S&C Slatter are recognised leaders in artificial sports turf maintenance. Our highly trained operatives provide maintenance services for artificial sports turf pitches, courts, and games areas at over 600 sites across the UK.
Read on to learn about sports maintenance or get in touch to discuss your needs.
We utilise the latest technologies and techniques to maximise the performance, safety and lifespan of sports pitches and courts.
Whether natural turf, tarmacadam, polymeric or artificial, all sports surfaces require maintenance to ensure that they’re safe, long-lasting and performing to a quality standard.
As well as delivering expert maintenance, we’re able to provide guidance and education to in-house teams, sourcing equipment and providing training on how best to manage your pitch.
Working closely with our sports construction division and artificial turf manufacturing partners FieldTurf and Notts Sport, we are uniquely placed to deliver expert maintenance with a comprehensive understanding of design, manufacture and construction.
To see some examples of our work, you can view a selection of our sports facility maintenance case studies.
We’re happy to conduct a free site evaluation to discuss your maintenance needs, please call or email for more information.
Whether Gen2, 3G, ‘4G’, non-turf, water-based, sand-dressed, or sand-filled, all sports pitches made with synthetic grass instead of natural grass require regular maintenance suitable to the artificial turf system in place.
Although they don’t need the types of maintenance natural grass pitches need – watering, aeration, grass cutting, etc. – maintenance is still required to protect the artificial fibres, manage infill levels and prevent tears in the seams of the artificial turf.
It’s not only the pitch itself that requires maintenance. Perimeter fencing, floodlighting and sports equipment such as goals and netting should be looked after to support the function and performance of the pitch or court.
It’s worth noting that the majority of artificial systems come with warranties that require regular maintenance to be carried out. It’s important to protect your pitch guarantee, as well as ensuring you achieve the maximum return on investment for your project, in terms of performance, safety and overall lifespan.
Call or email us to discuss suitable maintenance for your sports facility.
3G pitches are mainly used for football or rugby and utilise a combination of sand and performance infill, with a long pile length. It’s crucial to regularly brush and decompact 3G pitches to prevent damage to the artificial fibres and ensure that infill is consistent across the pitch. Failing to carry out routine maintenance can result in poor performance, inconsistent bounce and unsafe levels of grip.
Water-based or non-filled hockey pitches are prone to algae and moss growth, which can result in a slippery, dangerous playing surface and issue with drainage. Treating such growth and removing debris from the pitch is crucial to maintain the high performance required of a water-based pitch.
Sand-dressed and sand-filled hockey pitches utilise sand as an infill material. With less densely packed fibres than a water-based pitch, it’s easier for debris to accumulate between the fibres and contaminate the infill material. Power brushing should be utilised on these pitches to lift and clean the infill whilst refreshing the synthetic fibres.
Whether your Gen 2 pitch employs a textile or artificial fibre surface, it’s important to maintain a clean and debris-free pitch to allow for proper drainage and safe play.
Non-turf synthetic cricket pitches, indoor or outdoor, require maintenance to retain that all important consistency of surface. Outdoor pitches will require cleaning and brushing to protect the artificial fibres and prevent the growth or accumulation of debris, moss or algae. Indoor and outdoor practice lanes also require maintenance of both the surface and netting systems to ensure optimum performance.
Multi-use games areas can be constructed with a variety of surfaces, most commonly artificial turf, polymeric or macadam. Artificial turf MUGAs are usually sand-dressed, and will require similar maintenance to that employed on a sand-dressed hockey pitch. Polymeric or macadam MUGAs will require maintenance such as power cleaning and debris removal to allow for a safe level of grip and appropriate court drainage.
Maintenance will vary slightly depending on the artificial turf system in place, for example maintenance of a water-based hockey pitch will differ to the maintenance required of a sand-dressed hockey pitch.
Common maintenance across all synthetic pitches however will be to protect the integrity of the synthetic grass fibres, through regular brushing, removal of any debris and treatment of algae, moss and weeds to ensure the grip of the synthetic surface isn’t compromised.
2G, 3G, non-turf, sand-dressed and sand-filled turf systems all use infill materials to support the artificial fibres and replicate the bounce and roll of a natural grass pitch. It’s important to manage these infill materials through brushing, cleaning and decompaction, to ensure that grip and performance is consistent across the field.
Tennis courts, netball courts and multi-use games areas all require maintenance whether constructed with polymeric, macadam, textile or artificial turf surfaces.
This can include power cleaning and brushing to ensure the court is draining effectively, as well as protecting the grip of the surface, which also requires regular debris removal and the treatment of any moss, algae or weeds.
Check out our dedicated in-house maintenance division website for more information or get in touch.
The frequency and types of maintenance for a synthetic pitch or playing court will be defined by a number of factors, including the surface type.
Factors that help to define a suitable maintenance program include:
We conduct maintenance for sporting facilities at schools, universities, sports clubs, leisure centres and holiday parks across the country. Our maintenance programs are designed for the requirements of each specific facility and can be conducted on a weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or quarterly basis.
Many of our clients also benefit from an annual or bi-annual deep clean, which is a comprehensive 1-3 day regeneration of the playing surface. Find out more on our dedicated page here.
This will vary on the playing surface, size of the pitch and factors mentioned above such as hours of use. As an example, a 3G Pitch for rugby or football costs around £2,600 per year for a quarterly maintenance programme.
S&C Slatter has an in-house maintenance division specialising in the upkeep of artificial sports facilities. Our maintenance technicians are highly experienced and skilled in facility aftercare and equipped with an extensive range of the latest maintenance technology.
We also have a Project Manager specifically tasked in advising clients on their potential maintenance or aftercare requirements through a free of charge site audit and report.
Our maintenance services are provided either on a single visit or annual/multi-year contract and can include one or more of a range of elements or actions, and encompass remedial or repair works.
For further details see our maintenance services pages at www.sportsmaintain.com
Established in 1991, S&C Slatter’s family heritage in sports pitch maintenance spans far further back.
We deliver regular maintenance to the education, leisure and sporting sectors, serving over 600 clients nationwide, including Everton Football Club, Swindon Town Football Club and Imperial College London.
For a free site consultation, please get in touch with our maintenance operations manager Danny Pearce on 01635 34521 or email dpearce@sandcslatter.com
For more information call 01635 34521 or email enquiries@slattersportsconstruction.com
