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Debate: Should you lay sod yourself or pay for pro installation? Here's my $900 lesson
I just finished re-sodding my 800 square foot backyard in Austin and the numbers caught me off guard. I figured I'd save big by doing it myself, spent about $400 on the sod and another $200 on tools and soil prep. But after three weekends of hauling, watering, and fighting with seams, my back is wrecked and the lawn still looks patchy in spots. My neighbor paid $900 for a pro to do the same size yard and it was done in one day with a warranty. Now I'm wondering if the DIY savings are even real when you factor in your time and the risk of messing up. Has anyone else hit a similar cost number and regretted going the cheap route?
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oliverhernandez22d ago
That $900 quote from your neighbor - did it include any prep work or just laying the sod on existing soil? Figuring out what's actually covered in those pro bids makes a difference when you're calculating true cost. If they did the grading and soil amendment too, you basically paid someone else to do your heavy lifting for free.
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angela58722d ago
Oh yeah, the "three weekends" thing really hit home for me. I did my own lawn a few years back and it took way longer than I expected too, plus I didn't even think about grading so it all just got swampy. So yeah, you totally got a bargain if they handled the heavy stuff like soil prep.
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