I install backyard synthetic putting greens built the way a real course green is shaped, not a flat rectangle of fake grass. Every job starts with a site walk: I check drainage direction, existing grade, tree roots, sprinkler lines and where water actually wants to go after a storm before a single stake goes in the ground. The sub-base is where a green lives or dies — I excavate to a compacted crushed-stone and decomposed-granite profile, then hand-sculpt the contours with rakes and hand tampers so the surface carries real break: a false front, a back-to-front tilt, a subtle bowl around the cup, whatever the yard's slope allows without turning the green into a mini-golf gimmick. Drainage is engineered into that shaping, not bolted on after — perforated pipe where low spots collect, a perimeter channel where a patio or fence line would otherwise trap runoff, and a base permeability rate I test with a hose before turf ever goes down. Turf seams are glued and nailed on a seaming board with the grain matched panel to panel so no shine line shows when the sun crosses the yard in the afternoon; infill is a blend of sand and green silica engineered for a specific stimp-meter speed the client requests, not a generic bag from a supplier. Cup and flagstick sleeves are set in a poured collar so they don't wobble or work loose after a season of use, and I've placed hole locations for yards ranging from a single practice cup to a three-hole short course with staggered pin positions. Fringe and rough collars are cut and glued at a longer pile height with a blended color run so the transition from green to fringe to lawn reads naturally instead of looking like three carpet samples stapled together. Typical residential jobs run five to twelve business days depending on size and grading complexity, and I walk every client through stimp speed, break severity and maintenance (brushing, occasional rinse, infill top-up) before handoff so the green still rolls true a year later.
