Sod Takeoff: Rolls and Pallets, Grading, Topsoil, Starter Fertilizer, Water, and the First 30 Days

Rolls and pallets for your lawn with the cutting waste, the grade and the topsoil, the starter fertilizer and the lime, the watering schedule for the first month, the mow date, and the cost per sq ft against seed and hydroseed.

Sod is ordered by the roll and delivered by the pallet, and the roll size is the number to confirm with the grower before you count: a 15 in by 24 in roll covers 2.5 sq ft, a 2 sq ft roll covers 2 sq ft, and a jumbo square-yard roll covers 9 sq ft. The takeoff is the area divided by the coverage with 8 to 12 percent for the cuts at the edges, the strips, the circles, the corners, the tree rings, and the second pass on a slope, and the pallet count follows from the roll count.

—Rolls and pallets with cutting waste
—Grading, topsoil, fertility, and lime
—Water in gallons and the first-month schedule
—Delivery, lay day, mow date, and traffic date
—Sod, prep, and cost per sq ft by grass
—Sod against seed, hydroseed, sprigs, and plugs
How the math works
  • Rolls: area divided by the roll coverage times 1.10 for the cuts, edges, circles, tree rings, corners, and slope passes, rounded up, then divided by 40 for the pallet count. Roll coverage is 2.5 sq ft on a 15 in by 24 in roll, 2 sq ft on a small roll, and 9 sq ft on a square-yard jumbo, and a pallet at 40 rolls is 80 sq ft, 100 sq ft, and 360 sq ft respectively.
  • Topsoil: cubic yards = sq ft times inches divided by 12 divided by 27. At 2 in on 2,000 sq ft that is 12.3 cubic yards, 2 truck loads at 10 cubic yards heaped, spread at 30 to 55 dollars per cubic yard delivered.
  • Fertility: a starter at 1.4 lb per 1,000 sq ft of a 16-20-0 band worked into the top 2 in, ag lime at 1.5 lb per 1,000 sq ft on a 5.5 to 6.2 pH, and a county soil test at 18 to 35 dollars with the pH, phosphorus, potassium, organic matter, and lead on an urban lot.
  • Water: 1 in of water on 1 sq ft is 0.62 gallons, so gallons a week = sq ft divided by 12. Establishment watering is 10 to 15 minutes twice a day for 5 to 7 days, once a day for 10 to 14 days, then every 2 to 3 days, with 1 in a week at 4 weeks.
  • Cost band: delivered sod at 35 to 95 cents per sq ft by grass, laying at 35 cents per sq ft, prep at 20 to 40 cents per sq ft, total 90 cents to 1.70 dollars per sq ft installed, against seed and straw at 22 to 38 cents per sq ft, hydroseed at 25 to 45 cents, and sprigs at 30 to 55 cents with a fill year.
Lawn establishment takeoff tool on published sod coverage, grower price bands, county soil test practice, university extension establishment guidance, and standard laying practice. Sod roll coverage varies by grower, by the cutter width, by the knife setting, by the mat thickness, and by the 2 in to 4 in soil layer on the roll, and the coverage number on the pallet tag from your grower is the controlling number for a takeoff. Local rules on a lawn water restriction with a day, hour, zone, and duration limit with a new-lawn exemption with a permit, a required irrigation permit, a required backflow test, a required backflow assembly, a required rain sensor, a required controller, a required flow valve, a required well and a septic tie-in, a required erosion control and a silt fence on a graded lot, a required construction exit, a required detention pond seeding, a required roadside and a right-of-way seeding with a DOT spec, a required seed with a weed-free certification and a noxious weed list, a required buffer strip, a required buffer at a water, a required buffer at a wetland, a required septic and a drain field planting with a tree and a shrub line, a required fence line, a required septic and a mound planting, a required tree protection, a required landscape plan, a required landscape permit, a required turf in a fire district with a defensible space, a required turf in a wildfire region, a required turf in a HOA with a front yard plant palette, a required minimum turf percentage in a zoning district, a required turf on a slope, a required turf in a steep slope with a required drainage, a required lawn in a wellhead protection area, a required pesticide and a fertilizer notice, a required fertilizer nutrient management plan, a required phosphorus ban, a required fertilizer record, a required buffer at a storm drain, a required lawn at a pool with a barrier, a required lawn at a septic mound, and a required lawn in a wild rice and a critical habitat area are all set by the authority having jurisdiction, the water provider, the extension agent, the DOT spec, and the grower. Sod, topsoil, fertilizer, delivery, and installed prices vary by region, by farm, by fuel, by the pallet count on the truck, and by the Friday before a holiday weekend, and a sod quote with no prep line, no roller line, no irrigation line, and no watering line in it is a quote with a dead-lawn risk in it.

How many rolls of sod do I need for 2,000 square feet?

About 880 rolls on a 2.5 sq ft roll: 2,000 divided by 2.5 times 1.10 for the cuts, edges, circles, tree rings, corners, and the second pass on a slope, delivered as 22 pallets at 40 rolls a pallet. Confirm the roll coverage with your grower first: a 2 sq ft roll needs 1,100 rolls on the same lawn and a square-yard jumbo needs 245 rolls.

How much topsoil do I need before laying sod?

2 in on 2,000 sq ft is 12.3 cubic yards, 2 truck loads at 10 cubic yards heaped, delivered and spread at 30 to 55 dollars per cubic yard. A topsoil depth under 3 in on a compacted builder subgrade is a lawn rooting in a plate, and 4 to 6 in of loosened, screeded, rolled soil is the sod bed.

How often do you water new sod?

Within 30 minutes of laying, 10 to 15 minutes twice a day for 5 to 7 days, once a day for 10 to 14 days, then every 2 to 3 days, and 1 in of water a week at 4 weeks. Watering is measured by a screwdriver into the seam to the depth of the roll and a lift test at 14 days with a corner that does not come up.

When do you mow new sod and walk on it?

The first mow is at day 18 on a bermuda, day 21 to 24 on a tall fescue, day 24 on St. Augustine, and day 28 on a Kentucky bluegrass and a zoysia, at the tall height with a sharp blade, on a dry turf, with the roots holding. Traffic is 3 to 4 weeks on bermuda, 4 to 6 weeks on fescue and bluegrass, and 6 to 8 weeks on zoysia and St. Augustine.

Is sod cheaper than seed?

Sod runs 90 cents to 1.70 dollars per sq ft installed with the prep, the laying, and the watering plan, against 22 to 38 cents per sq ft for seed and straw, 25 to 45 cents for hydroseed, and 30 to 55 cents for sprigs with a fill year. Sod is the lawn on day one with a mow at 3 weeks, seed is a lawn in 8 to 12 weeks with 3 times the watering labour and a weed year, hydroseed is the slope answer, and sprigs are the warm-season lawn at half the sod cost with a fill year.

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