Straight talk
Most people should have sod installed. A pallet drop is right if you have a crew or a small, flat, bare yard and a free Saturday. DIY on Blackland clay with the old lawn still in place is where new lawns go to die, so here is the honest comparison.
Quote both ways| Delivery only | Delivery + DIY install | Delivery + our install | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | Pallets on the driveway, cut within 48 hours | Pallets on the driveway, plus your weekend | Prep, sod, laying, rolling, first watering, haul-away |
| Typical cost | from $265 per pallet (450 sq ft) | pallets plus sod cutter rental, topsoil, and a dump run | Bermuda $800-1,000 / pallet; Zoysia $800-1,000 / pallet; St. Augustine $800-1,000 / pallet |
| Prep | Yours | Yours | Ours, on the same ticket |
| Guarantee | Fresh on arrival | Fresh on arrival | Fresh on arrival plus 30-day rooting |
| Right for | Landscapers, DIY pros, a second crew on site | Small flat yards, two people, bare ground already | Most homeowners, new builds, shaded or sloped yards, HOA lawns |
Installed ranges are typical for DFW and include prep; the spread inside a range is mostly how much old turf and topsoil the yard needs.
You order by the pallet, we cut it fresh and set it on the driveway within 48 hours, weather permitting. It needs to go down the same day in summer. Best when you already have hands and the ground is prepped.
Pallet pricesRent a sod cutter, strip the old lawn, grade, spread topsoil, lay, roll, water. Two people can do two or three pallets in a day on flat ground. On clay with a slope or shade, the mistakes are expensive and show up in August.
How sod worksOld turf out, grade away from the house, topsoil where the clay needs it, sod laid with staggered joints, rolled, watered in, old turf hauled off. Guaranteed to root for 30 days. Most yards are done in a day.
What install includesOn paper, yes: you save the labor. In practice the savings shrink once you rent a sod cutter, buy topsoil, and haul off the old turf, and a pallet weighs about a ton. It pays off for a small, flat, already-bare yard with two people and a free Saturday.
No. Delivery-only means the forklift sets pallets on your driveway or the street and the rest is yours. Sod needs to go down the same day in warm weather.
Old turf removal or kill, grading away from the house, topsoil where the clay needs it, the sod, laying with staggered joints, rolling, the first watering, and haul-away of the old turf when we do the prep. Plus a 30-day rooting guarantee.
We install what we deliver so we can stand behind it. If you already have pallets on the driveway, call us and we will tell you straight whether we can help.
Tell us the yard and we quote it both ways, delivery only and installed, so you can decide with real numbers.
Still one step back in the decision? Sod vs. seed covers whether seed is even an option for the grass you want.
Tell us the square footage and whether the old lawn is still there. A real person gets back to you with a delivery price and an installed price.
