Dead Lawn beyond repair

[mwh350]

I got called in to look at this lawn. The green in the pictures is mostly just Quack Grass, and Dandelions. I got a sample of the soil from a couple of different spots in the lawn and am Sending them in to be analyzed. My advice to the home owner was to wait until fall. Roundup the Entire Lawn. do a 4 direction Aeration. Spread Seed, then Power Rake/Vertical mow to get the seed pushed into the dirt. Applying whatever fertilizers or lime that is recommended based on the soil test. Water like crazy to get the seed to germinate, and basically start from scratch. Am I way off base on this? What would you recommend as a renovation procedure for the lawn.
Also what would you think caused this problem? The only thing that I can think is that they over Fertilized the lawn last fall and burnt it up. The owner says that the lawn looked great last fall. They do all their own care. I was just called in for the renovation.

[White Gardens]

If the lawn was doing well last fall, then it must be fert burn.

Post back when you get the soil samples done.

Also, is there any compaction there ????

[mwh350]

Does not seem to have a problem with compaction. It could benefit from an aeration, but I would have a hard time being convinced that compaction is the culprit. I sent off the soil sample today so It will be 10 to 15 days before I hear back. I am leaning towards fert burn myself if I had to guess. Could it be a fungus or a insect of some sort?

[godflesh]

that looks a lot like an amateur home owner trying to "overgreen" his lawn.
in my neck of the woods........ id do what you are doing. worst case, you till, sod and hose it with preemergent.