Artificial Grass Sports Surface Maintenance
Easigrass Sports Maintenance is the premier service provider to the sports and leisure industry in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and throughout the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East. Easigrass has been installing and maintaining artificial grass sports pitches for over 30 years. We currently maintain thousands of sports pitches worldwide as well as installing new pitches on a weekly basis.
In order to maximise the large initial investment made when installing an artificial grass pitch it is imperative that it is correctly maintained in order to prolong its life. We encourage all of our clients to tap into on our wealth of knowledge and experience to get the most out of their sports pitches. Regular maintenance will extend the life of the surface and therefore maximize the return on investment.
Our clients include Premiership football clubs, sports centres, schools, local authorities and Government municipalities. We also extend our maintenance services to private sports facility owners.
“I’ve been maintaining artificial grass sports surfaces for over 30 years. A surface maintained correctly and periodically will ensure it performs for its full warranty period and in many cases well beyond. A new sports surface is a large investment, if you compare it to buying an expensive new sports car; to avoid any disappointment you have to care for it and regularly maintain it, this way it will perform at its optimum for years, it’s exactly the same for sports pitches.”
Jonathan Gallagher, founder of Rhino-Turf Sports Systems
Surfaces we can maintain
- Football Pitches
- Rugby Pitches
- Hockey Pitches
- Golf courses and putting greens
- Multi Use Games Areas
- Playgrounds
Correct maintenance procedures
Correct maintenance procedures will extend the life of an artificial grass sports pitch by more than 30% and will ensure safe and consistent playing qualities. Inappropriate maintenance procedures will lead to expensive rejuvenation costs within one to two years. Inappropriate maintenance procedures will be extremely detrimental to performance and safety characteristics. All artificial grass fibres degrade over time due to the abrasive nature of infill material therefore professional maintenance is essential.
Professional maintenance is vital to ensure the longevity, safety characteristics and consistent play qualities of a synthetic surface. Professional maintenance ensures both product performance and product installation warranties. This is often overlooked. Through our professional maintenance programmes we can extend the life of your playing surface (by at least 30%) as well as ensuring its performance and safety
The benefits of a professional maintenance programme.
- Extends the life of the surface
- Preserves the safe characteristics of the playing surface
- Extends and preserves installation warranties
- Significant savings through the provision of yearly maintenance programmes and through preventative programmes.
- Avoidance of unnecessary expenditure linked to early pitch replacement or repairs
- End of year certification to governing body standards – FA, FIFA, FIH, ITF. (providing the original surface met these standards).
- Specialist de-compaction equipment with a 10 year track record of success in maintaining pitch performance.
- Specialist paints and line marking equipment for marking out or remarking lines on synthetic turf surfaces.
- Highly skilled, European trained, operatives who can undertake seam repairs and renovation of worn or damaged areas.
- Identification and direct supply of essential equipment for on site grounds staff.
Services we offer
- Surface litter and debris removal
- Damage inspection
- Brushing and grooming
- Infill redistribution
- Infill top ups
- Total Infill replacement
- Decompaction
- Base layer repairs
- Total pitch replacement
- Sand dressing
- Rubber dressing
- Seam repairs
- Replacement of worn areas
- Disposal of old surfaces
- Total pitch replacement
- White line renewal – paint and permanent
Services in detail
Natural debris removal
Over time leaves, spores, seeds and general vegetation will fall on the pitch. If not removed they will work themselves into the carpet fibres and the infill. This will affect the performance and safety of the field.
Damage and repairs
Minor damage can quickly develop into large-scale failure if not repaired quickly, particularly under heavy use. As such, a regular inspection of the surface is essential so repairs can be reported and undertaken. Every surface should be given a monthly/bi monthly thorough inspection.
Surface brushing
Brushing of a synthetic surface is the primary maintenance duty. During active play the infill will become dispersed from high wear areas. In addition, active play can cause the fibres to lie flat. Regular grooming of the surface helps to ensure that the fibres are pulled upright and ensures that dispersed infill material is redistributed evenly across the surface protecting the fibres against accelerated wear and tear.
Infill redistribution
It is important that infill levels are regularly monitored as the rubber crumb will migrate when played on creating areas that are uneven underfoot which can lead to injury and irregular ball roll. The sand and rubber infill helps support the grass fibres thus ensuring surface play performance as well as protecting the carpet fibres from the effects of accelerated wear. Regular redistribution of the infill is required to keep the surface in optimum condition.
Infill decompaction
Compaction occurs as a result of the infill compressing itself into the carpet due to heavy utilisation and lack of professional maintenance. The consequences of compaction are poor drainage, poor traction and a dangerously fast playing surface. The infill will `lock together and compact overtime reducing the impact absorbency of the system; this will cause the surface to become much harder under foot with a dramatically increased ball bounce therefore regular decompaction is absolutely crucial.
Infill Contamination
Over time microns of the polypropylene material break off and debris from surrounding vegetation, atmospheric dust and dirt from players’ footwear all mix with the infill. The result, if no action is taken, is a reduction in performance and safety.
Infill replacement
In the extreme heat of the Middle East the individual rubber crumbs that make up the infill will shrink and harden resulting in an infill that essentially feels like it is made from tiny stones. This can be extremely damaging to the grass fibres but just as importantly it is very unsafe to play on. Once the infill has hardened it cannot be reversed therefore it needs to be entirely replaced with new rubber.
Infill replacement
In the extreme heat of the Middle East the individual rubber crumbs that make up the infill will shrink and harden resulting in an infill that essentially feels like it is made from tiny stones. This can be extremely damaging to the grass fibres but just as importantly it is very unsafe to play on. Once the infill has hardened it cannot be reversed therefore it needs to be entirely replaced with new rubber.
Professional Maintenance equipment
British and Dutch engineers have developed Easigrass maintenance equipment over the last 30 years. Our custom built machinery has been specifically designed to efficiently and effectively carry out the desired task. As professionals we make it look easy but even the most experienced installers need to be equipped with the correct tools and machines in order to achieve the desired results.
The most common machines and tools we use are: An A frame brush, rubber drag mat, decompactor and vacuum.
Maintenance programmes
Our professional maintenance programmes will keep your sports pitch in optimum condition for performance and safety. Comprehensive maintenance packages can be built to suit all requirements and budgets from a five-year annual maintenance contract down to a one off visit.
Free survey inspection
Easigrass Sports Maintenance offers a free site survey to all new customers. Should you wish to gain a deeper and more analytical understanding of your surface performance, we strongly advise that you contact an independent surface-testing organisation. We are able to recommend the most suitable for your facility.
Our standard site survey gives you feedback concerning the following key areas:
Surface levels – Surface Levels are inspected and any trip hazards or health and safety issues will be highlighted.
Pile height – The pile height inspection provides information on how much playing life there is left in the surface; especially in in key wear areas like goalmouths.
Infill levels – The infill levels need to be closely monitored as incorrect levels can cause loss of traction and contribute to unsafe playing characteristics and a dramatic loss of performance.
Compaction and shock absorption – Compaction results from the compression of infill through intensive use. Compaction is a key factor in detrimental play characteristics. This test is, in many ways, the most important.
Other services offered by Easigrass Sports Maintenance
Refurbishment
This service is for synthetic grass surfaces that have been incorrectly maintained and are now unsafe in terms of ball and player surface interaction. Refurbishment is also beneficial for surfaces that are suffering from drainage and infill problems.
Rejuvenation
Inappropriate maintenance procedures or a simple lack of maintenance will result in playing surfaces losing all of their playing capabilities. If your synthetic playing surface is showing signs of poor playing characteristics then rejuvenation or partial rejuvenation may be required.
The Rejuvenation Process
- Surface detritus and vegetation is removed from the playing surface.
- Specialist de-compaction machinery releases compacted infill.
- Specialist extraction equipment removes all contaminated infill from the synthetic carpet.
- Contaminated infill is removed from site.
- Dressing and leveling of new infill to appropriate pile height levels.
- Once a playing surface has been rejuvenated we will offer a professional maintenance programme.
Pitch Recycling & Relocation
Synthetic sport surfaces that are nearing the end of their life need to be disposed of in an ethical and environmentally friendly manner. Surfaces that may need to be relocated to a different site can be cost effectively removed and then professionally reinstalled elsewhere. The “TurfMuncher” is specialist recycling machine, developed in America, that enables the above to be achieved.
If your old pitch still has value and life left in it the TurfMuncher will give you the option to resell the pitch, reposition it or relocate it.
The recycling Process
Infills are separated, ready to be cleaned and recycled for alternative uses. The surface, free of infill, can then be professionally rolled and secured for recycling purposes. For relocation, the synthetic pitch is precision cut according to a set lay out plan.
To see the TurfMuncher in action go to www.xtraction.com