Use a lawn mower to scalp the lawn, use a power rake to grade/remove more grass, probably mow/scalp again. make it as much dirt as possible. Then, bring in sand/soil to level out, more soil as a base, then laying sod.

If paying the extra money for sod is not an issue then this is the best/fastest way to hit the reset button.

I'll add, if you decide to go this route and can wait until the fall, you're basically talking about a renovation. The only extra step you would add is time to kill the existing lawn, followed by the steps you laid out above.

 

Sod cutter, level, soil prep/amend, lay sod, water/fertilize.

 

I live in Washington, zone 8b. I have a mature, bumpy lawn and am looking to even it out, either reseed or lay new sod. It's about 1200sqft and I'm hoping someone can let me know if my plan will work, or what might be the best course of action.

Origionally I was planning on using a skid steer to remove the existing lawn, and installing new soil and new sod. The removal part seems like a huge pain in the ***, so my alternative plan is the following: Use a lawn mower to scalp the lawn, use a power rake to grade/remove more grass, probably mow/scalp again. make it as much dirt as possible. Then, bring in sand/soil to level out, more soil as a base, then laying sod. OR, I'm hoping to scalp/power rake and aerate lawn, install more soil and overseed. I would rather go with new sod.

What do you think is the best option here? It's a backyard lawn, in order to get a skid steer there i'll need to go up a small hill, and back about 30 yards to the work site.

Thanks for any help!

I like your alternative plan and I to live in Washington (Vancouver) as well and doing the same thing right now to my side yard. I used roundup a couple of weeks ago and just waiting for temps to get consistently in the 60's before I reseed. I've already cut down to 1 inch and I will scarify, aerate and then verticut before laying down a thin layer of Scott's Lawn Soil then reseed. I'm using bag top soil because this area is only 400 square feet or so and bags make it less messy. Good luck on your project and I'll keep my fingers crossed we both see some warmer temps.