FIELDLOCK Delivers the Strongest Synthetic Turf Fields in the Industry

Fort Washington, MD (PRWEB) November 27, 2010

The engineering behind FIELDLOCK® targets the #1 repair issue in the artificial turf industry world-wide. The breakdown in seams of an artificial turf field drives more field replacement nationwide, than any other factor. Over time as a turf field goes through heavy use, the glue on the seams weakens and the turf begins to come apart. Schools and parks departments nationwide are facing this growing problem as field’s age and more and more repairs are needed. Many of these fields are at or just beyond their warranty, which means the cost to repair the turf is now falling back on the owner, which can cost thousands of dollars. No current U.S. turf brands have a system designed to reinforce the installed seams on a synthetic turf field, until now.

For over 10 years DOC has focused its corporate resources on improving the quality and durability of artificial turf installations. The principals of DOC have over 50 years of combined experience in installing, repairing and maintaining artificial turf. Most of the industry competition has focused their on marketing developments in turf systems and not on how the fields are installed. DOC focused its resources into methods and systems to make the installation last longer to increase the value for its clients.

TYPICAL INSTALLATION PROCESS:
During the installation of an artificial turf field some of the main seams and most of the markings are installed after the turf is manufactured. All of the numbers, letters, hash marks, soccer arcs, logos and some lines are typically installed in the field during construction. Despite some of the very misleading marketing by some companies, 100% of the field markings that cannot be tufted in a straight line with the panel of turf are installed after the turf is made. It is during this most critical portion of a field installation that DOC leads the industry in the quality and performance of their work.

•     When seams or field markings are being installed the backing of the turf has to be placed down into some type of adhesive product (glue, epoxy, hot melt etc.).
•     If the backing of the turf doesn’t remain in the adhesive long enough for the product to grab it and hold it, the adhesion is not made properly and this area of the seam will typically wear out faster over time.
•     The key to a quality seam is making sure there is solid and constant contact between the turf backing and adhesive being used to secure it.
•     Controlling this portion of the installation work is extremely difficult for architects or project management companies, because different turf brands use different products and methods.

When you look at all these factors and add weather, a rushed construction schedule for companies who sell a lot of fields, it’s no surprise that turf seams have been such a challenge for the industry. In 2010 turf seams are still the #1 repair issue world-wide and why DOC has devoted so much of their corporate resources to addressing this issue.

FIELDLOCK® TECHNICAL OVERVIEW:

•     FIELDLOCK® is the process of installing hundreds of Nylon Reinforcement Fasteners, down through the turf, through the adhesive product, locking the turf down to the seaming material under the field. FIELDLOCK® works with sheared turf systems as well.
•     FIELDLOCK® holds the turf backing down in the adhesive material so it cures with solid contact creating an extremely high quality seam.
•     FIELDLOCK® fasteners will improve the seaming quality of any installation process currently used in the market regardless of turf brand because it reinforces the standard process.
•     FIELDLOCK® fasteners also reinforces the installation at critical wear points, because as fields age the adhesive strength weakens. The FIELDLOCK® fastener provide additional strength to the seam to help aging fields continue their use.
•     FIELDLOCK® fasteners will help extend the life of a synthetic turf field, helping owners to put off the costly investment into a replacement field by up to one or more years.

“When you consider the investment in the FIELDLOCK® system is less than $10,000 per field, it easily justifies itself many times over given the cost of a new synthetic turf field.” stated DOC’s CEO Graham E Hayes II.

•     On a typical American football field there are over 300 hash marks and DOC installs over 1,000 FIELDLOCK® fasteners in the hash marks, providing incredible value for owner of the field.

FIELDLOCK® delivers the strongest fields in the industry. DOC is the industry leader in systems designed to extend the life of a synthetic turf field and the only U.S. turf company with patented technology designed specifically for this purpose. Fields installed with premium installation quality and cared for annually should last for 9 to 11 years. DOC provides annual preventative care and maintenance as part of their standard field package and say owners of their fields will get use beyond the base warranty.

•     Using FIELDLOCK® to reinforce all their seams DOC has maintained the lowest repair rating of any company in the industry, with many of their fields having had no repair requests since the original installation.

Most competitors advertise the names of well-known clients or major endorsements, but rarely do you see any one discussing their average number of field repairs or discussing how many fields they have been replaced in the last few years. DOC Sports Surface Contractors is dedicated to the quality of how artificial turf fields are installed and maintained, and happily discuss the performance of their work. This core focus and over 25 years of experience has separated DOC from the competition based on delivered quality and not how much advertising they do.

“We have never had to take one of our field’s installations out of the ground, and it’s because we focus on the quality of how our fields are installed, instead of how many fields we can sell. This industry is saturated with advertisements focused on the grass, but the key to any field lies in the installation. My partner and I have focused on advancing the installation process, to improve the durability of the fields and FIELDLOCK® is just the tip of iceberg on some of our technology. No turf product regardless of brand can overcome a poor installation and demanding a higher level of installation quality will help extend the life of a field.”

DOC believes once a field is installed coaches and players really don’t care what the brand name is, they don’t care how many NFL teams or major universities are using the same product; what’s important to owners is that their field remains in a quality playable condition for the life of the warranty. “In 25 years of working on these fields I have never had an owner tell me their field was falling part, but because we have XYZ brand they were ok with it.” The DOC line of synthetic turf fields featuring FIELDLOCK® come with 9 year warranty and options of purchasing an extended installation warranty for up to 11 years. DOC’s concept isn’t to have their field die in the 7th year so they can sell a new field at year 8. They believe if their fields last 9, 10 or 11 years the referrals they receive from exceeding their client’s expectations, will grow their business more than if their fields start falling apart in year 7.

DOC is the only turf company in the U.S. that manufactures its owner seaming equipment to ensuring it’s calibrated properly to their synthetic turf products. The relation between seaming systems, seaming equipment, turf products and the adhesives is very important. In 2009 DOC entered into an exclusive partnership with Akzo Nobel, to use their Proline T44 adhesive on all DOC fields. “We are so honored to have partnered with the world’s largest paints and adhesive company on the installation of our fields” states DOC President & COO Braddock “Doc” Boyd. “We have worked closely with their scientist testing and developing the proper use of Proline with our turf to ensure peak performance. Proline is very flexible in its use allowing us to install our fields in wet, dry, hot or cold weather which is challenging with other glue products. When we install our fields with Proline and FIELDLOCK® we know our clients are getting the best the industry has to offer.”

Proline is the only artificial turf adhesive on the U.S. market that comes with a Performance Warranty to matches the warranty of the fields. Akzo Nobel issues a warranty directly to each of DOC’s clients, in addition to DOC’s warranty guaranteeing the performance of the adhesive for the life of the field. If Proline fails and DOC is not around Akzo Nobel will cover the cost of the repair work for life of the warranty. No other U.S. turf company has anything close and combined with FIELDLOCK® makes DOC synthetic turf fields a very sound investment.

ABOUT DOC:
DOC Sports Surface Contractors is located in Fort Washington, Maryland offering a full line of premium synthetic turf for sports fields and landscaping. They have a line of running tracks and modular sports flooring. DOC specializes in the repair and maintenance of artificial turf helping owners repair aging fields with their DOC Service Contact program. (More information found at DOC Service Contracts)

DOC also provides consulting and field inspections services for owners having problems with their field. New to the market is DOC’s proprietary ROLL-AWAY Turf System® designed to convert any basketball court, tennis court or parking lot into an artificial turf surface in about an hour. DOC has sold and or installed over 500 artificial turf fields all around the world, including FIFA recommended fields, NFL and at virtually every other level of play. DOC is the leaders in premium synthetic turf field and limiting their growth ensures the quality for all their customers.

For more information, please visit http://www.docssc.com

Contact:
Corporate Communications
DOC Sports Surface Contractors, LLC
301-292-3865

Investor Relations: info(at)docssc(dot)com

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