Status: Completed · October 2026
A new build on Robin Hill Road in West Meade with the pool shell in, the house nearly finished, and nothing outside but raw ground between the pool deck and the fence. A drainage swale cut straight across the back yard, and every rain sent mud and runoff toward the new pool deck. The owner wanted the yard finished in one pass: green from gate to gate, no ditch through the middle, and no water on the deck.
The problem
New construction lots in West Meade come out of the builder phase as compacted, bare clay. Grass seed on that soil takes a full season to fill in, and until it does every storm tracks mud onto the pool deck and into the house. This yard had a second issue: the swale that carried water from the house corner across the back yard to the east gate. Fill it in and the water has nowhere to go. Leave it open and you have a ditch through the middle of a new pool yard.
The yard also sat a little above the west edge of the pool deck, so runoff from the lawn would sheet straight onto the concrete.
What we built
We kept the swale and buried it. The synthetic turf runs over the top of it from the west gate, along the corridor beside the house, around the pool deck and across the north yard to the east gate, held off planting beds that were enlarged along the north fence and the west side.
| Item | What went in |
|---|---|
| Excavation | Existing soil stripped and hauled off the site |
| Base | Compacted crushed-stone base over a weed barrier |
| Synthetic turf | About 3,250 sq ft of premium turf with infill, seams bonded, edges secured to the beds and the pool deck |
| Drain line | 4-inch corrugated pipe set in the old swale under the turf, tied into the drain stub at the house corner, daylighted past the east gate with a pop-up emitter |
| Retaining wall | 18-inch segmental block wall with cap along the west edge of the pool deck, with a short return at the corner and drainage stone and a perforated drain behind it |
| Access | One aluminum fence panel removed for equipment and reinstalled |
The result is a yard that drains the way the swale did, without the swale. Water from the house corner travels in the pipe under the turf and comes out past the gate. Rain on the turf drains through the base. The low retaining wall holds the yard back from the pool deck so lawn runoff never crosses the concrete.
Questions to ask anyone who quotes turf on a new build
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Where does the water that crosses this yard go now, and where will it go after? | Turf drains rain that falls on it. It does not fix a swale or a downspout that sends water across the yard. That needs a pipe or a drainage base with an outlet. |
| Are you hauling off the existing soil or laying base on top of it? | Base laid on top of builder clay raises the yard against the house and the deck. Strip it, then build the base. |
| What is under the turf, and is it compacted? | A crushed-stone base compacted in lifts keeps the turf flat. Loose material settles into dips and seams that show. |
| How are the edges held at the beds and the pool deck? | Edges are where turf fails first. They should be secured, not just tucked. |
| Is the yard higher than the pool deck anywhere? | If it is, runoff ends up on the deck. A low wall or a regrade has to be part of the plan. |
How we build it
Read more on artificial turf installation, our retaining wall work, and a similar job where turf and drainage solved a wall problem: synthetic turf and drainage in Green Hills on Trimble Road. For a sloped lot, see how we terraced a back yard with walls and turf on Cliff Drive.
West Meade
West Meade in 37205 is wooded, older lots being rebuilt one at a time, and the new houses usually come with a pool and a back yard of bare, compacted clay. Shade from the big oaks and poplars makes grass slow to establish, which is why synthetic turf comes up on so many of these builds. The drainage almost always needs as much attention as the turf: these lots were graded for the old house, not the new one.
Thinking about the same thing for your back yard? Call (615) 356-0139 or request a free quote.