Synthetic surfaces company FieldTurf is undergoing an extensive re-application process for turf purchased by San Diego County Schools which have begun to degrade, affecting the appearance of the fields.
Following initial signs of a manufacturing issue, San Diego schools opted to upgrade to a superior product, called Revolution.
The Revolution turf, which can cost between $400,000 and $900,000 to install, is under warranty to last eight years. However, several of the superior fields have begun to show similar signs after only two to three years.
In a document sent to the city of San Diego in October 2015, FieldTurf claimed the manufacturing issue would affect only a small number of fields.
At some locations, such as Torrey Pines high school, FieldTurf has undertaken a complete replacement of the upgraded fields. At others, such as Patrick Henry high school, the company is attempting to strengthen the fields by applying a thousand-gallon coating of glue.
According to Voice of San Diego, the glue coating is not exactly a quick fix.
Applying the latex adhesive, called Beybond, requires the company to vacuum up the crumb rubber and sand infill from between the synthetic blades, pour on the glue, and then reapply the layers of cushioning material. The whole process takes about a week.
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FieldTurf has assured the affected schools that Beybond is completely safe and will not have an impact on the drainage abilities of the reaffixed fields.
In a statement, company officials said, "As a company, FieldTurf is proactive in regularly assessing customer fields to monitor for any issues. In some cases this includes remediating fields to ensure peak performance. We can usually do this at minimum inconvenience to the customer."
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