Artificial turf in Conway, SC, priced one area at a time.

Keep what works and change the difficult patch.

A dog’s route from the back door, a worn patch beside the patio or the space for a practice green can be a better starting point than the entire yard. Mark the beds, trees and paths you want to retain. For putting, decide which distances and directions you want to practice.

Gates, steps and material access affect installation as well as the finished turf area. Bring any survey or site plan and include the route to the back yard in the visit.

Bring photos from after the rain.

If water collects beside the house or comes across from another property, show us where and when it happens. Rain photos can explain something a dry-day visit misses. Ask for any drainage work and unresolved conditions to be identified in the estimate.

Check whether the parcel is inside Conway or in unincorporated Horry County before asking about requirements. If the property has floodplain concerns, grading or drainage changes need their own review; turf is a surface choice, not a flood-control solution.

City limits change who reviews the project.

Use the address and parcel number when checking jurisdiction. The City of Conway GIS page links separate city-limit, zoning and flood maps. Start there instead of treating a Conway mailing address as proof that every city rule applies.

Inside the city, Planning and Development handles land-use questions and tree protection, while Construction Services handles building permits. For an unincorporated address, start with Horry County Planning and Zoning. Describe the whole job: turf area, excavation, imported base, grading, drains and any fence changes. Ask which reviews apply. An answer about replacing a surface may not cover a separate drainage alteration.

If an association also governs the property, ask whether the proposed change requires an application or approval, and obtain any required response before work starts. City or county review does not establish what an individual association will approve.

Two separate homeowners associations in Conway share a similar name, and they are not the same rulebook: Myrtle Trace and Myrtle Trace South are distinct covenant communities, each with its own governing documents. Myrtle Trace's Architectural Review Committee approves landscaping changes and tree removal in advance, requires yards to stay neat and orderly, and reviews dog-run location and structure — ask the committee whether artificial turf counts as a landscaping change before you plan a project. Myrtle Trace South has its own by-laws, covenants and a published Modification Guidelines page for exterior and landscaping changes, though the guideline text itself isn't posted publicly; request the current version from that association before assuming what it allows. Get the answer from your own community's association, not the one next door — the shared name doesn't mean shared rules.

Garden Grove, Hainer Place, Jordan Grove, Meadows at Four Mile and Willows at Pitch Landing are newer subdivisions on the Conway side of Horry County. Confirm the parcel with the same city GIS lookup described above, and if your community has a homeowners association, ask it for its current covenants or design guidelines, including whether artificial turf is handled differently from natural lawn, before you plan the project.

Red Hill borders Conway on the south side, along US 501 toward Myrtle Beach. Adrian is about 7 miles north of Conway. Toddville is south of Conway on US 701. Homewood sits just north of Conway. All four are unincorporated Horry County, the same as any other address outside the city limits above — none carries a rule of its own. Use the same GIS lookup to confirm the parcel is outside city limits, and start with Horry County Planning and Zoning rather than Conway's city departments.

Show the wet area and where water can leave.

Conway publishes property-level floodplain guidance, including maps and a Building Department contact. Its definition of development includes filling, grading and excavating. If the work area is in a mapped flood hazard area, take the proposed preparation to that department before assuming a yard project falls outside review.

For the estimate, point out water collecting beside the patio, runoff arriving from another property, and downspout discharge. Photos taken after ordinary rain can explain a problem that is invisible during a dry visit. Mark drains and low channels on the plan. The useful question is where water from the finished area is intended to go, and whether that route is available.

Treat a turf conversion and a flood-control project as different scopes. Ask for drainage work, exclusions and unresolved site conditions to be written down. Avoid choosing a base depth from a town-wide soil description or assuming a new surface makes a flood-prone property flood-proof.

Fit the installation around what stays.

Measure the route from the unloading point to the back yard as well as the turf area. Gates, steps, fences and material-storage space affect how work can be carried out. Identify irrigation, utility routes, patio edges and trees you want to keep. Conway Planning is the city contact for tree-protection questions; raise them before including excavation or removal in the layout.

For a putting green, mark the standing area, cup locations and room for any chipping you want to practice. For a dog run, show the exit from the house and access for cleaning. For a lawn, decide whether the whole yard needs conversion or a smaller, heavily used area solves the problem.

Bring any survey or approved site plan to the free visit. Ask the written estimate to distinguish turf, preparation, edging and cleanup from work needing another decision. Compare layouts against the same scope instead of comparing square-foot prices that cover different jobs.