It should be okay if you indeed have been keeping it watered.

 

From my experience the sod is a loss. Depending on how warm the temps have been since it was cut I would fell the sod will be very warm in the center of the pallet. I have always unrolled any sod if i was unable to install it within in a day of it being cut. You could try installing it but I would be very surprised if the sod lasted.

 

If its for your house...you can try it....For a customer..get new sod or give the bad sod to the customer with the understanding that you will replace it at normal price (free labor) if it dies.

I wouldn't chance it.....

 

I was afraid I would get bad news. The sod is for a property company that is just finishing up a restoration on this house. I have been waiting since early fall to install the landscaping. They have run into tons of problems with the city of Atlanta who doesn't have a clue about anything. (I could go on all night about how bad they are, but I wont.) I was thinking about putting it down tomorrow (1 1/2 pallets) and giving it a week or so while I go on a little vacation and see how it does. If its worse when I get back I will replace it , I figure it wont be too bad to pull it up. What do you guys think?

 

your double labor cost is way more expensive than the new sod cost.
Your customers perception of your quality will suffer if you put down crap and have to come back. Do you really think your customer will baby that turf while you are gone?

 

Good point. I just hate to see it go to waste. I guess my profit will go down by $200.

 

Once a while back, I scheduled my old man for a sod install. Well, we got behind schedule with some paying cst's (who come first), needless to say the sod sat out on pallets for 3 days. It was starting to yellow and look like crap but I gave it a shot and put it in for him. To this day, under my care he has an enviable lawn. I wouldn't do this for a client though! Temp, Humidity play a role in how long it will last on pallets.

 

I just used two day old sod that was kept wet, looked good when layed down and watered. Hoping it works well and I believe it will.

 

Well, I bit the bullet and got two more pallets of fresh sod on order for tomorrow morning that I WILL put down tomorrow. Lesson Learned!!!
Thanks for the advice, I am giving the old sod to a friend who wanted to try and see if it will survive. :waving:

 

The day I get it, is the day it gets put down. No ifs, ands, or buts. No one goes home until its down.

My father did this once. He was still laying sod down at 2AM. Started at 2PM, with 8 pallets of sod.

 

I just want to point out two things. Most local residential nursieries keep sod on hand. If you notice, it sits there all week, most don't get a fresh pallet every day and throw out what doesn't sell....the other point is: Have you seen the thriving lawn planted by Scotts on cement? I think it's been there since the 1970's maybe? They paved an entire estate or something and laid sod on the concrete. Their point was that proper nutrient/water care was all that was needed. So I think it's all in how you take care of it. I like to roll it out and keep it watered. Shade helps keep the stress down too, but it'll last as long as you are giving it what it needs.

Kurt

 

1011100 - I hope you will revisit this thread later and tell us how the sod that you gave away did. then we'll know.....

 

I just want to point out two things. Most local residential nursieries keep sod on hand. If you notice, it sits there all week, most don't get a fresh pallet every day and throw out what doesn't sell....the other point is: Have you seen the thriving lawn planted by Scotts on cement? I think it's been there since the 1970's maybe? They paved an entire estate or something and laid sod on the concrete. Their point was that proper nutrient/water care was all that was needed. So I think it's all in how you take care of it. I like to roll it out and keep it watered. Shade helps keep the stress down too, but it'll last as long as you are giving it what it needs.

Kurt

That's wierd, none of the nurseries I spoke to around here will keep it more than 2 days, and they do get new loads every other day.

 

I always thought it would be nice to be able to just go pick up a little sod from a nursery when needed, but I have never heard of any nursery/greenhouse around here keeping any sod on hand. Plenty of sod farms around, and the minumum order is pretty cheap, but its still a truckload. And of course you always have to order it in advance since they will always cut it the same day you pick it up, since it needs to go down that day. Of course, depending on the type of sod and the weather, it may keep an extra day or a few days but not something to count on. Here we do bermuda and fescue. The bermuda might keep awhile (hard stuff to kill actually), the fescue is much trickier. I just do small jobs, and it has been fun to get familiar with solving lawn problems with sod.

For anyone to answer the original question, I would think the type of sod would be a most important factor...

 

Agreed, the type of grass would defenitely be a major factor.

 

Heck,
even the brown crispy stuff will come back eventually....even if not till next year!

 

1 week without water

 

Well the stuff I gave to my friend looks great if you like a brown lawn. He's been watering it and even put down a little fert and it hasn't come back yet. The only pieces that have survived are the ones on top of the pallet. Oh well lesson learned. Thanks for the replies.

 

i ordered 4500 square feet of sod. the morning it arrived, it started raining. Hard.
After a day, I laid 3000 of it. customer was mad because there were foot prints under the sod. I tried to explain that the sod would level. I told him I would guarantee it, and would reroll it in a week.
He said the sod was good for 14 days on the pallet, and told us to pull off and wait for the rain to stop.
4 days later I stopped by, still raining, wait said he. At this point I figured I was going to be eating the sod, but at least the customer wouldn't be mad.
8 days after the sod was cut, we laid it. It was wounded and yellowish after 14 days, but I think it will make it.

Conditions were COLD (average was 40 degrees) and rainy. Blue grass. Not my best install, and to do it again I would really push to lay it in the mud and figure out the foot prints later.

 

Don't let the customer dictate to you how to do your work.If he wanted me to pull off ,then he would be paying me in full right then and he could install the rest himself.If you were in a situation like this,you would not be eating the sod,the customer would,cuz he pulled you off.

 

interesting.
so the guy who knows more tehn me lives in a new neighborhood. 4 of his neighbors have hired me to put in lawns and sprinklers. Pretty good deal obviously.

So we went by the first guy's house. Turning a uniform yellow/brown. Stopped in and suggested that he needs to up the watering schedule a BUNCH for at least 3 weeks. His response was that after I installed it, if he watered it much, mud would run out the bottom.
Duh. It rained a half an inch a day for 10 days as I was installing it.
Now the weather is 85 degrees, sunny, humidity is at 20 percent, with a 10 mph breeze all day.
ADD WATER OR THE WARRANTEE IS VOID. "but water is expensive....."
Ok, so now the neighbors are asking me "will my lawn turn brown too?"

YES IT WILL IF YOU DO NOT WATER THE HELL OUT OF IT FOR 3 WEEKS PLUS.

Neighbors all say "ok. that guy is kind of a jerk isn't he."
I take the high road and say I don't understand his program.
Pictures taken, conversations documented, letter being prepared. I figure the odds of getting sued are pretty high, but the neighbors will probably make good witnesses and references.

 

drmiller,

I think you need a watering clause in your contracts. We are not responsible for our sod after we lay it because the health depends so much on proper watering. Same goes for seeding (We do not guarantee germination due to lack of watering, regardless of an irrigation system being installed). Keep it in mind...

Todd

 

I live in hot south Texas and we have put down sod that was on pallets for 2 weeks. Mind you in warm weather with very little water. Yes, it takes a few months for it to level out and green, but it's alive and doing well. We planted St. Augustine grass and Bermuda. We have done this only three times not by choice, but it has worked out every time.

 

18 year old thread.......probably sod is down.....maybe.....