This time, our project resides in the Sunnyside neighborhood of San Francisco.  This project entailed the following: demo, installation of artificial turf, plants, and auto drip irrigation and lighting system.  Pretty straightforward, right?

Well—yes and no. While this project may appear straightforward on the surface, the typical San Francisco single family home with no side or back access made this project extremely difficult.  Let me explain.

Access to the Backyard

How do you get tons of material to the backyard with maybe one inch of clearance on both sides of the house? Also, adjacent to the backyard is the neighbor’s backyard, or in other words, no back access in addition to no side access.

Ok, in light of this scenario, there are two options. Through the house—yes—through. Or, over the house. Well, maybe there’s a third method—we could rent a helicopter to air lift the artificial turf into the backyard.  However, I don’t believe this would be in our client’s budget. Not for installation of artificial turf, that is. So, we’re back to two options.

While we could foreseeably transport tons of material through the house, there was no way that the huge rolls of artificial turf could make its way through. I’ll explain this in the paragraphs which follow.

First Step – Demo

As with all our jobs, we first start with clearing the area. Luckily, there was not much to clear, so this step went fairly quickly. We made sure to first carefully cover the interior stairs within the house to mitigate any damage and dirt.

Second Step – Base Rock

Before installing the artificial turf, five tons of base rock needed to be carried from the front to the back of the house. Or, that is, through the house. This entailed manually carrying 10 gallon buckets of base rock, weighing around 80 pounds each, through the house around 125 times (and then walking back up the stairs!). OMG!

Once all the base rock was in, it was thoroughly compacted with a gas power plate compactor. 

Third Step – Artificial Turf

On the day that the atmospheric river decided to give us a break, we picked up the artificial turf at Global Syn-Turf across the Bay in Hayward. At Tamate Landscaping, we only use top-of-the-line artificial turf, S Blade-90. This premium grade of artificial turf has a combination of emerald green and olive green and even has brown and green thatching for a more natural look. It is estimated to last about 20 years and is a great surface for kids and dogs.

Picking up and transporting the two rolls of artificial turf was a breeze. However, the next step was one for the books. Since the rolls of artificial turf were too large to carry through the house, we had to go over the house. Yes, option one of two (or three if you consider the helicopter option). How did we do that, you wonder? Here’s how:

https://www.facebook.com/100064917145710/videos/450729590456858

Now, how awesome is that?! With a lot of brute muscle and teamwork, we got the 2 huge rolls of artificial turf over the house.     

Once the artificial turf was miraculously pulled over the house, it was rolled out and carefully nailed down.

Final Touches – Plants, Irrigation, and Lighting

To complete the backyard landscape, selected plants were aesthetically positioned and placed into the ground with nursery mix. Plants were thoughtfully selected based on location in the backyard and San Francisco’s Mediterranean climate.

Drip irrigation was installed around all plants and placed on a timer. Last, but equally as important, the lighting system was installed. This provided a peaceful, alluring illumination of the newly landscaped backyard at night time.  

There you have it.  Simple, but beautiful and sustainable retreat.  Thank you, Tamate Landscaping!

If you’re looking for a great way to start your new year, consider working with Tamate Landscaping for ways we can transform your backyard space into a unique, tranquil, and sustainable retreat. Artificial turf needs to be installed in the back yard—no problem! We have over 25 years of transforming overgrown or under utilized yards in San Francisco with many satisfied customers.