Each panel is designed with a built-in expansion joint which is larger than the amount of expansion which occurs in the plastic panel, hence allowing all movement to occur from panel to panel without affecting overall area size or flatness preventing unwanted heaving or warp.

It is important to gap panels properly in order to allow proper expansion and contraction. Failing to gap panels properly could result in panel distortion due to normal temperature increase.

Simply stated, we are a structure! Not a shock pad, not a drain mat, but a structure that is a great shock pad and a great drain mat, an all-in-one answer to base preparation.

The patented locking system allows interlocked panels to flow easily over contoured crowned areas, creating contours approved by the United States Golf Association. Once assembled, the turf is placed on the panels making for a perfect ball roll with no evidence of panel joints, etc.

The design of UBS allows the energy which occurs during falls and play to dissipate away for the athlete. In essence, hits to the surface are absorbed by the panel and turf, making for a very safe and playable surface.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of UBS is our ability to manufacture the panels from different types of plastic polymers, which allows us to make a very flexible panel for playground installation, or semi-rigid panel for a field installation over a concrete or asphalt base. A more rigid panel is used when a deeper pile turf with more infill installed over an earth base is the process. The goal is to choose the blend which best satisfies your installation area, turf style, and infill amount.

Professional panels will drain at a rate of 341 inches per hour vertically with no turf, and approximately 145 inches per hour with a full infill system at a 2 ¼” pile height. The water flow under the panels is evacuating at a rate of 96 inches per hour. Champion panels will drain at a rate of 1,582 inches per hour vertically with no turf. The water flow under the panels is evacuating at a rate of 126 inches per hour.

An in-depth geological report will better answer this question, but to state it simply, remove the top layer of organics, fill in low areas or create proper flatness or pitch fully compact the entire area, select proper geotextile based soil condition and install the panels. Decisions such as perimeter drainage and the choice of permeable or impermeable geotextile should be consulted with site engineers.

Very much so. Not only does this material control the water flow entering or not entering in the earth, but the recommended geotextile from UBS is an important stabilizer for the panels, helping distribute the load evenly across the prepared base.

Virtually any style turf system can be used with UBS. From golf turfs, to filled or non-filled sports turfs and pet turfs, the system is designed to work with any turf system.

It is our goal to have UBS used virtually anywhere. If you have a project on a rooftop or parking lot, a new field construction project or retrofitting an existing grass field into synthetic turf system, we have the solution. We have created ball fields, playgrounds, dog runs, golf greens, driving ranges, tee lines, game courts, batting cages and recreational grass areas, to name a few.

An enormous amount of test data has been collected over the last several years and is all available on our website or by request.

UBS offers a 10 year warranty on manufacturing defects but the reality is the panels are not exposed to harmful UV since they are under the turf and the life expectancy will be that much greater.

Each panel measures 28 inches by 28 inches with a usable size of 5.44 sq ft. Metric size is .71 m x .71 m, usable size is .504 sq. m. Each Professional Panel weighs approximately 9 pounds/4.1 kilograms, and each Champion Panel weighs approximately 5.64 pounds/2.55 kilograms.

Yes, the open cell design of the panels stores approximately 3.58 gallons of water per Professional Panel and 1.85 gallons per Champion Panel.

Recent testing by ISA shows a very consistent GMAX rating on multiple drops throughout an installation indicating very consistent feel throughout.

We provide installation holes for UBS screws but they are not necessary. We only provide them due to the fact that some golf installers like to screw smaller pieces of the panels to larger ones when cutting out the shape of a putting green, but for 99% of installations the fasteners are not recommended.

As with the fasteners we have provided a location for a UBS spike or an off the shelf round metal spike. Again, we do not feel these are necessary and if used, the installation procedure will vary slightly since you will be locking the outer perimeter in place. We provided them for small installations which may have a high vandalism possibility but we have had very few instances where it was necessary due to the fact that once assembled the installation transforms in to a large unified mass.

The turf is typically fastened to the outer edge of the panels using a pneumatic staple gun with stainless steel U-shaped staples. We DO NOT anchor the turf except on the edge to allow the entire system to move. The UBS system also eliminates the need for a wood or concrete nailer board.

One of the biggest complaints we hear about the pad systems is the extreme slippage that occurs with the turf. Our patented turf barbs dramatically reduce this unwanted movement during play or vehicle traffic creating an installation that stays put and does not slide or move, which could ruin the installation appearance. The turf barbs also allow for the use of non-filled turf making this feature perfect for indoor, rooftop or temporary installations.

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Depending on the blend, we have panels that can handle loads in excess of 1000 pounds per sq. inch making emergency vehicle or maintenance vehicle traffic on the field a non-issue.

The modular characteristic of UBS makes them perfect for permanent installations as well as temporary installations which need to be disassembled and reinstalled in another location.

Extensive testing shows that an insignificant amount of fill material will find its way through the turf and wash out via the panel holes. In other words this is not a problem.

Yes. UBS is a structural base system designed to reduce or, in some cases, totally replace rock base construction.

The engineered cell design of UBS provides great GMAX impact safety results as well as other crucial safety advantages such as ball roll, ball bounce, foot rotation and energy restitution.

Yes to all. The underside design of each UBS panel is engineered to rapidly move water down through the panel and/or flow under the panel to a desired location when installed over an impermeable area. If rain is excessive, water is temporarily stored under the panel away from the bottom of the turf.

No.  Our system is designed as a free-floating system. When necessary the turf can be attached to the outer top edge of the outer perimeter panels after the turf has been stretched and filled.

Our patented turf barb system prevents unwanted turf movement during installation and play. An industry first!

It is our belief there are virtually no limits to the locations a field can be constructed. Indoors, outdoors, rooftops, parking lots, new construction, retrofit and existing grass field, the sky is the limit with UBS.

Yes. We realized the importance of a non-concrete base system many years before our competitors. In fact the first plastic tile court ever built on one of our panels systems was back in 2005.

Let’s be honest. A basketball will always bounce better on an expensive concrete slab but if water restrictions or zoning limitations are hindering your dream for a home or commercial court system, UBS is the perfect solution.

Yes. Our panels can only perform as well as the prepared base. Proper earth compaction and geo stabilization fabric are key to a great court.

In our opinion this is all about the complete system. Different pile heights and densities of turf as well as amounts and types of fill all play a role in drop heights. The UBS playground panel is a work in progress. We are achieving encouraging fall numbers on lower drop heights and working on a base preparation system to achieve fall heights over 6 ft. Our goal is to bring a safe product to the market and not over promise the results.

The UltraBaseSystems playground panels are molded from a soft elastomeric polymer which creates a softer fall zone than our standard panels. The advantage of our product over a foam base is the proven drainage UBS provides and the ease of installation every UBS system affords. The base is prepped, the panels assembled and the turf installed. The difference is the soft feel underfoot.

Yes. The flexible nature of the UBS playground panel allows for the panel to be cut and flexed around a pole making it easy to work around existing obstacles.

The world isn’t flat and neither should your putting green. It may not seem like it at first glance, but the patented UDS design allows our panels to follow every contour or slope the USGA allows. We have been the “go to” product worldwide for nearly every major golf organization as well as most of the top club and equipment manufacturers. We do golf better than any other product in the world, and we prove it every day.

Easy!  A rock base can never be perfect. Someone stomping across the green can cause a dent in the sub base or an over industrious critter under the turf can destroy a base over night. Not to mention drainage issues. With UltraBaseSystems, you are putting on an engineered, near perfect base. It’s all about ball roll, and turf rolls better on UBS than rock. That’s a fact!!

Hitting balls in to the green has more to do with the turf and the infill recipe of sand and rubber than the panels. We are working on base prep ideas to make the turf selection not as critical and this will be a major advantage for the putting green installers. So, yes you can hit shots in to a panel green just like a rock base green but make sure the installer knows his stuff.

We once had a top executive from a global leader of interlocking pavers tell us that in 70% of the cases of failed installations it is the base prep that failed. Our goal is to use the structural integrity of the panel system and its psi strength to create a structurally superior base that drains rapidly and allows the pavers to maintain planarity. By that, we mean that single pavers are far less likely to become misaligned due to movement in the sub base. Each panel locks with the other creating a sea of interlocked panels, all moving in harmony with each other.

If the sub base has been compacted properly and stabilized, then the panels and pavers will have ridiculously high load capacity allowing for vehicle traffic.

If the pavers are top-dressed with sand or other porous medium, then yes.   However, if polymeric sand is used and water flow restricted then the pitch of the area must be engineered properly to prevent pools of water from collecting. The panels flow at hundreds of inches per hour so, if it rains, we drain!

In most cases, the feces are scooped up, and the pet urine is washed through the panels and into the ground or allowed to run under the panels into drain systems. Proper sanitation is always important in pet areas—they are part of the family you know!

The UBS patented turf barbs keep the turf in place and, when sand infill coupled with a sanitary enzyme is added to the turf (to add a bit of ballast) and the turf secured on the perimeter edges, sit back and watch the dogs have a safe and fun time.

Most certainly, in fact we have done several large indoor pet day cares. The important issue is that adequate sanitation drainage systems and water flow is introduced often to keep the area clean and safe. There are several good enzymes on the market that can be added to the turf to help control odor, so as in all good installations, planning is key.

All of the UBS panels are designed to flex and follow the contours of existing or created terrain. The new UBS Champion panels was designed with this extreme contouring in mind making it a favorite of synthetic turf landscapers.

To put it simply, why would you want a pile of rock in your yard? The UBS design creates stability and drainage flow without tearing apart your yard only to have to remove all that stone and replace with earth if the next homeowner isn’t in love with the synthetic turf look.

Absolutely!  Of course, there are proper turfs and stabilization fabrics to consider prior to installation, but the UBS panel system creates a solid, well-draining base for any pet mess.

No, from 10 sq. ft. to 10,000 sq. ft., the system works the same regardless of size.

That is our specialty! We have been installing rooftop putting greens and green scape areas all over the world for over 10 years. These structurally superior yet lightweight panels make them an architect’s dream product.  When installing over a parking lot it is as easy as laying out the panels according to the installation guide, installing the turf and in an instant you have a beautiful recreation or sports area.

The fabric needs a high tensile strength and low elongation.

We recognized early on that this product is much more than a weed barrier. The fabrics we selected and tested add to the structural stability of the UBS panels, hence helping stabilize the ground.

We want this fabric to act like a support layer for the panels. By using a fabric like the ones we suggest, the panels stay resting on top of the properly prepared base which helps insure the horizontal drain slots stay clear. Without a stabilization fabric, the panels could sink in to the ground, choking horizontal flow.

Permeable allows water to flow through, and impermeable prevents water from passing into the ground.

There are three major causes of a base failure: water, water, and water. If you have ground such as expansive clay soil, eliminating water from getting to the clay dramatically reduces the risk of base failure as well as reduces the amount of ground excavation and rock replacement.

UltraBaseSystems is an engineer’s dream product. Weighing less than two pounds per sq. ft., the structurally sound panels pose no load concerns for most roofing structures.

In most cases, yes, the panels are engineered with a radius-ribbed bottom. However, in some cases, such as a rubber membrane, an additional stabilization fabric may be advised in order to ensure minimal indentation to the roof membrane.

Historically no, we have built hundreds of rooftop installations where the weight of the turf on top of the panels is all that is needed to keep the panels secured to the roof. The low profile aerodynamic design of the panels has, so far, allowed us to simply position the panels on the roof and install the turf. However, we do have methodologies of fastening the panels to a roof structure if there is a concern for high wind conditions. Consult our sales staff for this information.