Answers to commonly asked questions from the experts on Thumbtack.
Do I need to rototill before laying sod?
Whether you rototill before laying sod depends on your preference, but your ground needs to be prepared for the sod to take root in the soil. A rototiller makes it easy to till up compacted earth so that new sod can easily take hold, but there are other methods you can do. Consult with a sodding professional to discuss which preparation steps should take place before laying sod.
Who can lay sod near me?
Landscapers and sod installation specialists can lay sod. When choosing a professional to lay sod in your yard, read their ratings and reviews from customers. Also, search for photos that showcase actual work done by the pro. And always get cost estimates from several sodding professionals so you can get an idea of how much you should pay for their services.
When should you lay sod?
Sod can be laid any time of the year, though the best time to do so is in the spring or early fall. During this time, temperatures are cooler but grass is still growing.
Summer isn’t ideal for laying sod (but still possible), as the high temperatures demand extra watering that can not only drive up your water bill. It can also make conditions ideal for mold and fungi.
Can you lay sod over existing grass?
There are differing opinions about this topic, which is why you should talk to a sodding professional near you to find out if it’s possible to lay sod over your particular lawn. In some cases, it might be possible. For example, some professionals say the new sod will kill the existing grass underneath and release nutrients that will benefit the new sod.
However, others believe the old grass will disrupt the sod's ability to take root in the soil, and it will die due to a lack of nutrients.
How much does it cost to sod your yard?
If you plan on sodding your yard, expect to pay between $250 and $1,250. You can get a better idea of your own cost by requesting free estimates from sodding professionals near you and calculating the square footage of your yard. Other factors will also affect your cost, including delivery prices, any prep work that needs to be done and additional labor costs.
Great service. Shows up and gets the job done! Sod install was a great! Had 5 pallets of sod installed.
Lou's Quality Lawn and LandScaping Services
Collin S.
I would avoid working with Lou’s. The sod was laid, so that is good news. The job took multiple trips over multiple days. After quoting a set price for the area he came out and looked at, we ended up needing to purchase another $200 worth of sod to finish the job.
The sod is good quality, but the installation quality is poor. The lawn is very “hilly” and patchy. The sod was laid unevenly and there are multiple spots of dirt where there is missing sod.
Lou's Quality Lawn and LandScaping Services
Thumbtack Customer
Sod installed awesome job great service highly recommend them
Lou's Quality Lawn and LandScaping Services
Thumbtack Customer
Quick responses, great rates, and the team was able to come out in a matter of days to install sod. Would definitely work with Lou's again!
Lou's Quality Lawn and LandScaping Services
Ashley W.
Mr. Bryant arrived on time and completed installing my new sod in a timely manner. He was professional and easy to deal with. I highly recommend them!
Bryant Landscaping
Thumbtack Customer
Awesome job installing sod! Mr. Merritt is extremely professional, hard working and reasonably priced. Would highly recommend him for any lawn care need.
Merritt Movers
Kay W.
Antonio responded promptly with an estimate and was able to answer all questions about the project. He and his crew installed 8 pallets of sod ...on a Sunday and
did a wonderful job!
Antonio Lanscaping
Lisa B.
It has only been three days since Eden's Utopia, Inc. did my sod install, but so far my lawn looks amazing! Great work.
Eden's Utopia, Inc
John J.
Roderick and his team did a great job installing sod. He delivered on what he said he would do. I have already rehired Roderick for a new project.
Lou's Quality Lawn and LandScaping Services
Thumbtack Customer
Quick quote, excellent rates and Lou and his crew did an excellent job with my sod, tree removal and mulch. My yard looks the best it has in a long time! Thank you!
Lou's Quality Lawn and LandScaping Services
Thumbtack Customer
After a previously failed sod install through another company, I hired Lou's to finish the job and they came through very, very quickly. I am extremely satisfied with the work and their help with getting me out of a bind.
Lou's Quality Lawn and LandScaping Services
Kate R.
We had Lou's team out to re-sod our yard and it looked incredible! Not only was the work done quickly and incredibly well, the price came in lower than any other offer we had. Highly recommend this team!! You absolutely won't be let down.
Lou's Quality Lawn and LandScaping Services
Otmar G.
This Pro responds quickly to messages. They showed up on time and completed the job very fast. They were very easy to work with and cleaned up afterwards. They paid attention to details and did superior quality work. I’m very satisfied with the sod installation and will definitely hire them again in the future.
Lou's Quality Lawn and LandScaping Services
Alisa P.
Great job from these guys! Re sodded our front lawn, is helping grow out our back yards grass! We bought plants and he planted them for us. Fresh mulch. All of this for a reasonable price!! Definitely will be hiring then to come out every 2 weeks to maintain! Thanks guys for all the hard work!
Lou's Quality Lawn and LandScaping Services
Thumbtack Customer
Lou's plowed and re-sodded my front yard. He did a great job; even my neighbor down the street came by to tell me how nice it looked. Roderick was always here on time; he responded to all my calls and text messages expediently. Very nice guy. I thought his name was Lou and that's what I called him the whole time; he never corrected me.
Lou's Quality Lawn and LandScaping Services
Victoria D.
I’m happy with the service that Lou provided for the most part. Him and his team were quick and professional. I would of given him 5 stars but the sod was not the best looking. His communication was excellent and he worked with me to insure my sprinklers on my irrigation system hit all areas of the grass, so it should be fine. All in all I’m happy with the company. And to update on the grass it is rooting nicely and with some fertilizer in a few weeks it should do even better.
Lou's Quality Lawn and LandScaping Services
Thumbtack Customer
They came and did exactly what I wanted done. Cleared out my old grass / weeds. Sodded my front yard and put new mulch in the areas around my palm trees & bushes after trimming / clearing those areas too. A few other landscaping companies didn't even return my calls since the temps were in the 100+ range. But Lou's was on top of it. He met me on a Monday afternoon & the job was done that Friday before I even got home from work. No complaints.
Lou's Quality Lawn and LandScaping Services
Gigi G.
When you're left stunned and staring at your lawn not knowing where to start-- THAT right there says SO much. If only I could put it into words! These guys deserve more than what they charged! They did such a phenomenal job in the cold and rain, no less! And when all the big rocks decided to give their machine a fight, they ended up doing the rest by hand! And there were a LOT of rocks-- a LOT of rocks! Along with a ton of bushes, trees, weeds... omgosh it was such an eyesore... Yes, I had the neighborhood's worst lawn (I felt so bad and embarrassed) with everything overgrown! I honestly didn't think anyone would want to tackle such a yard, but "no" is not part of their vocabulary. For sure they'd take 1 look and see how tedious the work would be and keep driving, but this company has been a dream to work with and they were up for the challenge.
From the moment I decided to jump online and send out requests they were the first to answer, and their honest communication throughout the whole project with solid customer service and superb work ethics have me telling everyone I know to go with these guys. No need to keep looking around for a company with integrity. These guys are the real deal!!!! And I don't even get to write reviews because it's so hard to find the time for even self care or sleep, but I just needed to let them know how much I appreciate their help and what they did for me meant so much.
I'm actually tearing writing this right now, because I've never been able to give mom or my kids a yard with fresh sod and sprinklers until this year and it turned out so incredibly beautiful!!!! I'm so, so glad I chose to reach out to River Oaks Lawn service and that it was them that came out to do the job, because they clearly love what they do, know what they're doing and delivered what they said they'd do in the time frame needed! It was for mom's 83rd birthday and she had a massive stroke that has her now paralyzed (the yard was her life) and they even got it done sooner than the original dates allotted because they wanted to make sure they'd come through for her. We're talking about a company with heart and compassion on top of being educated, professional, reliable, kind, caring, friendly, courteous, easy to work with the list goes on! I'm telling you to stop wasting your time looking into other companies because these guys have what it takes to make your lawn looking absolutely gorgeous! They even put in solar lights as a gift to mom! I'm so very thankful because it gets so dark at night and it's a curved pathway with a side entrance (where mom fell), so it not only helps to see your way, but also showcases our new lovely view! Now, I can smile when I look out my window😊. The yard looks so much bigger too! Having a yard free of debris, excessive trees, bushes and overgrown weeds have really been a pick me up, so if you're still asking yourself if it'll be a good investment the answer is YES.
Refresh your yard! It helped my well-being! I say go for it! I have a usable yard now? Am I at the right address?! The compliments I get from neighbors staring at my yard now have me glowing in such hard times. I don't deserve the compliments. They're the ones that worked so hard. River Oaks Lawn Service deserves them all!!! I'm so HAPPY I now have a yard I'm proud of while taking care of everything inside the house. River Oaks will definitely be my go-to for lawncare giving me the extra hands I need and a sense of peace for taking care of what's outside the house. 👐👍🏡 🙌 And no, I wasn't paid for this review. I was genuinely impressed by how everything was handled and their willingness to help. They were brave lol!
Once my yard was graded and had thick, green grass I just stared in awe feeling a sense of accomplishment lol-- they deserve all the credit-- knowing I wasn't the eyesore on the street anymore, knowing I'd finally come home without cringing, feeling stressed out about the lawn, because my cousins and neighbors would talk to me outside, and the nurses and therapists come to the scary lawn house lol. I was constantly trying not to feel overwhelmed out there. I tried to do it myself, but only managed to get to the hedges. My cousins helped for two days pulling out weeds but of course they grew back, and it was just a huge job. We didn't have the tools or exact know-how or even the time with kids and parents to take care of. To me the lawn is like an extension of myself and I wanted what was best for the kids and family. I was scared for them to fall, run through the yard and get hurt. We couldn't utilize the yard at all. Every inch of it was overgrown. I felt like everyone had the wrong impression of me lol and my family. Now, I have a lawn people admire and love coming home to.😍🏡😀 I really LOVE my lawn!!!!
The first time I drove up to the house with the lawn all pretty, I just couldn't get over it. I wanted to leave again just to drive back to gawk at my own lawn lol! It's truly an unbelievable feeling! And it was so sunny that day which made it even prettier to look at.🌞🏡👀😁 I never once doubted that if my yard looked neater, cleaner and was healthier that I'd feel better too. Message this company! You won't regret it! I couldn't write this review fast enough because there's just so many good things to say! They've already come back to check on the sprinklers making sure the grass was being properly watered, sprayed the front bed and walkway to kill the weeds, fertilized the new sod and just yesterday it had its first cut!
River Oaks Lawn service made my home feel welcoming and brought positivity to my life and I'm sure to my neighbors too! It was so worth it! If you're serious about getting your yard done please contact them.
By entrusting a pro they're giving you an extra place to hang out, relax, or play in because they made it better, safer, more beautiful and it won't take months or years doing it yourself, losing even more precious time. Again, I'm tearing because I never got to play in mom's yard when I was younger, and now with kids of my own they can finally benefit from a fresh, clean yard, get some vitamin D, and exercise their sillies out. 🌳🌸🌞👩👧👦 For once, we were able to use the lawn in time for mom's birthday!!! 🎂🥧🍰🍨🎉🎁🎈River Oaks made it possible because they were true to their word! (I lived 3000 miles away and flew in to help once I found out about mom and dad! Yes, both of them were in the hospital!) River Oaks even suggested a designated area for a bistro set, so now she has a place outside for her to get fresh air and I'm so excited that this is even possible! 🌺🏵🌸🌼🌷🌻 Celebrating mom making it almost a year after her stroke! Being reunited with her grandkids! In her favorite place-- her beautiful yard!!! After months and months of seeing such a mess lol! It's like night and day! All thanks to River Oaks Lawn Service! Sorry for the novel but I was seriously firing out truths! So many truths! These guys rock. They're friggin awesome. Period. You won't be disappointed. Please contact them now!!! If you want stellar service I'm telling you they're a wonderful company. There's not enough thanks for what they did for mom's lawn and for my family. 🙌👏👏👏👏👏👏🙌👍👍👍👍👍
For those that are still on the fence, they actually listen to your needs, they explain everything to you, their communication is on point, right down to billing and what card company they use. They'll come out to assess your lawn. They'll send the estimate for review and all they require is your digital signature for approval and deposit for materials. The remaining contract payment will be due upon completion. They'll tell you how many days the project should take. They'll send a deposit link. The link will be through their card company, Square. It will then send you a receipt and let you know when the final payment is due. It's so easy to read in a super, simple format. Also, for any last minute requests, they give you the due date to tell them, and when they have your project marked for start and completion. You WILL have a lawn your neighbors will be envious of when they're done!!!!😁 I now have curb appeal😄 OMG Yayyy!!!! *pinching self doing my happy dance* Thank you River Oaks!!!!😊 Can't wait to do the jungle in the back😅🙈🌲🌳🌴🌾🌿🍂🌱⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wish I had found this company sooner!!! I was too embarrassed to put up Christmas lights this past winter because the yard looked awful, so my doorway only had lights lol. Not anymore!!! Message them!!! Do it now!!!!
River Oaks Lawn Solutions
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