When DIY is genuinely fine
A small, flat courtyard or balcony that already has a hard, level base (existing pavers, a concrete slab, compacted gravel) is close to the ideal DIY job. There's no excavation, no drainage fall to get right, and no compaction stage to under-do. Roll out, cut to fit, fix down with adhesive and a foam underlay, and you've got a weekend project that's genuinely achievable without professional tools or experience.
When a professional install wins
A larger area, a yard with any slope or drainage complexity, clay-heavy soil (common across many Melbourne suburbs), or wanting a workmanship and product warranty behind the job all tip the balance toward a professional install. These are exactly the conditions where base preparation (excavation depth, compaction, screeding to a level fall) becomes the difference between a lawn that still looks good in five years and one that doesn't, and it's a much harder thing to get right without experience or the right compaction gear.
Retail rolls vs trade-supplied product
This isn't good product versus bad product; it's a difference in the spread of what's available. Retail rolls are a real, usable product, typically positioned at the lighter end of the gauge, density and UV-resistance range. Trade suppliers generally carry a wider tier spread, from budget through to premium, with the differences showing up in stitch density and gauge (a finer gauge and higher stitch rate gives a thicker, denser-looking lawn), backing type (PU outperforms latex on moisture resistance and longevity), and UV-resistance grade (budget yarn fades and turns brittle faster in full sun). None of that makes a retail roll wrong for a small, low-exposure job. It matters more the bigger and more sun-exposed the area is.
What Bunnings actually sells
Most comparisons of this kind never tell you what is actually on the shelf, so here it is. Bunnings stocks synthetic turf under four names: Tuff Turf, DIY Turf, Coolaroo, and Jack (pegs only). Pile heights run from 7mm mats up to 40mm, and the landscape rolls are 1.8m wide (Coolaroo is 1.83m), sold either by the lineal metre or as prepacked 3m, 4m, 5m and 10m lengths.
Prices below are Bunnings' own, checked on 15 August 2026. Per-square-metre figures are calculated from the roll dimensions.
| Product | Pile | Size | Price | Per m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIY Turf synthetic turf mat | 7mm | 1 x 1m | $12.99 | n/a |
| Coolaroo Handy synthetic turf | 9mm | 1.83m lineal | $32.63/m | $17.83 |
| DIY Turf Total Turf | 12mm | 1.8m lineal | $49.00/m | $27.22 |
| DIY Turf Lifestyle | 20mm | 1.8m lineal | $53.55/m | $29.75 |
| Tuff Turf Multi Tuff | 12mm | 1.8m lineal | $71.50/m | $39.72 |
| Tuff Turf K9 Tuff | 25mm | 1.8 x 5m | $389.00 | $43.22 |
| Tuff Turf Luxury Tuff | 35mm | 1.8m lineal | $86.22/m | $47.90 |
| Tuff Turf Real Tuff | 35mm | 1.8 x 5m | $452.17 | $50.24 |
| Tuff Turf Balm Tuff | 40mm | 1.8 x 5m | $463.50 | $51.50 |
The number most people find surprising is at the bottom of that table. Bunnings' best landscape turf lands around $50 to $52 per square metre, supply only. Supply-only trade product across the Australian market generally runs somewhere between $25 and $75 per square metre, so the premium Bunnings SKUs sit near the top of that band rather than undercutting it. The saving in a DIY job is overwhelmingly in the labour, not in the turf itself. That cuts against the assumption most people start with, and it is worth knowing before you plan a budget around it.
Two things Bunnings does not publish on its product pages, which trade suppliers usually will: backing type (latex or polyurethane) and the UV warranty term. We are not going to guess at either. If those matter to you, and on a large sun-exposed lawn they should, that gap is itself a reason to ask a supplier for a data sheet. Bunnings' own customer ratings are also worth reading rather than averaging: the 1.8 x 5m Real Tuff roll sits at 4.9 stars while the same product sold by the lineal metre sits at 1.5, which suggests the complaints are about how a cut length arrives rather than the turf itself.
The full range, all the accessory costs, and a worked example for a real backyard are in our Bunnings artificial grass price guide for Melbourne.
What Bunnings' own laying guide covers, and what it leaves out
Bunnings publishes a how-to-lay-synthetic-turf guide, and it is genuinely useful. It walks through measuring up, rolling out and trimming, pegging at 200mm to 300mm spacing, joining lengths with adhesive tape (keeping the blades running the same direction), cutting around obstructions, and spreading sand at 10kg to 15kg per square metre.
The thing to understand is what kind of guide it is. Step one asks you to start with ground that is "smooth and flat", and the accompanying illustration shows an area already covered in levelled fine gravel. In other words it is a laying guide, and it assumes the base is already built. There is no excavation step, no base depth, no road base or crusher dust, no plate compaction, no weed membrane and no drainage fall.
That is not a criticism of the guide so much as a description of its scope, and it matters because the base is the part that decides whether the lawn is still flat in five years. A full install method excavates to around 75mm, lays and compacts road base in layers, screeds crusher dust, and compacts again before any turf comes off the roll. If you follow the Bunnings steps on an existing hard surface such as pavers or a slab, you will get a good result. If you follow them on bare soil, you are skipping the half of the job that fails slowly and invisibly. Our guide to laying artificial grass properly in Melbourne sets out the full sequence.
One honest note on a small conflict: Bunnings specifies peg spacing of 200mm to 300mm, while several trade installation methods use 300mm to 400mm. Both are real published practice and the difference is not something to lose sleep over. Treat it as a range.
Bunnings does install turf, and only in Victoria
This surprises most people, and it is the one part of this comparison that is specific to Melbourne. Bunnings runs a Tuff Turf Installation service in which a service agent prepares the area, lays your chosen Tuff Turf and installs edging. It is available in selected Victorian stores only, so if you are reading this from Sydney or Brisbane it is not an option for you at all.
The details worth knowing before you book: there is a $99 measure-and-quote fee that is not redeemable against the job, the service covers Tuff Turf products only, and travel is included up to 35km from the booking store with excess kilometres charged on top. Booking happens by taking an information card from the synthetic turf aisle to the special orders desk.
The warranty position is worth reading carefully rather than assuming. Bunnings states that the works are guaranteed by the service agent, which means the workmanship guarantee sits with the contractor who does the job rather than with Bunnings itself. That is not unusual for a retailer-brokered trade service, and it is not a reason to avoid it, but it does mean the questions you would ask any installer (who exactly is doing the work, what the guarantee covers, how long it runs) still apply. Ask them.
Realistically this service competes with an independent installer rather than with DIY, and the comparison then comes down to product choice and price. You are limited to the Tuff Turf range, where an independent quote can draw on a supplier's full tier spread. That may or may not matter for your job.
What DIY actually saves, and where it costs you
Industry-wide, a professional job splits roughly into materials (~40%), base preparation (~30%) and labour (~30%). Doing it yourself realistically saves you that labour component. You're still paying for materials, and if you're building a base from scratch, you're still buying road base, a compactor hire, and crusher dust. What DIY doesn't save you from is the base-prep step itself; you're just doing it yourself instead of paying someone experienced to do it, and base prep (specifically under-compacting the road base or skipping a weed membrane) is where CHOICE and industry installation guides both point to as the most common DIY failure point. It doesn't show up on install day; it shows up a year or two later as an uneven surface or drainage that's stopped working properly.
Melbourne artificial turf pricing by tier
| Tier | Supply only ($/m²) | Supplied & installed ($/m²) | Typical lifespan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | $25–40 | $75–95 | 5–8 years |
| Mid | $40–60 | $95–130 | 10–15 years |
| Premium | $60–100+ | $130–160+ | 15–20+ years |
Supplied-and-installed $/m² ranges, 2025–26 Australian pricing (Premier Grass, EasyTurf, All Seasons and others). A DIY retail-roll job typically lands you in supply-only territory at the lower end of this table, plus your own base materials and labour; a professional quote covers the full range end to end.
The honest bottom line
If your job looks like the small-courtyard scenario above, DIY is a sound choice and there's no need to overthink it. If it looks more like a full backyard lawn (any real size, any slope, any drainage question mark), a professional quote is worth getting even if you end up doing some of the work yourself, if only to sanity-check your own base-prep plan against what an experienced installer would do. See our guide to professional turf installation in Melbourne for the full step-by-step method a proper install follows, and our Melbourne fake grass price guide for the full pricing breakdown. If you are still weighing up options, our city-wide guide to Melbourne artificial turf quotes sets out the products, the tiers and the trade-offs. Before you book anyone, our guide to turf installation Melbourne sets out the base depth, seam work and infill that separate a lasting job from a cheap one.
DIY vs professional questions we get asked most
Is Bunnings artificial grass actually bad quality?
No. This isn't a case of good product versus bad product. Retail rolls are a genuine, usable product for the right job; they typically sit at the lighter end of the gauge, density and UV-resistance spectrum compared with trade-supplied product, which matters more on a large, fully-exposed lawn than on a small courtyard patch. Bunnings' own customer ratings on the Tuff Turf range run from 1.5 to 5.0 stars depending on the product and the format it is sold in, so it is worth reading the reviews for the specific SKU rather than the brand.
How much is artificial grass at Bunnings per square metre?
As at 15 August 2026, the landscape range runs from about $17.83 per square metre for 9mm Coolaroo up to roughly $51.50 per square metre for 40mm Tuff Turf Balm Tuff. Mats and tiles work out considerably dearer per square metre and are intended for small patches rather than lawns. Those are supply-only prices and exclude sand, adhesive, tape, pegs and any base materials.
Is Bunnings artificial grass cheaper than buying from a turf supplier?
Not necessarily, and this catches people out. Bunnings' premium turf sits around $50 to $52 per square metre supply only, while supply-only trade product across the market generally runs $25 to $75 per square metre. The Bunnings range overlaps the trade range rather than undercutting it. The real saving in a DIY job comes from doing the labour yourself, not from the price of the turf.
Does Bunnings install artificial grass?
Yes, but only in selected Victorian stores, which makes it a genuine option in Melbourne and not available in Sydney or Brisbane. The Tuff Turf Installation service covers area preparation, laying and edging, using Tuff Turf products only. There is a $99 measure-and-quote fee that is not redeemable against the job, and travel is included up to 35km from the booking store. The workmanship is guaranteed by the service agent who carries out the work rather than by Bunnings.
What does the Bunnings laying guide not tell you?
It is a laying guide rather than a full installation method, and it assumes you are starting from ground that is already smooth, flat and levelled. It covers pegging, joining, cutting and sand infill, but it has no excavation step, no base depth, no road base or compaction, no weed membrane and no drainage fall. On existing pavers or a slab that is fine. On bare soil, the base is the part that determines whether the lawn is still level in five years.
Can I really install artificial grass myself in a weekend?
For a small, flat area that already has a hard, level base (a courtyard, a balcony, a patch of existing pavers), yes, that's a realistic weekend job. For a full backyard lawn with excavation, drainage falls and compaction to get right, a weekend timeframe is optimistic even for someone experienced, and rushing the base is exactly where DIY installs go wrong.
How much do I actually save doing it myself?
Roughly the labour component of a professional job, which industry-wide sits at about 30% of the total cost. Materials and base preparation are still real costs either way. So DIY saves meaningfully, but it's not saving two-thirds of the job; it's saving the install labour while you take on the base-prep risk yourself.
What's the real difference between a retail roll and a trade-supplied product?
Mainly gauge (stitch density), backing type and UV-resistance grade. Finer gauge and higher stitch counts give a denser, more convincing pile; PU backing outperforms latex on moisture resistance and longevity; and higher-grade UV treatment resists fading and brittleness for longer in full sun. Trade suppliers generally offer a wider spread across these specs than a single retail SKU does.
Does a professional install come with a warranty?
Typically yes. Most reputable suppliers offer an 8–15 year product warranty covering UV fade and fibre loss, and a professional installer will usually stand behind their workmanship separately. Warranties generally exclude base failure, pet damage and fire or flood, so read the specific exclusions rather than assuming full cover.
When does it actually make sense to just do it myself?
When the area is small and flat, there's already a solid, level base underneath (existing pavers, compacted gravel, a concrete slab), and you're comfortable with a fiddly, physical weekend of cutting and fixing turf. Once the job involves excavation, slope, drainage, or a base that needs building from scratch, the case for a professional install gets a lot stronger.
Not sure which way to go? Get a free quote and compare
No obligation. See what a professional install actually costs for your yard before deciding.
Get a free, no-obligation quote
Tell us a little about your job and we'll pass it to a vetted local installer.