Cost of digging and seeding a lawn

[brokeagain]

We are trying to sell a three bed semi but the lawn in the back hasn't been touched since the house was built 3 years ago. The developer just levelled it and never seed it so it is now covered in weeds up to 3 feet tall with very strong roots. We tried about digging it up with shovels but this proved impossible and far to much hard work. My next idea is to hire a mini digger and skip and dig it up and then reseed it but I really havn't a clue what I am doing so it might not end up any better that it is at the moment. The digger would cost 150 -200 to rent and the skip would cost €100.

my question is how much would it cost to hire someone to do this job? The area is approx 500sq ft.

Thanks for any help with this.

 

[PADDYBOY99]

Spray it and in four week hire a rotavator. A days rotativating followed by raking and seeding the next day should do it. However you will need to do it soon. the "SUMMER" is coming to an end.

 

[DeclanP]

As Paddyboy suggests, spray it to death but then get a load of top soil (you would get more than enough for around €100 delivered), rake it level and seed it. Add a bit of nitrogen to bring on the grass and you would have a nice looking lawn by september.

 

[brokeagain]

Hi,


Thanks for the feedback. We sprayed it about 8 weeks ago and the grass/weeds are dead but they are still there if you know what I mean. The dead grass/weeds have clumped together so it is impossibe to get to the soil. Would a rotavator be able to get throught this??

Thanks,

 

[Guest117]

you should be able to rake off most of the dead weeds and then rotivate the soil then rake out the stones, roots ets and seed and fertilise it.

Another option is to get a landscaper to roll out new sod on it. Ready made lawn but more expensive

 

[brokeagain]

I just got a quote of €950 to do the following:
· Spray existing weeds/grass
· strip of all the old grass and weeds and dispose.
· Dig up, rake and seed.
Is this a reasonable quote or is it OTT?

Badge55, the problem is that the ground is not even. Would a normal rotovator be able to cope with this? I think there is a lot of rubble from building under a fine layer of soil so maybe it would be better to get a load of topsoil to over up dead weed??

 

[mathepac]

...Badge55, the problem is that the ground is not even. Would a normal rotovator be able to cope with this? I think there is a lot of rubble from building under a fine layer of soil so maybe it would be better to get a load of topsoil to over up dead weed??

brokeagain, I suspect that you would need to do the following to get a satisfactory outcome :
·Strip off all the old grass and weeds and dispose.
· Dig up rocks, building rubble and dispose (mini-digger and skip)
· Level plot (mini-digger / rotovator)
· Spread new top-soil to a depth of 6/8 inches (rotovator)
· Level plot
·Rake and seed.

I have no idea what it would cost but it will probably be more than €950.