetic lawn holds water, stays soggy or smells, and for anyone about to lay turf who wants the base built to drain properly before the grass goes down.

How artificial turf drains, and why some synthetic lawns flood

Most synthetic grass has a perforated or fully permeable backing. Rain and pet urine pass through the backing, into a compacted aggregate base, and then into the soil below. If the soil can't take the water fast enough, or the base has nowhere to send it, the water sits under the turf and comes back up through the blades.

That is why turf drainage is its own job within yard drainage. With turf, the base does all the work. Natural grass roots open the soil a little every year. A sealed layer of plastic and compacted rock never does that, so whatever drainage the base had on the day it was installed is the most it will ever have.

When the native soil underneath is tight clay or heavily compacted fill, the base needs a way out: a fall toward an outlet, a perforated pipe in a gravel trench, or both.

Signs your synthetic grass is not draining

Turf problems tend to show up slowly, then get worse after each wet season. These are the symptoms we look for first.

Puddles that sit for hours after rain

A healthy turf lawn looks wet after a storm but shouldn't hold standing water. If you can see a sheet of water across the blades long after the rain stops, the base or the soil below it is saturated. Puddles in the same spot every time usually mean a low area in the base.

A sour or ammonia smell in pet areas

Urine that can't drain away collects in the infill and the top of the base. Bacteria break it down and the smell builds, especially in hot weather. Rinsing makes it worse if the rinse water has nowhere to go.

Soft spots, ripples and lifting seams

A base that stays wet loses its strength. You may feel the turf give underfoot, see ripples or waves, or notice seams starting to separate. These are signs the aggregate has moved or settled.

Water against the house or a side fence

If turf runs up to the foundation and the grade under it tips toward the house, water drains to the wall instead of away from it. Damp stucco, efflorescence on the slab edge or water in the garage are worth checking.

What usually causes poor drainage under turf

We find one of a handful of causes on almost every soggy turf lawn, and often two together.

Native soil that won't absorb water

Clay and compacted subdivision fill take in water very slowly. A turf base sitting on top of them fills up like a bathtub. Without a pipe or a sloped base to carry water off, it stays wet.

The wrong base material

A base made of fine decomposed granite or road base with a lot of fines can compact so tightly that water barely moves through it. A clean crushed rock base drains faster but needs to be built and compacted in lifts.

No fall in the base

Turf is often laid dead flat. Water has no reason to move sideways, so it only goes down, and if down is blocked, it stays. A base should have a gentle, consistent fall toward a drain or a safe edge.

Clogged backing or matted infill

Dust, leaf debris and broken-down infill can blind the drainage holes in the backing. This is less common than base problems, but it shows up on older turf and in shaded corners.

Building a drained base before new turf goes in

If you are planning turf, the cheapest time to get drainage right is before the first roll is laid. Our part of the job is the ground work, so whoever installs the turf has a base that drains. A typical base build goes like this:

• Excavate the old lawn and soil to the depth the base needs, usually a few inches below the finished level.
• Shape the subgrade so it falls away from the house and toward a planned outlet.
• Where the soil is tight, cut one or more trenches and lay perforated pipe in clean gravel wrapped in filter fabric.
• Run solid pipe from the trench to a discharge point: a dry well, a curb outlet or a lower part of the lot.
• Lay geotextile fabric over the subgrade so the base doesn't sink into the soil.
• Spread and compact the aggregate base in layers, checking the fall as each layer goes down.

Fixing turf that already floods

On an existing lawn, we start by finding out where the water goes and where it stops. That means checking the grade around the edges, probing the base in the wettest spots, and running water to see how long it takes to clear.

If the problem is a local low spot, the turf can often be peeled back along a seam, the base topped up and recompacted, and the turf laid back down. If the whole base is sitting on soil that won't drain, the better fix is to lift the turf, cut in a drain line under the base and re-lay it. Turf that has been lifted carefully can usually go back down.

When the cause is the wider lot, such as a yard that tips toward the house, the turf area may need grading and regrading before any drain under it will keep up. We will tell you which situation you are in before any turf comes up.

Turf drainage in Roseville's wet season and summer heat

Roseville gets most of its rain from October through April, and it receives slightly more than Sacramento because it sits east and higher. A turf base that copes with a light shower can be overwhelmed by several wet days in a row, which is when most calls about flooded turf come in.

Summers swing the other way. Hot, dry weeks bake any moisture trapped under the turf, and that is when pet odours peak. A base that drains well in winter also flushes cleanly when you hose it down in July.

Many homes in Roseville are on newer single-family lots, where the ground was graded and compacted during construction. That compaction is good for a house pad and bad for drainage under a lawn, so we check the soil before assuming the base alone will be enough.

Keeping synthetic grass draining over the years

Once the base drains, upkeep is simple. Blow or rake leaves off before they break down into the infill. Brush the blades up a few times a year so the infill stays loose. In pet areas, rinse regularly and use an enzyme cleaner rather than letting urine build up.

Keep the drain outlet clear. A dry well or pipe outlet that fills with silt will slowly back water up under the turf, and you won't see it until the lawn starts to puddle again.