Removing existing lawn

[Enginerd]

Hope someone can help with this one. I recently purchased a 5 year old home (Chicago area) where the owner had done his own seeding. The lawn is in terrible condition, consisting primarily of very wide, flat grass blades (which a local landscaper referred to as "quack grass"). The lawn is very "clumpy" with lots of bare spots. Many of the bare spots are not visible though, due to the quack grass growing horizontally over the spots. Surprisingly, there is not much broadleaf weed infestation. The house is in a newer subdivsion, surrounded by nicely sodded lawns.

I have been looking to replace the entire lawn (about 14,000 sq. ft.) with sod or seed. My question is regarding site prep. What is the best way to eliminate this "quack grass" to be sure it will not pop back up after the new lawn is established. I have been told Roundup then sod strip it and lay new top soil. Also have been told Roundup, then tilling rather than sod strip.

Thanks,
Rob

[Grassmechanic]

Either method will work, but definately use Round-up to kill any existing vegetation.

[Ax Man]

the benefit of stiping would be a smoother surface to re start from. The benefit from tilling would be a better seed bed, and possibly soil structure. You could run in to considerable debris buried (from the original builder or if it was a filled in site) though.
Good luck

[hamsey]

Make sure you use roundup pro! I had some quackgrass from putting down straw when I installed my lawn. I put down roundup pro, tilled the area 10 days later, installed grass seed. Also, make sure you get all the quackgrass as it spreads aggressively. I was told that it was crabgrass by a local landscaper. It some research and confirmed it was quackgrass.
Now it is all gone and the grass looks great.
Norm

[Enginerd]

Thanks guys.

Rob