If you’ve been installing artificial turf for any length of time, you already know where the margin bleed happens. It’s rarely the installation itself. It’s the site conditions nobody flagged, the drainage problem that showed up after excavation, or the client who expected a putting-green-quality finish on a decorative-lawn budget. Knowing how to quote an artificial turf project accurately starts well before you pull out a measuring tape.
This checklist is organized into four categories. For each question, we’ll explain why it matters — not just to your bid number, but to installation quality and long-term performance. Use it on every site walk. It takes 20 minutes and it will save you hours.
Category 1: Site Conditions
Site conditions are where under-scoped bids go to die. Every question in this section is trying to uncover a cost that’s easy to miss on paper and expensive to absorb in the field.
What does existing drainage look like?
This is the first question for a reason. Drainage problems don’t disappear under turf — they get worse. Walk the perimeter. Look for low spots, standing water rings, or soil that’s visibly darker than surrounding areas. Ask the client where water goes after a heavy rain.
Artificial turf itself can drain extremely fast — FieldTurf’s MaxxFlow™ backing drains at 350+ inches per hour — but that capacity is only as useful as the sub-base beneath it. If water has nowhere to go, permeability in the backing becomes irrelevant. On sites with poor natural drainage, you may need to specify permeable base materials, French drains, or perforated pipe. That’s scope. Price it.
Slope matters too. A minimum 1% grade is the general recommendation for surface drainage. Sites with less than 1% pitch may require grading as part of base prep, and that cost should be in the quote.
Is there existing irrigation to address?
Sprinkler heads, lateral lines, and valves all need to be dealt with before base prep begins. On residential lawns, you’re typically capping heads, pulling risers, and possibly adjusting a controller zone layout. On larger commercial or HOA jobs, this can involve significant coordination with an irrigation contractor.
Don’t assume the client has accounted for this cost — most haven’t. Confirming the irrigation situation upfront lets you either include removal and capping in your bid, or clearly exclude it and set the expectation before the contract is signed.
What is the soil condition?
Proper base prep is one of the highest-leverage decisions in any turf install. The standard recommendation is 3–4 inches of compacted aggregate base — typically Class II road base or decomposed granite — over native soil. But “standard” assumes average soil conditions. Clay-heavy or heavily organic soil may require deeper excavation or stabilization before base rock goes down.
Probe the soil during the site walk. If it compacts easily and holds its shape, you’re likely fine with a standard base depth. If it’s soft, spongy, or clay-dominated, flag it in writing. A base failure three years post-install is a warranty conversation you don’t want to have.
Can you get equipment in?
This is a logistical question that directly affects your labor budget. Can a skid steer or mini excavator access the install area? Is there a gate, a narrow side yard, or overhead clearance that limits equipment options? If hand excavation is required, that’s a material increase in labor hours — sometimes 2–3x compared to mechanized work. Know before you bid.
Also consider material delivery. Large turf rolls, typically 15 feet wide, require clearance for staging and unrolling. If the access path is tight, you may need to plan for seaming earlier in the layout, which adds material waste and labor time.
Are there obstructions near the perimeter?
Tree roots near the install zone are a real problem. Surface roots can push through a base over time, creating humps and bumps that ruin the finished surface. Large trees within 10–15 feet deserve a conversation about root barriers or, at minimum, a clear disclosure about long-term performance expectations.
Hardscape edges — concrete driveways, paver patios, retaining walls — directly affect your edge treatment details and seaming strategy. Make note of every transition point during the site walk. Each one is a detail line in your installation plan and a potential problem point if it’s not addressed explicitly.
Category 2: Scope and Use
What the space will actually be used for has a direct bearing on product selection and base spec. This is where you stop guessing and start specifying.
What is the primary use case?
Pet area, kids’ play space, putting green, entertaining lawn, high-traffic commercial, rooftop deck — each of these has different performance requirements. A decorative side-yard lawn has very different needs than a dog run or a putting surface. Don’t assume. Ask.
Use case also affects maintenance expectations. Pet turf needs to be rinsed regularly and may require antimicrobial infill. A putting green has tight tolerances on pile height and surface firmness. An entertaining lawn prioritizes aesthetics and barefoot comfort. These differences drive product recommendations, infill selection, and warranty conversations — all of which belong in the quote, not the callback.
What is the expected traffic volume?
Foot traffic volume is the single biggest driver of face weight recommendation. For low-traffic decorative applications, a 40–50 oz face weight typically performs well. For high-traffic applications — kids’ play areas, commercial entrances, dog runs — a minimum 50 oz face weight is the general industry benchmark, and 60–70 oz is not unusual for heavy commercial use.
Underselling face weight to win a bid is a false economy. A product that mats down prematurely generates callbacks, complaints, and warranty questions. It’s better to have the face weight conversation upfront than to defend a premature wear pattern 18 months after installation.
Is the area shaded, full sun, or mixed?
Shade affects two things: surface temperature and moisture retention. Full-sun installations in warm climates will see elevated surface temps — an important disclosure for clients with kids or pets. Products with lighter colorations or heat-dissipating infills can help, but the client should understand what they’re getting into before installation.
Shaded, humid areas carry the opposite risk: slower drying and the potential for moss or algae growth if drainage isn’t clean. Pile height recommendations also shift slightly — in shaded areas, taller pile heights can trap moisture for longer periods, which may not be ideal depending on the site’s drainage characteristics.
What surfaces does the turf adjoin?
Every transition between turf and another surface is a potential problem point. Concrete edges require bender board or nail-down anchoring. Paver transitions may need to be shimmed to match elevations. Wood decking creates a different fastening situation than compacted soil. Count every transition during your site walk and factor edge treatment materials and labor accordingly. These details are small individually — and they add up fast on complex sites.
Category 3: Product Selection
By the time you get to product selection, you should already have enough information to narrow the recommendation significantly. The questions in this section help you confirm the right call and document your rationale.
What face weight fits the use case?
The face weight range for residential and commercial synthetic turf typically runs from 40 oz to 80 oz per square yard, with most residential applications landing in the 50–70 oz range. Higher face weight means more fiber, more density, and more durability — but also more material weight per roll and higher product cost.
Having a clear rationale tied to the client’s specific use case — rather than defaulting to a mid-range product “just because” — is the kind of specificity that builds trust and supports the price in your quote. For a detailed breakdown of face weight options and product specifications, FieldTurf’s product pages are organized by application.
What pile height makes sense?
For standard residential lawn applications, pile heights in the 1.5–2.25 inch range are typical. Shorter pile, under 1.5 inches, is standard for putting greens and commercial applications where ball roll or foot stability matters. Taller pile, 2.25 inches and above, tends to be favored for decorative lawns where a natural appearance is the top priority.
Note that taller pile heights require more infill to support blade uprightness — which adds both material cost and installation time. Factor that into your estimate when comparing product options at different pile heights.
What infill type is appropriate?
Infill is one of the more nuanced product selection decisions and the one most often glossed over on residential quotes. Silica sand is the baseline — affordable, widely available, and effective for most applications. Crumb rubber adds cushioning, which is valued in play areas and sports applications. Organic infills, including cork and walnut shell, are increasingly popular in residential pet and play applications where clients are concerned about synthetic materials.
Infill selection affects drainage performance, surface temperature, maintenance requirements, and cost per square foot. Make sure the client understands the tradeoffs, and make sure your quote specifies infill type, depth, and coverage rate explicitly — not just “infill included.”
Does the backing spec need to match the sub-base situation?
Standard turf backing is perforated to allow drainage through the face. But some applications — rooftop decks, balconies, or any installation over an impermeable sub-base — require a backing engineered specifically for high-drainage-demand conditions.
FieldTurf’s MaxxFlow™ backing, which drains at 350+ inches per hour, is designed for exactly these situations. It’s available exclusively through FieldTurf partner dealers — you can’t source it through other distribution channels — and it’s part of the EasyTurf collection. If you’re quoting a rooftop or deck application and haven’t specified a high-performance drainage backing, you’re setting yourself up for a performance problem down the road.
Category 4: Client Expectations
No checklist is complete without a section on what the client thinks they’re getting. Misaligned expectations generate more callbacks than bad installs.
What is the client’s budget range?
Artificial turf installation typically runs $8–$15 per square foot installed, depending on product selection, site conditions, and regional labor rates. That’s a wide range, and it represents a real difference in product tier. Getting a general sense of where the client’s expectations land helps you scope the right product from the start and avoids the awkward re-quote conversation after you’ve already specced a 70 oz face weight on a $10/sq ft budget.
You don’t need a hard number. Even a range — “we were thinking under $10,000” versus “we want the best product you carry” — is enough to calibrate your recommendation before you invest time in a full proposal.
What is the timeline?
Material lead times vary. Custom products, specialty backing options, or large commercial orders may require 2–4 weeks of lead time depending on availability and production scheduling. If a client has a specific completion deadline — a summer event, an HOA inspection, a commercial grand opening — that affects crew scheduling and whether standard or expedited fulfillment is required. Build timeline questions into every site walk, not just the ones where the client mentions urgency.
Are there HOA restrictions?
Some homeowners’ associations regulate synthetic turf explicitly: required color ranges (typically natural green tones), maximum pile height, prohibitions on visible infill, or outright bans in certain communities. In markets where HOA density is high, this is worth asking on the first call — before the site walk. An install that gets ordered removed six months later is a loss for the client, a reputational problem for you, and a situation that was entirely avoidable.
If the client isn’t sure of their HOA rules, encourage them to check before you deliver a final quote. FieldTurf partner dealers can provide product samples and color specifications to support HOA approval requests.
Has the client been walked through warranty and maintenance requirements?
FieldTurf products carry a 15-year warranty and are engineered to last 20+ years — but warranty coverage depends on proper installation and basic maintenance practices. Clients who aren’t briefed on what maintenance looks like (regular rinsing for pet areas, annual infill top-off, keeping heavy stationary furniture off the surface) will eventually attribute a performance issue to a product defect when the real issue is deferred maintenance.
Covering warranty and maintenance expectations at the quote stage — not after the install — sets the right tone and protects you downstream. Document it in writing, either in the quote itself or a one-page maintenance summary you hand off at project close.
Asking Better Questions Is What Separates Professional Installers from Order-Takers
The difference between a landscaper who wins profitable jobs and one who constantly fights scope creep comes down to the quality of information gathered before the bid goes out. Every question on this checklist exists because someone, somewhere, skipped it and paid for it later — in change orders, callbacks, re-quoting labor, or margin erosion that never showed up on a line item but showed up in the bank account.
Clients who see you work through a structured site assessment tend to trust your bid more, not less. Thoroughness reads as professionalism. A contractor who shows up with a checklist and asks sharp questions signals that they know what they’re doing — and that confidence carries real value when you’re competing on price with someone who just walked the yard and guessed.
For product specifications, backing options, face weight guides, and full partner support, visit fieldturflandscape.com or contact your FieldTurf regional representative. FieldTurf EasyTurf products — including the MaxxFlow™ drainage system — are available exclusively through authorized FieldTurf partner dealers. Made in the USA at our Calhoun, Georgia facility, with 50M+ square feet of annual production capacity backing your ability to quote and deliver at scale.
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