Anyone got artificial grass?

[Mudeverywhere]

Dogs and Kids have destroyed the grass in my small back garden and I think the answer may be artificial grass. Anyone else gone down this route and what are the pros and cons? I've been quoted £1500 to supply and lay 30 square metres which includes rotovating the ground. This is supposed to be with good quality reasonably realistic looking artificial grass. Also quoted additional £1500 to replace and relay and slightly extend a patio area of about 20 square metres - is this reasonable? Price includes disposal of old paving through a terraced house. Thanks

Apparently artificial grass stinks if you get pet wee on it. This is what has deterred me.

Fox wee/poo certainly stinks but it's been fine to wash it away with no lingering smells. Have cats but no dogs and the cats make use of the neighbours gardens as they do generally so I can't comment beyond the passing London foxes.

Pro's
If you get the expensive kind it looks natural except in the dead of winter when it's just that little too green
You can send the kids out to the garden to play right before going somewhere and they won't come back in filthy after 20 secs
It dries really quickly, much faster than real grass which is handy with the above point

Con's
It has to be swept/hoovered fairly regularly and you do feel like a bit of a pillock out hoovering the lawn
You need to protect it like a carpet if you are doing outdoor jobs like sanding and painting which is a bit tedious. With proper grass you'd just give it a hair cut.
Seeds, weeds and stuff can grow in it if you don't sweep up leaves etc
On a boiling hot day, the grass will warm up so you won't get that lovely feeling of sinking your toes into cool grass

The price sounds reasonable to me but "good quality reasonably realistic looking" is a subjective view. Get samples !!

I used to live near a house where they laid it in their front garden. After a few years it turned blue.

Thanks very much. I have been told by another dog owner that if you spray (or sprinkle from a watering can) diluted pet odour eliminator on artificial grass it stops any smelly dog smells you might get in hot weather. Ideally I would prefer real grass but artificial is better than mud with the occasional blade of grass which is what we currently have.

I think it's got a shelf life of about 10 yrs so you can always go back to natural grass when there's a little less doggy digging and football going on in the back garden