# Leveling and UFlexx - ATL Level Lawns



## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

I just scheduled Level Lawns to scalp, aerate, fertilize and top dress/level for late March. Is it too early for fert? Will UFlexx cause any adverse issues this early? Please weigh in.


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## Guest (10 mo ago)

After this weekend's frost, I'm sure you'll be fine.


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## Tmank87 (Feb 13, 2019)

I fertilized mid March last year in Charlotte. We got a freeze first week of April. I didn't have any issues.

May be early for a heavy level, just will take longer to grow through it.


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## Nimblecow (Jul 11, 2021)

AvgHomeOwner said:


> I just scheduled Level Lawns to scalp, aerate, fertilize and top dress/level for late March. Is it too early for fert? Will UFlexx cause any adverse issues this early? Please weigh in.


All sand?


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## Highlife159 (May 19, 2021)

If you don't mind me asking how much are they charging you for all of this?


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

Nimblecow said:


> AvgHomeOwner said:
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> > I just scheduled Level Lawns to scalp, aerate, fertilize and top dress/level for late March. Is it too early for fert? Will UFlexx cause any adverse issues this early? Please weigh in.
> ...


From pics it looks like its mix of sand and soil, will check on ratio and report.


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

Highlife159 said:


> If you don't mind me asking how much are they charging you for all of this?


They quoted approx. $1600 for this. Up $400 from last year, I got the quote last year but didn't go through.


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## Highlife159 (May 19, 2021)

AvgHomeOwner said:


> Highlife159 said:
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Wow, that's for your 4000 sqft yard?


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

Highlife159 said:


> AvgHomeOwner said:
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Mine is between 4500 - 5k, but yes for that. 
Should I shop around?


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## Theycallmemrr (May 16, 2019)

I was under the understanding that you should not aerate or top dress until the grass is actively growing. The earliest I would do it is in May.


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## Highlife159 (May 19, 2021)

AvgHomeOwner said:


> Highlife159 said:
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 Honestly, I have no idea. It's more than I would want to pay but that doesn't mean it's a bad deal.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

I think it's such a niche market that it's hard to say what it should cost.


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## klsmith259 (Oct 6, 2020)

Yeah, it's really your labor and willingness(wear and tear on body), time, and money. I don't think it's a bad price, but it of course is much cheaper to do yourself if you plan on doing it multiple times and don't mind the manual labor. At minimum, for the initial investment (assuming you don't own any of the required tools) you need a wheel barrow or gorilla cart ($100-200), shovel (25-50), landscape rake ($50-75), leveling rake ($130-200), drag mat (highly recommended for larger areas) ($100-150), rent an aerator ($80-100) and or have someone aerate depending on truck/trailer/transportation, sand ($50/ton or cu yd) and fertilizer. That's the "cheap" and "manual" route. If you were to rent other equipment that makes it easier (less labor intensive) and more timely it gets much more costly and further justifies the price level lawns charges.

manual route $700 - $500 initial investment at minimum and labor intensive plus the cost of sand ($200 minimum (3 tons) including delivery fee).


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## Jeep4life (Jun 19, 2019)

Lookup Platinum Topdressing, as they were cheaper than Level Lawns last year. I had both give me quotes last year and then ended up spending the money I had allotted to that on a GM1600 instead. I used Level Lawns several years back and had no issues other than them using river sand (the small pebbles are annoying). Platinum uses USGA spec'd sand per their marketing. I've done it myself many times as well and despite it being expensive having a company do it it really comes down to time assuming you have rake/cart/basic yard tools. They do it in hours from using the same topdressing equipment you'd see on a golf course versus significantly longer doing it manually if you have a large yard.


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

klsmith259 said:


> Yeah, it's really your labor and willingness(wear and tear on body), time, and money. I don't think it's a bad price, but it of course is much cheaper to do yourself if you plan on doing it multiple times and don't mind the manual labor. At minimum, for the initial investment (assuming you don't own any of the required tools) you need a wheel barrow or gorilla cart ($100-200), shovel (25-50), landscape rake ($50-75), leveling rake ($130-200), drag mat (highly recommended for larger areas) ($100-150), rent an aerator ($80-100) and or have someone aerate depending on truck/trailer/transportation, sand ($50/ton or cu yd) and fertilizer. That's the "cheap" and "manual" route. If you were to rent other equipment that makes it easier (less labor intensive) and more timely it gets much more costly and further justifies the price level lawns charges.
> 
> manual route $700 - $500 initial investment at minimum and labor intensive plus the cost of sand ($200 minimum (3 tons) including delivery fee).


Thank you for giving me a perspective! In my case it has come down to time and wear and tear , I don't think am built for it, may be spot leveling now and then. Thats it!


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

@Jeep4life Thanks, seems to be decent option. I called for a quote but they said they are not servicing Cumming area this year! Didn't quite get it as to why not this year!


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

AvgHomeOwner said:


> Didn't quite get it as to why not this year!


Maybe fuel costs? Maybe they are short manned and had to limit their service area? A lot of the landscape/lawn businesses are hurting for good workers.


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

@Redtwin Yup, fair point. They are about an hour from us.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

It does stink though. It limits your options and they don't have the opportunity for expanding their business.


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## cds311 (Nov 9, 2021)

Jeep4life said:


> Lookup Platinum Topdressing, as they were cheaper than Level Lawns last year. I had both give me quotes last year and then ended up spending the money I had allotted to that on a GM1600 instead. I used Level Lawns several years back and had no issues other than them using river sand (the small pebbles are annoying). Platinum uses USGA spec'd sand per their marketing. I've done it myself many times as well and despite it being expensive having a company do it it really comes down to time assuming you have rake/cart/basic yard tools. They do it in hours from using the same topdressing equipment you'd see on a golf course versus significantly longer doing it manually if you have a large yard.


Thanks for the heads up on Platinum Topdressing! I had honestly thought Level Lawns had a monopoly on this service (as I don't want to do this myself). I just emailed them about getting a quote. Level Lawns just quoted me $1250 for my ~3,000 sq/ft backyard (scalp, aerate, top dress), and $3900 for my entire lawn (~10,000 sq/ft). I was hoping to have something to compare it to.


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

Level Lawns crew showed up and scalped and aerated. Waiting for sand to be spread.

Question! They removed the thatch layer as part of scalp obviously. Should I apply 1 more round of pre-em?


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## Jagermeister (May 18, 2021)

AvgHomeOwner said:


> Level Lawns crew showed up and scalped and aerated. Waiting for sand to be spread.
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> Question! They removed the thatch layer as part of scalp obviously. Should I apply 1 more round of pre-em?


What did you put down already and how much? Were you planning to do a split app anyway? My plan is to put down my second app after green up in mid-April. My first app was in Feb so ~60 days later.


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

Jagermeister said:


> AvgHomeOwner said:
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Already put down Prodiamine at 1/2 the rate for the year, should have split yikes!


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## Jagermeister (May 18, 2021)

No more prodiamine. You could put down a different pre-m. I wouldn't do dimension. Maybe specticle or pennant magnum.


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

Jagermeister said:


> No more prodiamine. You could put down a different pre-m. I wouldn't do dimension. Maybe specticle or pennant magnum.


@Jagermeister Thanks! Used Specticle G last year with great results. Is the decision to not use Prodiamine based on the probability to reach annual limit quickly or is it more scientific than that.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

Well you've reached your limit mostly, and if being honest, prodiamine isn't all that fantastic in my opinion.

But in short, yes you'll reach your limit and then could have other issues like root pruning.


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## kmbell3837 (Mar 17, 2021)

Glad to see others in the area looking for leveling service. I have been looking for scalp and leveling. I just contacted Platinum Leveling to get a quote on leveling. Not sure if they service Peachtree City, but we will see.


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

FATC1TY said:


> Well you've reached your limit mostly, and if being honest, prodiamine isn't all that fantastic in my opinion.
> 
> But in short, yes you'll reach your limit and then could have other issues like root pruning.


@FATC1TY Thanks! What is your pre-em plan?


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

kmbell3837 said:


> Glad to see others in the area looking for leveling service. I have been looking for scalp and leveling. I just contacted Platinum Leveling to get a quote on leveling. Not sure if they service Peachtree City, but we will see.


If they don't, there's a few places that deliver a solid sand mix from Newnan, like Mulch and More. Not aware of any local service that won't gouge to come south.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

AvgHomeOwner said:


> FATC1TY said:
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> > Well you've reached your limit mostly, and if being honest, prodiamine isn't all that fantastic in my opinion.
> ...


I honestly do a mid level application for the spring and do a split level ( 50% yearly max ) fall app of Specticle Flo. I've yet to see any issues, I don't have any break thru, and the most important is I don't have the poa issues.


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## kmbell3837 (Mar 17, 2021)

FATC1TY said:


> kmbell3837 said:
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> > Glad to see others in the area looking for leveling service. I have been looking for scalp and leveling. I just contacted Platinum Leveling to get a quote on leveling. Not sure if they service Peachtree City, but we will see.
> ...


They quoted $2400 for scalp, removal, aerate, apply urea, top dress and level with 80/20 mix for roughly 10,000 sqft. Seems reasonable.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

kmbell3837 said:


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To each his own, I have quite a bit of disposable income at times but I don't find that a value at all unless you can't find time to get outside, and if you can't get outside to manage 10k, why bother with the topdress and level.

If you haven't scalped yet, which is the labor heavy portion, when perhaps, if they can actually scalp to dirt and remove, but that's just throwing money at an issue you won't see much change from. They aren't going to work into the low portions or know where you need more leveling, it'll be generic top dressing and some $14 a bag urea for the whole yard and gone.


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## Bombers (Jul 14, 2020)

kmbell3837 said:


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How many yards of mix are they bringing in? I hope they specified because it could 1 or 10 lol.


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

Backyard after about 3 weeks for anyone curious.


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## cds311 (Nov 9, 2021)

AvgHomeOwner said:


> Backyard after about 3 weeks for anyone curious.


Thanks for sharing, @AvgHomeOwner. I had Level Lawns come give me a quote in February and have gone dark on me ever sense. Trying to get them to get back in touch with me has been difficult. I also reached out to Platinum Topdressing, but they only gave me a quote based on the satellite view of my house, which was very wrong (they didn't get all my yard, and included part of my house as my yard). When I told them that, he said he would send someone out to manually measure, and that never happened. So, it's been a bit of a frustrating process.

A couple questions about Level Lawns:

1) Did they use all sand, or did they use a sand/compost mix? If one or the other, did you have the opportunity to specify which you preferred?

2) Did they remove the plugs after aeration? If not, was that an issue?

3) Do you recommend them? I'm also in Metro Atlanta, so would likely have the same crew.


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

cds311 said:


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@cds311 Hi, good luck. 
Level lawns did an pretty good job I should say, pls keep in mind this was my first time and I don't have anything to compare to. I cannot do what they did so I am kind of biased. On yiur questions,

1) It is all river sand, no compost.

2) They didn't pick up plugs, was not an issue for me.

3) I recommend them, they did a pretty decent job like I said.


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

This was from a couple weeks ago. Still a couple spots for grass to fill in but overall way level than last year.


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