Hello All. I am new to the forum - introduction just posted yesterday - after a recommendation from my finance broker a fellow property investor. I need to landscape a 3 lot survey strata with 280m2 of turf. I'm seriously considering artificial turf so that I can maintain a presentable property between tenants which I hope will contribute to high tenancy rates. Has anyone got any positive or negative experiences with artificial turf for IP? I have artificial turf at my PPOR so I know the general pros and cons, but rentals are a different story. I look forward to your comments. Ben
Wow, 280sqm of decent artificial turf is going to be expensive, Ben. But it will be depreciable - real grass is not depreciable. Scott
Not sure it would handle tenants parking their cars on it? Oil a bit hard to get out of it as well. Seriously tho I wouldn't, repairing it is a pain and you can never match cos there is always colour differences between batches.
At what rate Scott? Due to delays, mine was installed after your mate Dougal did the inspection at my Perth property
Five year Effective Life. So very fast depreciation (which is an indication of how long it is expected to last). Using the DV method, it's 40% per full year.
Top idea but I have seen a couple of yards with it and weeds still penetrate through if not done properly with the base layers plus at the joints there is a chance of lifting apart, kids pulling up, weeds, dog damage if the tenants get you a surprise puppy!
Around 95sqm of turf for each villa. That seems like a lot. Is there any garden beds or paving as well? I like fake lawn, and it's particularly useful if the villas have been built with no side access - no one wants to take a mower through the house! But it is expensive and I would probably use it in conjunction with garden beds to keep the cost down
I used this 5 years ago on my new PPOR build.Cost was around 11k for 110sm supplied and fitted.3 dogs ,thousands of poops, still looks as good today as when laid, i do wash it down occasionally, give it a rake etc, very minimal maintenance needed. Bit hot to walk on in bare feet on a hot day though. http://www.rolloutgrass.com.au/types-of-grass/winston-max/
Thank you for your input guys, there is certainly some points that I wasn't aware of, probably the biggest is the fact that fake lawn, being an capital expense I guess, is depreciable. This is a big plus. It seems that the ball park cost appears to be $100 per m2, which is obviously a chunk of money, Fortunately I will be doing it DIY along with my bobcat guy so hope to get away with around half this cost. There will be paving and crushed rock paths installed as well, but I will be looking to install more flower beds as suggested above to reduce the turf area. My PPOR fake turf was installed DIY and it is standing up very well even with dogs, so as long as I don't skimp on the base layer, the result should be satisfactory. I will appreciate any further comments. Has anybody heard of potential tenants being turned off the idea of fake turf??
If you are handy and it sounds like you are, consider making some raised beds around the grass. This will stop the bed mulch/soil/weeds getting onto the grass and looks fab
It may look foreign to a tenant and to put my tenant hat on, I'd want to know what is required to maintain, any chance of damages, what you expect from the tenant, some supplier info or formal care instructions. For tenants that are used to letting the lawn go wild they may be hesitant of your alien lawn, that being if they did damage or something went wrong it is an expensive job to fix, real grass is straight forward. Personally I'd like to rent a place with it, you could charge extra per week but I'd just be concerned with the damages side.
Interesting reading. We never considered that artificial turf got so hot. I had scheduled to put the subbase in on Saturday and thought I should do a bit of reading on the forums and now we have a total quandary. Our garden is an L-shape, a patio around the back and the idea was to turn the 65m2 area (exactly 6.5m2 * 10.00m) around the side/front to artificial turf for the baby to play on and now we’ve been thrown a curveball!! Any ideas? Advice?
What direction is it and is there any shade? Some sub bases can also increase the heat - blue metal is good - stay away from the rubber bases. Use plenty of the white sand on top can help with the heat issue - don't skimp - 10mm at least. It will help retain moisture and keep the black base out of the sun
Weeds will grow in or through artificial turf just like the real stuff. If the occupant doesnt care for it like carpet it will deteriorate. Your baby will lose skin on their knees and your wife will blame you. Its like a deep graze, fake turf is not good for pets, babies and even little kids as it can be slippery and leads to horrid grazes. Ask any player who plays football (soccer) on fake turf and none are fans especially strikers and keepers. Never allow smoking near it as a dropped cigarette will self extinguish after leaving a black hole. Warranty term varies with quality. There are "grades" of quality. And if not laid properly its all excluded I am sure.$100 a m2 is typical. Its super expensive by the time you add base prep, adhesive, tapes and pegs and then the sand etc. You can lay high quality turf on a simple decent soild base and have it rolled in no time for no cost apart from the turf and soil. Even having turf suppliers (google them or a major landscape supplier) lay it is extra and far cheaper.
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