Case study: A referral build in Birchwood, Warrington -- family of six.
Enyi and Michelle were referred to us by Adam -- the customer behind our Bolton case study. That's the kind of referral that means the most: a real-world recommendation off the back of a finished build the referrer is still happy with weeks later. The brief was p...
Project at a glance Verified Wolsten build
- Property type
- Family rear garden (six occupants) -- Warrington (Birchwood)
- Time on site
- 3 days
- Pile height
- 20mm budget artificial turf
- Subbase
- 6.5 tons MOT type-1, 2" sand top
- Surrounds
- 4" timber frame perimeter
- Finish
- Kiln-dried sand top-dress
- Customer
- Enyi & Michelle Joshua
Why Enyi & Michelle Joshua called us.
Enyi and Michelle were referred to us by Adam -- the customer behind our Bolton case study. That's the kind of referral that means the most: a real-world recommendation off the back of a finished build the referrer is still happy with weeks later. The brief was practical: family of six, kids who play football and games every weekend, a rear garden that had to handle that level of traffic without turning into a mud pit.
Like the Salford build, this one was hand-dug -- no machine access through the property. Quoted at a fixed price with the spec leaning toward maximum durability for the money: a robust subbase under a budget 20mm pile that wears well under a family of six.
What we did.
Hand-dug, 6.5 tons of MOT moved by barrow, every minute on site working a paid minute -- the way every job should be run.
The build sequence:
- Hand-dug the full footprint -- no machine access through the property
- Built a 4-inch timber frame around the perimeter as the structural surround
- Laid 6.5 tons of MOT type-1 as the subbase, hand-fed into the timber frame
- Compacted in layers with the whacker plate to a clean finished level
- Topped with 2 inches of sharp sand, screeded fine
- Rolled out the 20mm budget turf at £8.50/m
- Joined the rolls invisibly with proper tape + adhesive
- Pinned the perimeter into the 4-inch timber frame
- Kiln-dried sand top-dressed and brushed in to lift the pile
Three days, three crew, no breaks off-site. Enyi and Michelle's six-occupant household now has a football-ready lawn that doesn't need a single weekend of maintenance.
The whole project, in four shots.
Real photos from the actual Warrington (Birchwood) job.
The garden as found -- overgrown, no usable lawn for a family of six.
Day 1: hand-dug, 4-inch timber frame in, ready for subbase.
Day 2: 6.5 tons MOT + 2" sharp sand, screeded fine.
Day 3 finish: 20mm budget turf, joined and pinned, kids ready to play.What Enyi & Michelle Joshua said.
Wolsten were recommended to us by our friend Adam. We are so impressed with the work ethic and attention to detail. The price was fixed, and they never stopped working. They didn't leave the job to start another one, or anything like what we have experienced with other trades previously. Very honest people. Thank you.
Every detail of the Warrington (Birchwood) build.
The full set of photos taken throughout the project.
For the discerning homeowner.
What we actually built into this install.
Budget pile, premium subbase -- the right way to spec a value install
Most cowboy installs do this backwards: they go cheap on the subbase to fund a flashier pile. The result lasts 18 months. We did the opposite for Enyi and Michelle: a robust 6.5-ton MOT subbase + 2" sand under a budget 20mm pile at £8.50/m. The pile will wear in the high-traffic zones over time -- but the subbase doesn't move, so the lawn stays level, and the pile can be replaced in 8-10 years without rebuilding the base. That's how you get true value, not just a cheap up-front number.
4-inch timber frame perimeter -- why we sized up
Standard residential surrounds are 2" x 2" treated timber. For a household of six with two football-playing kids, we sized up to a 4-inch timber frame. Bigger contact face for the perimeter pins, more rigidity against accidental kicks at the edge of the lawn, and a touch more depth for the tightly-compacted MOT to bear against.
Hand-dug builds -- what "three days, never off site" actually means
Enyi's testimonial calls out a behaviour that's depressingly rare in the trades: a crew that stays on the job until it's finished, instead of disappearing halfway to start a new one. We staff jobs accordingly -- if a build's quoted at three days, the team is there for three days, not splitting their attention across two or three other sites. It's the only way a fixed-price quote actually means anything.
Family-of-six wear-and-tear -- the spec that handles it
Six people in a household, two kids who play ball games regularly, every weekend's a different game. The wear pattern on this kind of garden is unevenly concentrated -- the football "goalmouth" area takes ten times the foot traffic of the corners. We brushed kiln-dried sand particularly heavy into the high-traffic zone before handover -- it weighs the fibres down where they'll be working hardest, and slows the matting that always shows up first in the busy spots.
Three founders, plus extended crew when the job calls for it.
Liam, Ryan and Paul on every job. Where the work needs more hands, we bring in trusted regulars.
Liam
Surveyed and quoted. Supervised the build on site.
Ryan
Time-served bricklayer and artificial grass install lead.
Paul
Cut the timber surrounds and handled the finish detail.
Warrington (Birchwood)
Warrington (Birchwood) is well covered by our North West service area. We install artificial grass right across Warrington -- usually within 30 minutes drive of our Westhoughton base.
Questions homeowners ask about artificial grass installs like this.
How long does an artificial grass install take?
This Warrington (Birchwood) job took 3 days. Most North West artificial grass installs run 2-4 days depending on garden size and ground conditions. Drainage rescues (like Lisa's Westhoughton job) can add a day for French drain installation.
Is 'fake grass' the same as artificial grass?
Yes -- fake grass, artificial grass, astro turf, synthetic lawn: all names for the same product family. Whatever you call it, the quality difference isn't the name -- it's the pile density, the backing, and above all the sub-base it's installed on. A premium turf laid over a poorly compacted base will fail years before a mid-range turf on a proper one.
Will the joins between rolls be visible?
Not if they're done right. We use proper jointing tape + adhesive and match the pile direction across the seam. From a metre away the joins are invisible.
What's the lifespan of a properly-installed artificial grass lawn?
8-12 years on a properly compacted MOT subbase. The variables are pile quality, subbase compaction, and whether the perimeter is properly bordered. Lawns where installers cheap out on subbase often need replacing within 3-4 years -- which is why we never cut that corner.
Do I need to do any maintenance on artificial grass?
Very little. Brush the pile occasionally to keep it standing upright, top up the kiln-dried sand every 2-3 years, and rinse it off after the dog. That's it. Compared to a real lawn (mowing, feeding, edging, reseeding), the time saving is huge.
Do I need planning permission for artificial grass?
Almost never for a rear garden. Front-garden non-permeable surfacing over 5m² CAN trigger planning, but rear gardens fall under permitted development.
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