[MOW ED]

I might be in over my head but I want to try. A potential customer has a lawn that needs help. First off, its a sodded lawn that is established for 2 years but was eaten by patch disease. I have measured aprox 3000 sq ft of overseeding. It is a 20,000 total sq ft lawn with aprox 8K (front) sodded. He has recently added a sprinkler system. I need some help with the dirt.

The second part that kind of puzzles me is that he has a section of lawn next to his driveway that has sunk. it measures aprox 55 x 5 so lets go with an even 300 sq ft.
I was planning to cut the sod out next to the drive and add black dirt. As it sits now it is 2" low. After the sod goes it may be 4" low.
I am not sure how much dirt to have trucked in to A. raise the grade and B. to use for overseeding.

I didn't bid yet but this is what I was thinking.
Prices:
seed Elite blend Ky 80/20 1.49# x 25# =37.35
1 yard dirt picked up = 15.00 x 5 yards(?)= 60.00
1 bail straw 4.00 x 4 = 16.00
sod cutter rent = 35.00/4 hours
wb dethatcher rent = 35.00/4 hours.
I may be wrong in doing this but if you have a better suggestion I am all "eyes".
I am a newbie at doing the overseed and regrading and would appreciate any and all suggestions. I was gonna charge him 375.00 but I think I am missing something.

Thanks.

[Stonehenge]

Hey Mow - you're season getting under way? We've started, but have been sputtering with all the rain lately...

That 'patch disease' - are you talking about dog duty patches? Or have you diagnosed something else? I'd want to make sure whatever 'disease' was there is gone before you reseed or sod.

That 55'x5' area, I would bet, is the settling around the water service line. You'll want to either just grade some soil on top of the existing sunken turf and reseed, or strip the sod as you mention. In stripping, take out about a foot more than what's sunken, and feather in the new soil, leaving a bit of a crest in the middle to allow for a bit of settling of the new soil. Then relay that sod. The customer will need to treat that sod just like it was new, watering it often in the first two weeks.

The overseeding Is there existing turf in that 3,000 sqft area, or is it totally dead throughout? If there's still turf - check with a rental yard near you for a slit seeder - it drops seeds into little slits made by the machine, increasing the odds of germination (and lowering the odds of bird theft!). No soil or straw needed.

As for prices, the quantity of seed sounds a little heavy for 3,000 sqft, but certainly go with whatever that blend recommends. 5-10# sounds more like it for 3,000 sqft of overseeding.

For cutting out the sod, regrading and relaying the sod, I'd come in around - $280 (provided you are also doing the rest of this work, too). For 300 sqft, adding 2" all the way around, you'll need about 2 yards.

For the dethatching and slit seeding, I'd likely charge another $250.

Your costs are going to be around $10-15 for seed, $100 for rentals, depending on what eqpt you have/don't have.


Has the yard been torn up from the sprinkler installation?

[MOW ED]

Thanks for the quick reply. My season started real well and then has really sputtered to a stop with all the rain. I'll get to aerate tomorrow and finish fert and some mulch deliverys but the bread and butter dethatching stuff is stopped until we dry.

The lawn looks like it had patch disease. He said that it browned up in some of those areas right after it got hot last summer. There is one area where it looks like it is all gone, (20 X20) just dead. Other areas have some growth in between so the dethatcher will rip it up and then I'll take out some dirt. I'm planning on scraping out those bad areas and adding some soil. Am I gonna be ok with 5 yards for the whole job? I'll check on a slitseeder but I think Reinders has the ryan. I used a bluebird a few years back and it was a POS.
He hasn't had the sprinkler system installed yet which is why I am dragging my feet on the bid. I think he is gonna want those little trenches reseeded.
I figured the seed to be about 10 lbs too but I will buy a 25lb bag. I appreciate the advice.
When you mentioned dethatching and slitseeding for 250 is that for the 3000 sq ft area or for the entire lawn?
Thanks again.

[Stonehenge]

Hmmm...If you're going to rip it up and add topsoil, I'd want to till it in with a tiller, so you can have a nice mix of the soils. You might also want to have a soil test done - just go to the county extension office:

Paul Hartman, Horticulture Agent
Brown County Extension Office
1150 Bellevue St.
Green Bay, WI 54302
(920) 391-4610,

and they'll give you (or rent you) a core sample tool and some special bags and instructions on how to take a sample. Give it back to them, they'll send it to Madison (I think) to have an analysis done on it, and provide recommendations to improve the soil/turf.

If Reinders is using the same slit-seeder I used a couple years ago, make sure you have them give you a demo (because it didn't work when I used it last).

That price was for 3,000 sqft, not the whole enchilada.

5 yards should be more than enough topsoil - maybe even too much. I'm not sure how much you're taking out of that 3,000 sqft area, so I'm not really sure.

I'd be proactive and include a line item for fixing the sprinkler lines...that way he can't hit you up for them while on the site, expecting them to be freebies.

Hope that's helpful.

Good luck!

Jeff

[BRL]

My price for that job would be around $600.00 probably. As Stonehenge said, 2 yards should take care of the sunken section. What are the other 3 yards going to be used for? If you are overseeding with the detahatcher or an overseeder, you don't need to add soil to the other 3,000 sq ft section, unless there is a reason to not mentioned.

"That 'patch disease' - are you talking about dog duty patches? Or have you diagnosed something else? I'd want to make sure whatever 'disease' was there is gone before you reseed or sod."

There are several "patch" diseases that can occur on lawns. They are a function of the pathogen being present at the right temperatures & the right moisture conditions. Looking at dead patches of lawn that happened last year, the damage could look the same as what someone incorrectly spraying round up, insect damage, or a disease might look like IMO. So it's probably hard to say for sure that the lawn suffered from a "patch disease" last year without more details IMO. Here are a couple of sites to help identify turf diseases:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/p.../disease1.html

http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/pla...cap/pp950w.htm

[Nebraska]

My cost for the Elite is $2.60 per pound....3000 SF at 5lbs per 1000 = 15lbs of seed is $39 plus tax.

We use a rate of 1/2 yard of dirt for 40 SF at 2 inches deep. Never failed us.

Sod cutter runs $60 for 4 hours.

Dethatcher would run $40 for 4 hours.

Total for seed, sod cutter, dethatcher, and 5 yards of dirt would run at least $200. Even if it's 2-3 yards of dirt moving it is the worst part of this job. I would bet that you plan on scooping from a truck to wheel barrow.....You will hate yourself the next morning if your are not amply compensated (you will be sore).

I have to agree with BRL you would want to be around $500-600 depending upon your costs and depending upon how your current work load is. The manual dirt aspect of this job is one of my least favorites and I suspect many others here as well...