Astro Turf for a shed floor?

[ProDave]

I am putting this in it's own topic as it might get missed if I put it in my solar PV thread.

 

So I am turning the space under my ground mount solar PV into a shed.  Paneling in the sides is the easy bit ( I will post pictures in the other thread when  done)

 

What do do with the floor?

 

This is only going to be used as a storage shed, for bikes, cement mixer, and other stuff that could do with some protection from the elements, not a proper shed to work in.

 

At the moment the "floor" is grass, not level and in any event the grass will die and it will just become mud.

 

I thought about paving slabs, but a lot of work and they will never exactly fill the space without cutting some.  I thought about gravel, but that will no doubt end up messy. I thought about decking but expensive.

 

Then I thought Astro turf.  It shouldn't get muddy, and should be cheap and easy to lay.  Can anyone think of a reason why not?

[newhome]

That would probably work. You still have to prepare the base though. Remove vegetation, compacted sharp sand, weed membrane then astro, tension and pin. We used a wooden frame round the edge to pin ours to when we laid it in the garden down south. 

 

 

 

[Declan52]

I have used the offcuts to put a floor in my shed.  Works really well.  Can lift it and take it out and hose if it gets dirty.  

As above you need to  put timber around the edge so you nail /screw it down.  And it will need a well compacted base to sit flat on.  

Only thing is the good looking grass is not cheap but if you want cheap stuff if there is a range shop near you they do cheap grass. 

[ToughButterCup]

It will work, and work well. Here's why I know.

 

Three  years ago I bought an offcut of Astroturf the size a garage... bit bigger in fact, and laid it outside our kitchen door, on the patio. At the edge of the patio, there's a boot-wash, and a hose. Its easy and quick to de-mud boots and shoes without taking them off. But what to do about the wet boots that need a bit of a drain-off before getting in to the kitchen? Thats where the AstroTurf comes in.

 

Its is a Godsend. I thought of it as a second line of defense  before getting to the kitchen mat. We find that people automatically scuff their boots and shoes on the AT before getting into the kitchen. Of course our kitchen gets a bit dirty: I'm in and out 20 times a day, but you dont need to take yer boots off.

 

3 years later, you can see some light wear - and one or two Dock leaves have grown through it over the last two summers, and the Great Crested Newts love one particular corner.

Not going to begrudge them that.

[ProDave]

Having had a look, I see a bewildering choice.  Anything from 6mm thick to 40mm thick.  I am not after something that looms like a pristine lawn, just something that will stop the "floor" of the shed becoming a muddy swamp.

 

I am not concerned about weeds growing through. It will be pretty dry in there so not much will grow anyway.

[Declan52]

Thicker means dearer. 

[ProDave]

8 minutes ago, Declan52 said:

Thicker means dearer. 

But where is the compromise?   In other words what is thick enough to work but thin enough to be cheap?

[newhome]

7 minutes ago, ProDave said:

But where is the compromise?   In other words what is thick enough to work but thin enough to be cheap?

 

The thicker stuff has a better pile (generally more dense) and backing and is much heavier meaning that it will move less. Liken that to putting a heavy rug down in a room that stays put vs a cheap, lightweight rug that will move and ruck up. The really thin stuff need even better prep in a way as it will have a tendency to move more and any contours in the ground will be much more noticeable. That said I don't suppose you will be walking all over it constantly. Personally I wouldn't just shove the cheap stuff down without at least putting a weed membrane on top and levelling out the ground. Weed membrane is really cheap. It definitely needs to be fixed at the edges properly. Will water run down to that part of the garden? If so you could end up with puddles if that area doesn't drain well. For the difference in price for a relatively small area I wouldn't buy the very cheapest stuff. You might pick up a small amount on Gumtree or similar. A few pics here of poorly laid astro. 

 

https://www.goartificialgrass.co.uk/top-10-artificial-grass-problems-i96

 

[PeterW]

I’d put a gravel board around the edge, weed membrane and 20mm gravel. It’s free draining and cheap, and you’ll hear someone trying to drag anything away ..! 

[Declan52]

I have 30mm on my garden and would say it's probably too fluffy for your needs.  

https://www.therange.co.uk/garden-and-pets/garden/gardening/landscaping/artificial-grass/#sort=relevance&page=1&lpp=24

 

The 20mm pile would do your job.  It only comes in 2m wide rolls though.  The price on the above link is per M in length so it's 2m2.

[ProDave]

The "shed" is an awkward space. It straddles up a bank so really only the bottom half has any hope of being flattened. That will give a "flat" space of 2 metres by 6 metres.  Bikes will park at one end, door in the middle, and "stuff" like cement mixer stored at the other.  The higher level up the bank will be a shelved (pallet) storage platform almost certainly mainly for firewood.

 

The roof (solar panels) has a big overlap over the edges I expect it to be quite dry in there though some water might run down the bank and some condensation will drip off the underside of the panels. It really is just a cover I need to stop it just being mud.  An old carpet would do the job but would not last long, so think of it as needing a waterproof non rotting bit of carpet.

[newhome]

It would probably go up a bank ok if it was fixed securely. We had a small slope on the garden that we put AstroTurf on and grew plants through it. Gravel would have washed down onto the flat AstroTurf. It worked ok. This was it after about 15 years 

 

 

[Declan52]

It is pretty heavy so if it's pegged down and screwed along the edges of should sit on a slope. The  pegs are nothing more than 6 inch galvanised nails.