Replacing Your Sod Before Selling Your Home — What to Know

Admin • March 13, 2019

If you're thinking about selling your home, one of the most critical elements is going to be the curbside appeal. Rough turf and ripped up sod can easily dissuade buyers, even if the rest of your home is perfect. Yet is it worth the cost to replace your sod entirely? Here are a few things to consider.

Should You Bother Replacing Your Sod?

When selling your home, you need to do a cost-benefit analysis regarding any improvements. If a $2,000 sod replacement can improve the value of your property by $5,000, then it's a smart investment with solid returns.

Yet before you can determine whether sod will improve the value of your property, you need to know more about the real estate market. Look at other homes that are being sold in your neighborhood. If their sod is significantly better than yours, it's likely to be an issue when selling your house.

When Can Your Existing Sod Be Reclaimed?

If you're not selling your home for a few months, then you can potentially reclaim your sod. By fertilizing it, watering it, and mowing it regularly, you may be able to get it thicker and fuller while also treating weeds.

However, that presupposes that your sod is just a little unhealthy, damaged, or overgrown. If you have large holes in your sod, you're not likely to be able to fix it in time to sell your home. It's better to replace your sod if there are large, bare patches.

What If You Have Pets?

Many people find that their sod is damaged by their pets. If you have pets and those pets are still living inside of your home, then new sod may become damaged as well. You can still replace the sod, but it's more likely that sod in the front yard will survive if you let your pets out in the backyard. Otherwise, you may need to keep your pets out of the backyard while the new sod takes root and grows into position.

Where Should You Replace the Sod?

In general, replacing your front yard is more important than replacing your backyard, due to the curbside appeal. There is a caveat, though: if your backyard is intended to be a play area or if it's a large portion of your home's value, then the backyard may also be important. If you can only replace the sod in one area, the front yard is usually best. If you have additional funds, then replacing the sod in both areas can improve your property value.

When Should You Replace the Sod?

New sod can look fantastic almost immediately after being replaced. In fact, there are real estate agents that will lay down new sod right before showing a property. However, sod shouldn't be walked on or disrupted right after being replaced; this is something to keep in mind when doing showings.

Do You Need to Remove the Existing Sod?

Sometimes sod can be installed directly onto the existing sod, but this will raise up the yard by a few inches and may make the yard uneven if the previous sod is uneven. Usually, you should remove the old sod before planting new sod, but this does have the disadvantage of being more involved and more costly. An expert in sod removal and replacement can tell you whether your lawn needs to be completely removed or whether it can be covered.

What's the bottom line? If a substantial amount of your sod is damaged, it's better to replace it. Replacing sod is fast and it isn't overly expensive, and it can dramatically improve the appearance of a home. To get a quote on sod replacement, contact Wright Turf Farms.

< Older Post Newer Post >