Cost to sod 1/2 acre = $21,000. Is this too high?

louisarose – posted 22 August 2007 18:02

Hi and thank you for reading my question. My family is working with a landscaper to have a half-acre (our whole front yard) sodded with St Augustine. The quote is $21,000. We are worried this is too high but have no way to know for sure.

Another price he has quoted us is $16,000 to have the backyard beds defined and encircled with two strips of St Augustine. There are about thirty beds; the beds are about 8-12 foot circles around trees.

The final price is $15,000 to have our current dirt driveway graded and made into a sand-shell driveway.

We really are inexperienced and we do like the man very much. But this is a lot of money. We don’t know who else to ask. If you know anything about having sod installed, it would mean a lot to us if you could help. We appreciate your time.

Thanks,Louisa Rose

hankhill – posted 23 August 2007 00:19

Wow that’s a big lawn. With something thatbig, some people will keep an area closeto their house in tight control (i.e. wellmowed & trimmed, uniform grass, etc.) andlet the rest of the property go natural,just mowing when it reaches a certain height.

With that much St. Augustine, you’d needa lawn service to keep it right. If youlike doing stuff yourself, that’s a negative.

theplantation2860 – posted 23 August 2007 05:48

That seems really high. Here in FL, it’s roughly $125 per pallet including installation. Say a half acre is roughly 22,000 sq ft., and 1 pallet covers 400 sq ft., that’s 55 pallett. 55 x $125= $6875. Even if you had to pay $150 per pallet, that would be $8250. What part of the country are you in?

Alex_in_FL – posted 27 October 2007 21:49

Seems high but:1. Is yard ready for sod or covered with weeds? If weeds present then need to kill those first and that takes labor + chemicals.2. Are they putting out a pre-emergent or just laying the sod?3. Are they raking/leveling the area?

If they do 1-3 then those carry a cost. if just putting out sod, then $21,000 seems very high.

Call 2 – 3 nurseries or turfgrass suppliers and get quotes. That’s best way to determine price.

Almaroad – posted 30 October 2007 15:44

St. Augustine generally runs about $95/pallet and about $40/pallet to have it put down. I personally think they are gouging you. This is for ready to lay. Did that 21K price include prep and starter fertilizer? You could prep it yourself, order the sod, and hire some legal immigrant help. I really like our mexican help. They do a wonderful job and are honest workers. Rethink the situation. BTW where are you located?

tdub33 – posted 20 March 2008 23:10

my yard is a little over a half acre and we were quoted 9,800 for our entire yard to be resodded.