HOAs and Artificial Turf: Here’s What You Need to Know
A lot of neighborhoods today have a Homeowner’s Association (HOA) that manages and oversees the neighborhood common areas and amenities. They are also in charge of insuring that property owners obey the Articles of Incorporation, Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, By-Laws and other governing documents. The benefits to having an HOA is that the neighborhood is kept up with and will look more put together. When there is no HOA, a neighborhood could start to look dirty, unkept, and the houses will no longer look nice anymore. Since it’s the HOA’s responsibility to keep the neighborhood looking its best, HOAs will require you to get their approval before making any changes to your exterior. Some HOAs have certain guidelines and requirements you must follow in order to get approved or make any changes to your home. This can sometimes get extremely complex when it comes to artificial turf and landscaping projects, so that’s why we’re here to help. When it comes to HOAs and artificial turf, here’s what you need to know!
Why the Change?
The reason for wanting to install artificial turf may be different for some people. If you are not taking care of your lawn, you may have received a notice or warning from your HOA letting you know that you will need to get it taken care of before they fine you. A lot of HOAs will give you a deadline for when you must fix the problem before they fine you. In this case, you will want to start doing research right away to find out your best options. A lot of people who are unable to care for their lawn will turn to artificial turf because it requires very little maintenance.
Other homeowners will want to change their existing landscaping from what it is because they do not like what they currently have. They either don’t like the type of landscaping they currently have, or they want to save time and water by installing artificial turf. If a homeowner is wanting to make the switch to artificial turf, they need to get approval from their HOA first.
Step 1: Contact the HOA
Whether you stop by their office, or give them a call, you’ll first want to contact your HOA before doing anything else. You’ll first want to make sure your HOA allows artificial turf to be installed. Some strict HOAs do not allow artificial turf. If the HOA does allow artificial turf, you’ll want to get their requirements for it. Some HOAs only allow certain types of artificial turf products to be installed. For example, they may only allow American made products, or have a requirement for a minimum height and minimum weight of the product. Before getting any estimates, you’ll want to get all the requirements from your HOA first for installing artificial turf.
Step 2: Finding the Right Company
Once you have all the information you need to provide a company with your HOA requirements and guidelines, you’ll want to make sure you find the right company to do the job. You’ll need a company who has experience working with HOAs and their requirements. ProLawn Turf has been doing this for 22 years, and we’ve worked with hundreds of HOAs. We’ve installed our artificial turf for every single one of them. Once a HOA sees our artificial turf and its specs, they have no real logic to deny it. We pay close attention to details with our designs to make sure its within your HOAs’ requirements and guidelines.
Finding a company with experience in installation, American made quality products, and who pays close attention to details, is the type of company you’re going to want to look for when going through quotes. Nothing is worse than paying a company to do a job for you, and then your HOA makes you pay to redo it again because the company did a horrible job at executing the install, or even worse, the turf is defected. When you’re going through the bidding process, make sure you’re choosing the right company to execute this project for you and your HOA.
Step 3: Collecting Everything You Need for Approval
Once you’ve chosen a company to complete the artificial turf project for you, you’ll want to make sure you have everything you need for submission for approval. The goal is to only have to submit your plans once to the HOA, so you can quickly get approved and get your project completed. Before submitting your plans, you’ll want to get everything your HOA requires in order to be approved. Every HOA is different, but most require a detailed design, samples, spec sheets, and signatures from your neighbors. A lot of HOAs make you go to your surrounding neighbors and get approval from them for the work being done at your house with a signature. This saves the HOA from getting any complaints from homeowners about the work being done at a home. Some HOAs are stricter than others on what must be done for approval, so it’s important to find out what they require before submitting the project for approval.
Step 4: Submitting for Approval
Once you have received all the required paperwork and materials needed, you’ll need to turn everything in to your HOA. After you submit your plans, the HOA will give you an estimated time for approval. The HOA will then notify you if you’ve been approved or not. If the HOA has approved the work, then you’ll be able to sign the contract with the artificial turf company and get the job installed as soon as possible. When the HOA declines the work and requests a revision, you’ll need to notify the artificial turf company of the reasons why it was declined so that they can make the changes. Once the changes for the revision have been made, you’ll need to submit the plans to the HOA again for approval. This will continue until they approve the project. This can be hectic and frustrating, so that’s why it’s so important to get all the requirements and guidelines for approval before submitting anything to them. Some HOAs will make you pay for each submission and some do not. Find this out first.
Step 5: Installing the Artificial Turf
Once approved by the HOA, the artificial turf company will give you a tentative start date. The company will come out and do the install. You will then have the artificial turf you’ve always wanted!
Contact Us:
When it comes to HOAs and artificial turf, there’s a lot you need to know. Here at ProLawn Turf, we’ve got you covered. Contact us today to get a free installation estimate! We’re here to help!