We've got a very small back yard, half is baked in the sun all day while the other half stays in the shade. Hard to keep grass and it's that awkwardly small size where a mower isn't needed, but a weed eater doesn't make what grass I can keep look nice. Recently noticed a few homes downtown here that half gone with artificial turf. I have to say it actually looks very nice and from 10ish feet away I couldn't tell it was fake. Spoke to one homeowner and he said it has been nothing but great for them.

I've started looking around online and watching YouTube videos. Install looks labor intensive, but not worried about that. Mainly looking for any opinions on material/brands.

Does it have to be artificial turf? I've seen a number of small back yards nicely filled with decorative gravel, lava rocks, and paving stones. Personally, I'd prefer something like that over astroturf.

You skipped town before The Summit opened. They have a 20'x20' free space area that is artificial turf.
Even when standing on it it looks real. It is much softer than old artificial turf used to be but it is not shoes off soft grass.
It seems to hold up very well as the area gets tons of foot traffic, cornhole games, wood furniture dragged across it. Plus you just hose it righ off if something gets on it.
Only downfall is price. As you have seen a good install for proper drainage is quite labor intensive.
I actually priced it at our old house for the backyard as it was never anything but a dust bowl or mud pit. I think it was upwards of $75 or $80 a square foot. That of course included removal of the old grass, proper grading, and drainage prep, materials, and artificial turf install.

If I had the coin I would do it.

Sounds like a putting green waiting to happen.

Check these guys out:

https://southwestgreens.com/

-Rob

I've thought about rocks, pavers or the likes. But we have two dogs and that little backyard is great for letting them out on lunch or right before bed. The one guy I spoke to here that has it said his dog uses it all the time and they don't notice any odors. That being said I have seen products online that control odors in the turf if it becomes a problem.

Black, did you take a look at any actual products? I've seen online that Lowes carries a brand, I'll have to look around next time I'm in there to see if they have a sample I can put my hands on. As you mentioned the cost is up there when hired out. I'm confident enough that I can do the install to save on the labor. I'd only be looking at roughly a 15'x 15' area as the rest is patio/flower beds already.

If you had artificial turf, you wouldn’t need a blade on your lawnmower.

Where can you buy seeds for artificial turf? I can't find any on Amazon or at Lowes or HD.

I talked with a local place about 7 years ago so I am sure it is even better now, maybe even more expensive.
I said I was looking for something that would stand up to a GSD and a pitbull. That would drain well and not discolor since they usually went in the same area.
Said it would not be a problem and would not smell as long as one picked up the solids and hosed the rest down a couple times a week. In the summers one could put Simple Green in a hose sprayer and that would help with the smell and disinfect.
Being that I was looking to do a 50'x30' area the cost was not going to happen that I did not want to bother them with details or brining the samples out to the house.
For a 15'x15' spot I likely would have done it in a heartbeat.

Just looked at doing this in our yard and we passed. The cost was very high. I got quotes from 12-15 per square foot and that was the cheaper stuff. Half our yard gets sun all day and the guy said the grass would also get really hot baking in the sun all day. I am worried about the drainage with two dogs. We have those pup pads on the deck and when the sun hits them the dog urine smells bad. This is even after cleaning them really good.
There is a house on our block that has it and he is dealing with a installation. He has weeds coming in around the edges and where the company meshed the two large pieces together.
Good luck on your decision.

Buddy of mine just had it done in his little backyard, he didn't meet their minimum of 300 sq ft so he paid $2500 for 250 square feet with some type of ecobarrier underneath it so his dogs urine wouldn't stink.

There's a dog park near to use that has recycle artificial tuff from a football field.

I will be truly surprised if the urine from two dogs peeing on a patch of artificial turf doesn't begin to reek after a month or two, even if you rinse it down every day. Where does it go? Is there a drain for it to run into?

I'd ask the installer for several references and check reviews on various social media.

Doubting Thomas

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Does it have to be artificial turf? I've seen a number of small back yards nicely filled with decorative gravel, lava rocks, and paving stones. Personally, I'd prefer something like that over astroturf.

Agreed. Natural stone would be preferable to plastic grass.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
I will be truly surprised if the urine from two dogs peeing on a patch of artificial turf doesn't begin to reek after a month or two, even if you rinse it down every day. Where does it go? Is there a drain for it to run into?

I'd ask the installer for several references and check reviews on various social media.

Doubting Thomas

If done properly yes and goes into the soil just like a regular yard.

When we moved, our new house had a small, shaded back yard that would not grow thick grass and was a mud pit.

We have two little kids and wanted to have a swing set so rocks or paving stones or landscaping weren't a great choice for us. We wanted the kids to be able to run and play and kick balls and so on.

We did artificial turf. We've been pretty happy with it. It does get a little hot after a while in full sun.

It's great as a kid and dog play surface. We had them install it with an extra cushion layer under the turf like they do at playgrounds, so it isn't bad to fall on. The way they install artificial turf is basically to lay it down and then rake sand into it to hold it down. Our installer added a bunch of MicroBan granules to the sand.

Apparently the ammonia smell from urine occurs when microbes break urine down into ammonia and carbon dioxide. The MicroBan pretty much stops that from happening. We have two dogs and a pretty small yard and there generally isn't an objectionable odor. If we have a few weeks without rain there is eventually a not-ammonia unpleasant smell, but five minutes with the hose fixes it, and you'll have the same problem with grass or rocks if you don't wash it off periodically (for example, with a sprinkler).

Of course, you have to water grass, so it tends to get rinsed off more frequently. There's no reason you can't use a sprinkler on artificial turf, too, though.

There is no mud, there is no standing water. (In the middle of Harvey, there was no standing water on the artificial turf.) It's nice.

Unanticipated bonus: the dogs are NEVER muddy when they come in from going to the bathroom during or after rain.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
I will be truly surprised if the urine from two dogs peeing on a patch of artificial turf doesn't begin to reek after a month or two, even if you rinse it down every day. Where does it go? Is there a drain for it to run into?

I'd ask the installer for several references and check reviews on various social media.

Doubting Thomas

It's porous so the water runs right through it when it rains into the ground below it, similar to real grass.

One of the houses I am involved with has it in the backyard and in the last 2 years it has held up great and almost looks like real grass.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
I will be truly surprised if the urine from two dogs peeing on a patch of artificial turf doesn't begin to reek after a month or two, even if you rinse it down every day. Where does it go? Is there a drain for it to run into?

I'd ask the installer for several references and check reviews on various social media.

Doubting Thomas

It's porous so the water runs right through it when it rains into the ground below it, similar to real grass.

One of the houses I am involved with has it in the backyard and in the last 2 years it has held up great and almost looks like real grass.

The turf we got is rated to drain 30 inches of water per hour. The backing is full of holes.

They also dig up the yard to drain down to a drain in the middle of the yard, then fill it in with rocks and sand to level it, so there's basically a French drain under the entire yard. Water goes through the backing into the rocks and flows very quickly downhill to the drain.

No standing water on the fake grass at any time during Harvey.