Artificial turf replacement in Kissimmee, Florida

Repair or replace? What the base tells you

Artificial turf replacement means old turf removal, a base rebuild where it's needed, honest turf disposal, and a re-turf that upgrades the product you had rather than a like-for-like swap. The condition of what's underneath, not just how the lawn looks, is what should decide between a repair and a full replacement.

What survives a replacement, and what doesn't

A base that's still flat, well-drained and at the right depth doesn't need to be dug out and redone; that's the single biggest cost difference between a replacement and a first-time install. We probe it in a few spots, check for soft or wet areas, and reuse what's still doing its job while adding and recompacting where it's thinned. Edging often survives too. A bender-board or paver border holds up longer than the turf inside it, so a still-solid edge gets reused rather than pulled for no reason.

What doesn't survive: the turf itself, obviously, along with any fabric weed barrier from an older pet install, since that's usually the thing holding years of urine odor. Old irrigation heads that were simply capped rather than removed get addressed properly this time, since the current standard doesn't allow an in-ground system to water turf at all. Infill is the other thing worth checking before assuming it can stay: the current state standard only allows crumb rubber or another synthetic infill inside the footprint of playground equipment, so an older lawn or general play area filled with rubber or TPE gets refilled with clean silica sand, zeolite or a coated sand during the replacement.

Ten to fifteen years of Florida sun, up close

Turf in Florida generally lasts ten to twenty years depending on UV stabilization, traffic and infill (industry lifespan data), and the low end of that range is common on unshaded Central Florida lawns that see full sun most of the year. What worn-out looks like by then: blades gone from green to a washed-out gray-green, brittle rather than springy underfoot; infill migrated or compacted so the backing shows through in traffic lanes; a surface that's stopped bouncing back after someone walks across it.

A lawn that hit those marks five years ago and is only now getting replaced usually has base problems layered on top of the fiber problems, part of why the quote is rarely just the cost of new material. This guide breaks lifespan down by use and product.

How a replacement job runs

The sequence differs from a first-time install mainly in the first step.

1. We evaluate what's underneath first. Pull back a corner, probe the base for depth and moisture, and decide how much of it is worth keeping before pricing anything.
2. Old turf comes out. Cut into sections, rolled, and hauled off; a large yard can mean several thousand pounds of material leaving the site.
3. The base gets corrected, not just reused blindly. Low spots are regraded, thinned base gets built back up, and the whole area is recompacted in lifts even where most of it stayed.
4. New turf goes in to the current standard. A product with no intentionally added PFAS or heavy metals, edges and seams anchored the way Rule 62-308.100 requires.
5. Irrigation is capped properly. Any head that survived the old install, even one that was already turned off, gets capped at the line rather than left in place.
6. Final grade and drainage check. We confirm the 1 to 2 percent slope away from the house still holds before the last section of turf goes down.

What artificial turf replacement costs

Artificial turf replacement is quoted per job rather than off a fixed rate, but it prices closer to a first-time install than to a repair, because most of the labor, demo, base work, new turf, repeats either way. A full tear-out and rebuild often lands near the lower-to-middle part of the usual Central Florida installed range, roughly $8–$18 a square foot, and a base that only needs light correction can trim a meaningful share off that.

What raises it: hauling a large volume of old turf and infill off site, a base that failed in more than one area, and capping or rerouting irrigation left in place under the old lawn. What lowers it: a base that's still flat and draining, sound edging that doesn't need to be pulled, and a straightforward rectangular yard.

Where the old turf actually goes

Turf is technically recyclable; plastics can be separated, melted and repelletized. In practice, most residential turf in Florida is hauled to a landfill or a construction-and-demolition debris facility, the same as old carpet, because separating fiber, backing and infill takes equipment most local waste operations don't run (an industry overview of turf recycling). We haven't found a synthetic-turf recycling program serving Central Florida as of September 2026. Landfilling isn't an oversight the state rule ignores, either: Rule 62-308.100 requires turf, backing and infill to be disposable at a Florida-permitted landfill under normal conditions, which is exactly where most of it ends up. Disposal is typically priced by weight; national guides put it around $60 to $70 a ton (a synthetic grass disposal guide), and a mid-size residential lawn's worth of old turf and infill adds up to a real number, part of a replacement quote rather than an afterthought.

Bringing an older install up to the current rule

A lot of turf around Kissimmee went in before Florida adopted Rule 62-308.100 on May 19, 2026, the first statewide minimum standard for synthetic turf on single-family lots (Rule 62-308.100). Replacement is the natural moment to catch an older lawn up: a product with no intentionally added PFAS or heavy metals, a washed and open-graded base instead of whatever was under the original install, edges and seams anchored to handle wind and flooding, and irrigation heads capped rather than left running under the turf. If the old install sits inside a live oak's drip line, or closer than ten feet to a pond or canal without a seawall or bulkhead between them, replacement is also the moment to correct that footprint instead of repeating it. On a Poinciana or Harmony lot with a septic system, we also confirm the new layout leaves the tank's lid reachable for pump-out, easy to overlook on an install built before the rule existed.

None of this requires a new permit from the state. Rule 62-308.100 sets a material and installation standard, and it says outright that it creates no new department-issued permit and doesn't touch easements or rights-of-way; what changed is what a compliant lawn has to look like, not who has to sign off on it.

HOA paperwork the second time around

An HOA that approved the original install years ago may still want to see the new one, especially if the community's design guidelines changed in the meantime or the visible footprint is different. What a Florida HOA can and can not restrict explains that a fenced backyard is generally protected from that review under F.S. 720.3045, while a front yard isn't. We prepare a fresh sample, spec sheet and site plan for the file when a community asks for one, same as on a first-time install.

What a bad replacement job looks like

The most common shortcut is skipping the base evaluation entirely and laying new turf over whatever's there, wet spots, soft spots and all, so the new lawn inherits the old lawn's problems on day one. Reusing edging that's already failed, cracked bender board, a paver border that's settled, saves a little money and costs more within a year when the new turf's edge lifts along it. Leaving old irrigation lines simply capped with tape instead of properly plugged is a leak waiting for the first hard rain to find it.

After the new turf goes down

Treat a replacement's first few months like a new install: keep heavy furniture off it while the base settles, rinse and brush on the same schedule as before, and walk the perimeter after the first real storm to check that every edge and seam is holding. Keep the product's spec sheet and the invoice describing the base work done; useful if an HOA ever asks again, and useful to us if a question comes up later about what's under the new lawn.

Who is the best artificial turf replacement company near me?

Ask to see the base before it's covered; a contractor confident in the work will show you the compacted material and the grade before the last roll of turf goes down. Ask what happens to the old turf and whether disposal is itemized in the quote. And ask directly whether the new install will meet the current state standard, anchored edges, capped irrigation, a PFAS-free product, since that's a fair baseline for anyone replacing turf in Florida now, not an upsell.