DIY OR HIRE A PRO

Sod installation

Estimate how much sod to order, then compare your full installation cost with an all-in professional quote.

Example numbers—not local quotes. Replace them with your prices and hours.

Fresh sod being unrolled beside newly laid lawn

01Your project

Project area (sq ft)

Extra material (%)

Supplier order increment (sq ft)

Supplier minimum order (sq ft)

02DIY expenses

Sod price per square foot ($)

Material sales tax (%)

Delivery / pickup, including tax ($)

Equipment purchase / rental, all-in ($)

Other prep, disposal & supplies, all-in ($)

Use the supplier’s actual pallet or roll coverage as the order increment. An increment of 1 sq ft assumes buying by the square foot. Add removal, topsoil, grading, disposal and watering costs under other costs when applicable.

03Your time

DIY total person-hours

Your time value ($/hour)

Your hours if you hire someone

Two people working three hours is six person-hours. Time value is not an extra bill.

04Professional price

All-in professional project price ($)

Compare the same sod variety, preparation, installed area and cleanup. This budgets a project; it does not assess soil, drainage or installation suitability.

How this calculator works

Sod order = area × (1 + extra %), rounded up to the supplier increment and minimum. DIY cash = ordered material × unit price × (1 + material tax %) + delivery + equipment + other costs. Include any tax on delivery, equipment or other services in those entries. Professional cash is the full project price you enter. Cost including time adds total person-hours × your hourly time value. The professional break-even price subtracts your remaining time cost from the DIY total, and for recurring work divides by total visits. All figures are USD. Prices are illustrative, editable assumptions, not location-specific estimates.

How to estimate DIY sod installation cost

Start with the measured area, add your chosen allowance for cuts and waste, then round up to the supplier’s order increment and minimum. Multiply the purchased square footage by the sod price. Add material tax, delivery, equipment and other project costs before comparing labor.

Worked example: a 1,000-square-foot lawn

Illustrative inputs: 1,000 sq ft plus 10% extra requires 1,100 sq ft. With a one-square-foot order increment and no minimum, sod at $0.65 per sq ft costs $715. Add 6% material tax ($42.90), $100 delivery, $150 equipment and $200 other preparation costs: DIY cash cost is $1,207.90. Sixteen person-hours at $30/hour brings the total to $1,687.90. An all-in $2,000 professional quote plus one hour of your time totals $2,030.

Preparation and other costs to include

Check removal and disposal of old turf, soil preparation, grading, added soil, equipment rental and delivery access. Include any project-specific watering expense in your other costs if it is part of the comparison. The calculator applies the tax rate to sod materials only; put other applicable taxes and fees into other costs.

When to hire a sod installer

DIY may fit a smaller, accessible area when you have a clear preparation and installation plan. A professional may be useful when the scope includes grading, drainage concerns or extensive removal. Ask for those tasks to be priced explicitly instead of assuming they are part of laying sod.

What should a sod installation quote include?

Request the grass type, area supplied and installed, preparation, delivery, disposal, taxes and any aftercare or warranty terms. Ask who handles watering after installation. A square-foot price alone may leave out preparation. If sold by the pallet, convert the price and coverage to the square-foot units used above.