sod soil prep in nc

[fastcat]

i am giving a customer an estimate on sodding there yard in bermuda. of course the soil is nothing but red clay. what should i do to prep the soil before laying down the sod. shoud i put down a layer of topsoil and then lay the sod right on that or should i till the area up and then till the topsoil in then lay sod. if i need to till the ground up is a tiller the best way to do this, i seen someone talking about doing it with a harley rake. it is about 3000 sf to be soded. i am also giving them a price on laying fescue sod instead of bermuda, will the soil prep be the same for fescue. thanks for the info.

[ICT Bill]

i am giving a customer an estimate on sodding there yard in bermuda. of course the soil is nothing but red clay. what should i do to prep the soil before laying down the sod. shoud i put down a layer of topsoil and then lay the sod right on that or should i till the area up and then till the topsoil in then lay sod. if i need to till the ground up is a tiller the best way to do this, i seen someone talking about doing it with a harley rake. it is about 3000 sf to be soded. i am also giving them a price on laying fescue sod instead of bermuda, will the soil prep be the same for fescue. thanks for the info.

3000 sq ft is a big area to do by hand
It depends on how much the customer can pay, tilling in will be very time consuming
The best thing I have seen is a rock hound on the front of a skid steer, goes fast and does a great job
If the sod cannot get established (red clay) you WILL be getting called back when it dies off to replace. Do it right the first time or don't do it, too much risk

[fastcat]

laying the sod is the easy part. i just want to make sure i do the prep work right so that i only have to lay the sod once. can anyone give me some pointers on soil prep.

[fastcat]

also this is a new construction house. there is no lawn now. just a little bit of grass trying to pop up. its pretty much a red clay canvas.

[fastcat]

i am thinking that i could rent a dingo with the tiller or cultivator which ever one is best and till the ground up then add some sort of compost or topsoil then till agian then fert and lay the sod.

[T Money]

hey man, till the ground with a tiller add some topsoil as you are tilling. After tilling us a soil conditioner to level the ground back out. Don't worry about fertilizer the sod is ok for at least a year. All prep work is the same for sod. remember its like laying a sheat of plastic on the ground it will show every dip and hole if the prep work is not good. Let me know how it goes. I am on the east coast of NC. Good luck