You bought a Chandler house with turf already in it. Now what?

Chandler has a lot of turf and a lot of it changed hands with the house. Homes across 85224, 85225, 85226, 85248, 85249 and 85286 span decades of build eras and several waves of turf popularity, so when you buy here you frequently inherit a yard that somebody else specced, installed and used, often with their own dogs.

That is a different situation from turf you chose. You do not know the product, the infill, the install date or the history of use, and all four affect how the yard is going to behave once your dog starts using it. This article is a walkthrough for figuring out what you actually have, before your first Chandler summer makes the decision for you.

Step 1: work out roughly how old it is

Age is the biggest predictor of how a yard will respond to cleaning, and it is usually knowable even without paperwork.

• Check the seller disclosure and any listing photos from previous sales. Old listing photos are the single easiest way to date a yard, and they often show the turf in better condition, which gives you a target.
• Look at the color against a shaded section. Arizona sun fades turf. If the exposed area is noticeably lighter than a strip that has been under a patio cover, you are looking at years of UV exposure.
• Look at the blade tips. Older turf and heavy-traffic turf shows split and abraded tips that no cleaning restores.
• Check the seam quality. Tape seams that have opened slightly and edges pulling off nails are usually a sign of age plus monsoon cycles rather than a bad install.

Why it matters: cleaning a six-year-old yard in decent shape usually produces a genuine change. Cleaning turf that is at the end of its life will improve it and will not make it new, and you should know which one you own before you spend money.

Step 2: find out what the previous owner's pets did

Nobody discloses this, so you have to read the yard. Dogs are creatures of routine and they leave a map.

1. 1Look for a worn path. Dogs run the same route, usually along the wall or fence line and out to the gate. A flattened, thinner strip is a traffic path, and traffic paths are where infill has been kicked out.
2. 2Look for a favored spot. Most dogs use one or two areas. Those spots often read slightly different in color, drain slower, and are where the smell concentrates on a hot afternoon.
3. 3Do the heat test. On a hot day, walk the yard in late afternoon. Residue that is invisible in the morning announces itself at 4pm. This is the single most useful ten minutes you can spend.
4. 4Check the perimeter against the block wall. Runoff and residue collect at the low edge, and if the yard slopes toward the wall you will find it there.

Step 3: check the infill

This is the part most homeowners skip and it tells you the most. Kneel down in three places: a traffic path, the dog's favored spot, and a corner nobody uses.

• Push your fingers down into the pile in each spot. In good condition you should meet loose granular material.
• A crust you have to break through means compacted infill. Expect slower drainage and concentrated odor there.
• Backing you can feel with almost no material above it means infill has been displaced or blown out, which is common along traffic paths and near where a blower has been used aggressively.
• Pull a pinch out and look at it. Clean sand looks like sand. Infill that is grey, clumping or smells when you warm it in your hand is holding residue.

Hard water is worth mentioning here because it is a Valley-wide reality. Years of rinsing with hard water leaves mineral deposit in the infill along with everything else, which contributes to that crusted texture. It is not a defect in your yard, it is just what happens here, and it is part of why hosing gets less effective over time.

Step 4: test drainage before monsoon does

Monsoon runs roughly mid-June through September and it will find every drainage flaw in a yard. Better to know in March.

1. 1Take a five gallon bucket of water to the dog's favored spot and pour it out steadily.
2. 2Time how long the surface takes to clear. You are not looking for an absolute number, you are comparing spots.
3. 3Repeat in a corner nobody uses. If the used spot is dramatically slower, that is compaction or a base issue in that area.
4. 4Repeat at the lowest point of the yard. If water sits there, that is where storm runoff will sit too.

One caveat specific to inherited turf: if a previous owner had the yard regraded, added a paver patio or extended hardscape after the turf went in, the drainage plan the installer designed may no longer be the drainage plan the yard has. That is a common cause of a slow spot that nothing on the surface explains.

Step 5: decide what to actually do

Before your dog starts using it

If you are moving in with a dog and the yard has never been yours, the sequence that saves money is: inspect, then clean if it is warranted, then start your maintenance habits on a known baseline. Cleaning first and inspecting later is how people end up paying twice on a yard with a drainage fault.

If you would rather not do the walkthrough yourself, send us photos of the yard including a close-up of the infill in the dog's favored spot, and we will tell you what we can see and what we would want to check in person.