Sod Pricing
The price of sod will vary due to different factors. Installations done by Atkinson range anywhere from a few hundred square feet to a few thousand square feet. Small to average sized installations will cost between $6 – $12/sqft including excavation/disposal, soil installation, sod and fertilizing. Larger sod installation will see some price per sqft savings due to economies of scale and may be as low as $3/sqft depending on the situation. Some of the factors that affect this price are as follows:
Square footage – The size of the area is the largest cost determinant. The larger the area the better price we can offer.
Access – Typically, the existing lawn is scraped out, new topsoil is brought in, and the sod is installed. The more difficult the access the more labour time required.
Type of the Existing Material/Excavation – If the existing material is already prepared for the new sod, the installation is quite simple and quick. However, if the existing material is of poor quality and needs to be replaced with good topsoil this will increase the cost.
Sod Pricing Case Studies
Significant Height Raising
This sod installation first required a full excavation of the area. The excavated material was disposed of and then several yards of turf soil was brought in to raise the height of the lawn. The total grass area of this project is 320sqft. Swipe to the before photo and you can see just how much the new lawn had to be raised up to be level with the back deck area. The back row of shrubs even had to be removed and then replanted at the new height!
PRICE: $3693 (grass only 320≈ $11.54/sqft)
Minimal Excavation with Terrible Access
This project had the worst access imaginable (swipe to see). Luckily there was minimal excavation needed, and that which was we were able to dispose of in an area below that is going to be covered by a future deck. Still a few yards of turf soil and 50 rolls of sod were moved down the stairs to the job site. This total grass area of this installation is 425sqft (about 100sqft more than our previous example). Even though the grass area is larger, this installations budget came in $500 less than the previous example for two reasons. The first due to our ability to dispose of excavated material directly on-site. The second due to much less turf soil needing to be brought in to raise the level of the new lawn.
PRICE: $3099 (grass only 425sqft ≈ $7.29/sqft)