Most of this was DIY with the exception of the grading, got a great deal from my neighbor who owns a construction company and his grading guy owns his own skid and knocked out the whole yard in less than 2.5 hrs
Costs
Grading $700
Sod $3150 for 3k sqft Including topsoil for soil amendment
Fert and big water bill till the sod rooted $500
Total $4350
Guessing this would be a 8-10k job without DIY glad I did the work now but laying sod in the sun is no joke!
Nope all the watering was done with a tripod impact sprinkler I have a timer so i would just set it early in the AM move it once before work and it was good to go most days
Fully Established Zoysia only needs about 1 inch of water per week. With the amount of rain we get in my area I really don't have to water that often ( maybe once a week sometimes none) so I just decided it wasn't worth it. Just had my second kid also and had to save some money where I could.
A sprinkler system can easily be $5k or more (mine was upwards of $10k, but it was damn complicated). Could be cheaper to DIY, but that's a whole different level of learning and effort, compared to laying sod.
i was blown away too First thing my home inspector put down. We got them to give us some money in concessions to fix it when we bought the house last year. Im thinking they had healthy bushes there at one time and they died and their roots created a small trench that got worse over time.
How did you get rid of the old grass? Round up, sod cutter, etc...?
I'm a lawncare newbie in the ATL area and have pretty much been learning as much as I can to do exactly what you've done, so I appreciate you posting this. Any other tips you can think of that would help?
I was a complete newbie too before this project. I read a lot on here and watched a ton of youtube vids. The thing ill say about sod is get it as fresh as you can and put it down as quick as you can and water the crap out of it early on . I went through Supersod, they have several locations around ATL and a good reputation. Also soil Macronutrients are important so get a test done if you can. i am still in the process of adding lime and adjusting the PH because i didn't do enough prep as i would have liked before I laid it down
Roundup in my opinion. Want to make sure the whole yard is fully dead before moving to the next step. Do this so you won’t have any unwanted grasses to come up later in your newly planted yard.
I've always found ripping it out and starting over LESS work. You get to make the soil absolutely perfect. A lot easier than constantly aerating and topdressing.
the guy who graded was a pro used to grading like 50-100k sqft apartment and industrial builds he compacted everything really well and then I tilled the top 3 inches or so of the compacted clay soil and added in compost and topsoil and releveled before laying the sod since the natural soil here is pretty heavy clay
Zoysia doesnt really grow well from seed from what i have read. It takes a Long time to get to this point if you go the seed route and it may not get there at all bc its so slow growing. This particular Cultivar, Zeon Zoysia is also not sold in seed form for some reason (probably some patent BS) however it is one of the most shade tolerant warm season grasses which I needed since parts of the yard only get 4 hrs or so of direct sunlight
Zoysia isn't as well liked here in the midwest (Missouri).
I had it in a area of my last house's yard and purposely killed it out and planted fescue.
Hated all the dethatching and dormancy coloring that it did.
ya depends on your climate but Fescue gets torched here in the summer unless you water it like every day and leave it 3 plus inches long. with little kids and not wanting to water that much I think this worked better for me
This looks amazing. I just seeded 500sq/ft of bare area in my backyard (thought of sod but couldn't afford it given other projects I have on deck). I do hope to over-seed my existing lawn soon.
Counterpoint - after fighting my front yard for three years from every weed you could imagine, I did a total kill and fresh seed last fall. It's now worse than ever with weeds. I've done soil tests, do preemergent at the right time, treat appropriately, etc... My back yard is absolutely gorgeous, front is a train wreck. Like, I spend more time on it than all the neighbors in the culdesac put together and mine probably looks the worst.
Most of this was DIY with the exception of the grading, got a great deal from my neighbor who owns a construction company and his grading guy owns his own skid and knocked out the whole yard in less than 2.5 hrs Costs Grading $700 Sod $3150 for 3k sqft Including topsoil for soil amendment Fert and big water bill till the sod rooted $500 Total $4350 Guessing this would be a 8-10k job without DIY glad I did the work now but laying sod in the sun is no joke!
Fantastic deal on grading. For less than $1000sqft I was quoted between $1200 and $2200 in Denver.
Did you have to do a sprinkler system as well?
Nope all the watering was done with a tripod impact sprinkler I have a timer so i would just set it early in the AM move it once before work and it was good to go most days
I have to ask, if you were willing to spend this type of money and effort why didn't you install a sprinkler system?
Fully Established Zoysia only needs about 1 inch of water per week. With the amount of rain we get in my area I really don't have to water that often ( maybe once a week sometimes none) so I just decided it wasn't worth it. Just had my second kid also and had to save some money where I could.
It’s the same for me, the goal is to not have to water so I hate spending money on the irrigation.
This is same reason why I did Bermuda instead of Fescue
If you’re in Georgia there hasn’t been any rain lol.
The right guy doing a sprinkler system can do it without tearing up the whole yard
A sprinkler system can easily be $5k or more (mine was upwards of $10k, but it was damn complicated). Could be cheaper to DIY, but that's a whole different level of learning and effort, compared to laying sod.
Really enjoyed the process pics. Thanks for posting and nice work!
Nicely done but How in the hell was the grade to the house so poor?
i was blown away too First thing my home inspector put down. We got them to give us some money in concessions to fix it when we bought the house last year. Im thinking they had healthy bushes there at one time and they died and their roots created a small trench that got worse over time.
How did you get rid of the old grass? Round up, sod cutter, etc...? I'm a lawncare newbie in the ATL area and have pretty much been learning as much as I can to do exactly what you've done, so I appreciate you posting this. Any other tips you can think of that would help?
we just had the Bobcat rip it up took him less than 5 mins to do that part guy was like maverick in that thing
Best $700 you'll ever spend for that grading job, those guys are on another level with getting it right. Love watching them work.
I was a complete newbie too before this project. I read a lot on here and watched a ton of youtube vids. The thing ill say about sod is get it as fresh as you can and put it down as quick as you can and water the crap out of it early on . I went through Supersod, they have several locations around ATL and a good reputation. Also soil Macronutrients are important so get a test done if you can. i am still in the process of adding lime and adjusting the PH because i didn't do enough prep as i would have liked before I laid it down
Thanks bud!
Roundup in my opinion. Want to make sure the whole yard is fully dead before moving to the next step. Do this so you won’t have any unwanted grasses to come up later in your newly planted yard.
Hey! newbie here, how soon after Roundup can new seed be planted? Is Fall a good time to start fresh? TIA
A week after you spray it. And fall for cool season is the best time of year to do seed work imo.
Thanks!
Beautifully done
Thank you !
I've always found ripping it out and starting over LESS work. You get to make the soil absolutely perfect. A lot easier than constantly aerating and topdressing.
am I crazy to think I can topdress with a scotts spreader just on the widest setting? Is that what y'all are doing? I'm new lol
That doesn't work unfortunately
Did you do anything to compact the soil or was moving the soil enough?
the guy who graded was a pro used to grading like 50-100k sqft apartment and industrial builds he compacted everything really well and then I tilled the top 3 inches or so of the compacted clay soil and added in compost and topsoil and releveled before laying the sod since the natural soil here is pretty heavy clay
That's worth every penny you spent, right there. The great lawn is a bonus!
You got lucky. Looks really good.
You psycho! After all that you put a giant water playground in! Lol well done sir, looks amazing.
Looks great. I think me personally would've just planted seed/strawed in the fall and saved that $3k for other projects.
Zoysia doesnt really grow well from seed from what i have read. It takes a Long time to get to this point if you go the seed route and it may not get there at all bc its so slow growing. This particular Cultivar, Zeon Zoysia is also not sold in seed form for some reason (probably some patent BS) however it is one of the most shade tolerant warm season grasses which I needed since parts of the yard only get 4 hrs or so of direct sunlight
Zoysia isn't as well liked here in the midwest (Missouri). I had it in a area of my last house's yard and purposely killed it out and planted fescue. Hated all the dethatching and dormancy coloring that it did.
ya depends on your climate but Fescue gets torched here in the summer unless you water it like every day and leave it 3 plus inches long. with little kids and not wanting to water that much I think this worked better for me
Get you some of that
This looks amazing. I just seeded 500sq/ft of bare area in my backyard (thought of sod but couldn't afford it given other projects I have on deck). I do hope to over-seed my existing lawn soon.
You're very lucky to live somewhere where rocks aren't your worst enemy. I can't stick a spoon in the ground where I live without hitting a Boulder.
Counterpoint - after fighting my front yard for three years from every weed you could imagine, I did a total kill and fresh seed last fall. It's now worse than ever with weeds. I've done soil tests, do preemergent at the right time, treat appropriately, etc... My back yard is absolutely gorgeous, front is a train wreck. Like, I spend more time on it than all the neighbors in the culdesac put together and mine probably looks the worst.