Replacing artificial grass with turf?

[ThatPlumPeer]

We moved into a property with artificial grass and we have a dog, well the smell is just awful, will replacing it with real turf control the odour? And has anyone done this before?

I take it you're letting the dog pee and poo on the plastic. Are you washing it every time? You need to think of it as an indoor carpet.

Obviously you'll still want to water down any pee done on real grass, and not just leave the poos.

There is probably some membrane sheet under the plastic that you'll need to remove, check what the soil is like, add some composted manure/soil improver.

Oh I hope you do replace the artificial grass with turf OP.

Just think how wildlife will benefit.

And it will look so much nicer than the horrible artificial stuff.

If the plastic carpet has been installed properly it will have various layers of sand and drainage material underneath, about 6” worth. If you are lucky it will be a DIY job and laid over top soil. Either way I think you’ll need to lift a bit and see what’s underneath. Hope you got a reduction on the property price!

I have rinsed it and washed it so many times using a pet one for artificial grass, it’s the underlay that seems to smell the most, looks almost like what you get on the back of wardrobes.

Yeah I don’t think it’s been laid professionally, it lifts quite easily and seems to have mud underneath then a layer of something which to me looks like thin wood but I have no clue

If you could put up a photo we might be able to advise. Might the thin wood be cardboard? Anything relatively impenetrable can be used as a weed surpressant.

Do you think you'd be willing to remove it yourself? It sounds like you might feel more confident getting a gardener to do it. It's definitely doable yourself but will take a bit of time and following a plan.

Dig down in a corner if you can. It can be simply laid on soil or it could be on a foot or more of compacted hardcore and sand depending on how professionally it has been laid. We have lifted some and it was full of sand which makes it incredibly heavy. But if you have a decent bit of artificial turf people will take it off your hands just advertise it on Facebook marketplace. Just make sure you're not leaving yourself with a massive job reinstating grass first.