Garret, landscapers chrge by the hour. For a tractor and boxblade it ranges by area from $100 to $200 per hour with usually a 1 or 2 hour minimun to show up. With that said a 1/4 acre is a 2-hour max job unless you are really making some major renovations.

The current grass gets up rooted and buried unless you cut the sod and stack it off the side to lay back down after re-grading is completed.

If this is too extreme or expensive ther are other options like top dressing with sand or top soil. It takes a lot of sweat equity, but is a DIY project.

The boxblade will remove any sprinkler systems from your yard so doing it yourself may become your only option. That job is also complicated by trees, patios, driveways, landings, buildings, flower beds, etc. But it really is the best answer to drainage issues. Be sure they show up with a real tractor and not a bobcat or skid steer. An experienced tractor driver can do the job in a couple hours. An experienced bobcat driver can do it in a couple days to a week.

From my experience with bermuda grass, I would think you could scrape six inches off the top of the soil, and it would be fully restored all by itself by the end of the summer.

Tom

thankfully i dont have a sprinkler system or any other obsticles except for patio and driveway.

tdscpa, woah! you are probably right, but no way am i going to go a whole summer without some kind of lawn... although, it would be nice to not have to mow so much :)

id rather put the extra work to cut and roll the sod up and then apply it myself afterwards. when putting the sod back, do you have to rent some kind of roller and roll the grass?

do you have to rent some kind of roller and roll the grass?
You do if you want to do it right. You will need to rent a sod cutter. Also be aware you need to lay the sod back down within 24 to 48 hours after being cut, otherwise you have a very large expensive compost pile.

I am cutious just how out of level are we talking about?

hmm.. i will try to explain my dilemma.

the drainage in my neighborhood was designed to have water flow in a certain path, out in to the street in front of my house, down the street and in to a man made pond across the street. so basically the water from the house behind me flows in to my yard and then in to the street. the problem is they didnt do a great job. they tried to redirect the water so it would not hit my house and instead go to the side. well the point where the 2 grades meet(decline from the back, and then incline to my house) basically created a low spot and the water ends up collecting there. on top of that, at times the water will flow to my house anyway.

now, it could be worse, it doesnt pond there for a week. it does drain usually in a couple of days, but even then its nice and soggy for a while. last year i had powdery mildew(i think) in all the problem areas, and grass would not flourish. front yard, and portions of the back were great. there are a few other low spots too that collect water, but thats the biggest. there are also some areas of "lumpiness" so when i mow, if i am not concious of what i am doing, it will literally scalp my grass to the dirt. that itself would not be a problem, but i am a little inimidated to fix the other issues on my own.

i will try to find some pictures or take some new ones and post them.

This no longer sounds like a DIY job. Do you have a nosy city public works department that is going to make you get a permit and require licensed landscapers? If not I was going to urge you in that direction. I think you need a pro to get involved. Again, a real pro will have a tractor, not a bobcat.

When I was in college I worked for a "finish grader," the guy who started with a construction site and made it look incredible and ready for pavement, patios, or landscaping. A good one will make this job look very easy and be done with it in an hour or two.

Is there something magic about your bermuda? If it is just common bermuda, it will return with a vengeance and won't take all summer.