How to Lay Artificial Turf on Soil: DIY Step-by-Step Guide

Before you start: tools, materials and rough costs

Laying artificial turf on soil is a genuine weekend job for two people, and a 20-30 m² backyard is realistic over two days. The turf itself is the easy part. The base underneath is 80% of the result, so most of this guide is about getting it right. Here's what you'll need before you lift a shovel.

Tools

• Turf cutter (hire, roughly $100-150 a day) or a mattock and spade if you'd rather sweat
• Plate compactor (hire, roughly $70-110 a day). Non-negotiable, don't skip it
• Wheelbarrow, rake and a screed board (a straight length of timber works)
• String line and spirit level
• Sharp utility knife with plenty of spare blades. Blunt blades ruin cuts
• Stiff-bristled broom
• Tape measure

Materials

Material	Job it does	Rough cost
Road base (crushed rock)	Structural layer, 50-80 mm	$40-80 per tonne; one tonne covers about 7-8 m² at 80 mm
Crusher dust	Fine screeding layer, 20-30 mm on top	$50-90 per tonne
Weed membrane (geotextile)	Stops weeds pushing through	$1-2 per m²
Joining tape	Bonds two pieces of turf underneath	$30-60 per roll
Galvanised turf pins	Hold edges and joins down	$20-40 per pack of 50
Kiln-dried sand	Infill that keeps fibres upright	$10-15 per 20 kg bag; allow 4-6 kg per m²

All up, base materials usually land at $10-20 per m². Turf supply in Australia runs roughly $15-30/m² for budget 15-25 mm pile, $30-45/m² for mid-range 25-35 mm, and $40-60/m² for premium 35-45 mm, including GST; for our range, see current pricing on the product page. If you're weighing DIY against paying someone, professional installation typically adds $30-70/m² on top of supply, and the full breakdown lives in our artificial turf cost guide.

Step 1: Remove the existing lawn

Mow the existing grass as low as your mower allows, then strip the turf and topsoil with the hired turf cutter, the first step in trading a real lawn for one you'll never have to mow again. You're aiming to excavate 70-100 mm below your intended finished level. It sounds deep, but a shallow base is the number one reason DIY turf fails inside two years.

One depth tip: the finished base should sit below adjoining paths by roughly the pile height of your turf, so the grass finishes flush with the paving. Choose your pile height before you dig; our pile height guide covers the trade-offs between 20, 30 and 40 mm.

If your lawn is couch or kikuyu, be thorough. Both spread by runners and will find any gap you leave, so some people spray the area a week before digging to kill the roots properly. Book a skip for the spoil; a 25 m² lawn stripped to 100 mm easily produces 2-3 cubic metres.

Step 2: Build and compact the base

Spread road base to a depth of 50-80 mm, rake it roughly level, mist it lightly, then run the plate compactor over it in two directions. Compact in layers if you're going deeper than 60 mm, since one thick loose layer never compacts properly at the bottom.

Build in a fall for drainage: about 10 mm of drop per metre, running away from the house or toward an existing drain. Water passes through good turf backing, but the base still needs somewhere to send it.

Top the road base with 20-30 mm of crusher dust, screed it smooth with your timber and string line, mist and compact again. The finished surface should be firm enough to walk on without leaving footprints, and smooth, because turf follows the base exactly. A hollow the size of your palm reads as a divot in the lawn forever.

Step 3: Lay the weed membrane

Roll geotextile weed membrane over the compacted base, overlapping each run by about 100 mm, and pin it every metre or so. This layer stops weeds germinating in the sand infill and any survivors pushing up from below. It takes ten minutes and skipping it is false economy.

Step 4: Roll out the turf and let it settle

Measure and plan your cuts before you order or unroll anything. Turf commonly comes in 3.71 m wide rolls, so a 4 m wide yard needs two pieces and a join, while a 3.5 m yard fits a single width with trim to spare. Our guide on measuring your yard for turf walks through this, and every product page has an instant calculator so you can price your exact size.

Unroll the turf and leave it in the sun for one to two hours. It comes off the roll with memory in it: creases, curled edges, a slight banana shape. It relaxes noticeably once warm, and trimming before it settles is how people end up with gaps.

One thing matters more here than anywhere else: pile direction. Turf fibres lean slightly one way, and the grass looks fullest and most natural when the pile leans toward you. So point the pile at the house, the deck, the kitchen window — wherever you'll actually view the lawn from. Get this backwards and the lawn looks flat and shiny from your main vantage point, and there's no fixing it without relaying.

Step 5: Trim, join and pin

Trim edges with a sharp blade, cutting from the back of the turf where you can see the stitch rows, and cut between rows rather than through them. Change blades often. Leave edges a few millimetres long against hard surfaces and press-fit them; cutting exactly to the line usually ends up a fraction short once the turf fully relaxes.

Joining two pieces properly

Joins are where DIY jobs most visibly go wrong, so take your time here:

1. Confirm both pieces run the same pile direction. Same roll, same orientation. A join between opposing piles shows as a colour change from every angle.
2. Butt the two edges together. Never overlap them; an overlap creates a ridge you'll see and trip on.
3. Trim both edges back to a clean stitch row so the fibre spacing at the join matches the rest of the turf.
4. Fold both edges back, run joining tape down the centreline adhesive-side up, then lower each edge onto the tape and press firmly along the seam.
5. Pin through both pieces either side of the join.

Then pin the whole perimeter every 250-300 mm, angling pins slightly and tapping them flush so the heads disappear into the pile.

Step 6: Sand infill and brushing

Spread kiln-dried sand over the turf at 4-6 kg per m², on a dry day, in several light passes rather than one heavy dump. Brush it in with a stiff broom, sweeping against the pile so the fibres stand up and the sand settles at the backing.

Infill does three jobs: it weighs the turf down so it can't wrinkle in heat, it protects the backing from UV, and it holds the fibres upright. A quick brush against the pile every month or two keeps it looking fresh; the full routine is in our artificial turf maintenance guide.

Common DIY mistakes to avoid

• Skipping the plate compactor. Hand-tamping feels firm but isn't. The base settles unevenly over the first winter and the lawn goes lumpy.
• Overlapping joins instead of taping. Always butt and tape. Always.
• Mismatched pile direction across a join. The single most visible error, and invisible until the job's done.
• Not enough base depth. 30 mm of crusher dust straight onto soil will rut and puddle. Do the full excavation once, properly.
• Trimming before the turf acclimatises. Cut cold, creased turf and you'll get gaps at the edges by afternoon.
• Forgetting the fall. A dead-flat base against the house holds water exactly where you don't want it.

None of these are hard to avoid. They're all just tempting shortcuts on a hot day.

Frequently asked questions

Can I lay artificial turf over existing grass?

No, and it's the shortcut most likely to wreck the job. The grass dies and decomposes unevenly underneath, leaving a soft, lumpy surface, drainage is poor, and vigorous species like couch and kikuyu will grow through the drainage holes in the backing. Always strip the lawn and build a compacted road base and crusher dust foundation first.

Do I really need sand infill?

For almost all landscape turf on soil, yes. Kiln-dried sand at 4-6 kg per m² weighs the turf down so it can't wrinkle in summer heat, shields the backing from UV, and keeps the fibres standing upright under foot traffic. Some short-pile products are marketed as non-infill, but on a standard 25-40 mm garden lawn, skipping sand is the main reason turf ripples and mats early.

How long does a DIY installation take?

Plan on a full weekend for a typical 20-30 m² yard with two people: day one for stripping the old lawn and building and compacting the base, day two for membrane, laying, joining, trimming, pinning and sand infill. Larger areas, tricky skip bin access or lots of curved edges can push it to three days. The base work is the slow part; the turf itself usually goes down in a few hours.

Is laying turf on concrete different from laying on soil?

Yes, and in some ways it's easier. On sound, draining concrete you skip the excavation and road base entirely, and because you can't drive pins into a slab, you glue the perimeter and joins with outdoor adhesive instead. Check the slab already sheds water before you start, since turf won't fix a slab that puddles, and a foam underlay adds comfort on a hard surface.