Same rolls, same adhesive, same crew – and still two different finished lawns. The variable nobody priced is seam direction. When a seam shows, the instinct is to brush it flat. Visibility was mostly decided in the layout call, and no brushing rewrites it.
We price seam visibility before meters, so read straight seams vs s seams as a trade, not right versus wrong. One route spends sightlines to save material and time, the other spends material and knife skill to hide the joint. Price both against your site and crew, and the answer falls out in minutes.
What Straight Seams Actually Are
Straight seams join adjacent rolls along one full-length line that runs wall to wall across the area. Per Wikipedia’s summary of what artificial turf is and where it is used, it is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It reaches the site as rolls, never as one finished carpet.
Per the STC guidelines, synthetic turf is manufactured in panels or rolls typically 15 feet (about 4 m) wide. Each panel should attach to the next with a seam – that is how synthetic turf panels are joined into a playing surface. Straight seams run the simplest version: the cut follows the stitch row on the backing, the edges align, and adhesive closes the joint. Per Synthetic Grass Warehouse’s seaming guide, that guide-line cut earns its easy-install reputation.
Popularity follows: one-pass cutting on a guide line keeps the error path short, and a small crew holds the joint flat. Institutional practice agrees. Per the City of Hilliard’s Section 321813 spec, seams may be glued or sewn at the contractor’s choice, provided they finish flat, tight and permanent.
What S Seams Are — and What They Get Called
S seams cut adjacent roll edges into gentle, flowing waves that interlock, so the seam reads as a continuous S from above. Per Synthetic Grass Warehouse’s seaming guide, S-shaped seams are the most common professional technique: the wavy shape adds strength and tolerates irregular areas and uneven bases. The curves are cut freehand along the backing, and per Synthetic Turf of Puget Sound they must stay gradual and flowing.