Where do you live? Your member page says United States, but that's a little vague.

Are you looking for a decent lawn or a showcase lawn?

How big is your lot? When you aerated, did you add any compost or anything to the soil. It sounds like it's a soil issue more than anything.

If you're willing to DIY, you can get a great looking lawn all by yourself and for much cheaper. We were in the same boat: terrible soil (still not great), contractor mix of grass, etc. It has taken a couple of years, but I've had neighbors ask if we laid sod of if we seeded. Once you get it going, you can't really tell the difference.

I live in NJ. I would certainly like a showcase lwan but will settle for an above average lawn. We love to enjoy the backyard with family, but in its current state that is not possible. If I don't keep on the lawn (mowing, etc) it becomes like a jungle and the kids don't even want to head out in the yard due to all the weeds, which can get quite high.

In regards to DIY - I am certainly handy and willing to do a bit of sweat equity, but I am out of my comfort zone here. Lawn car is not my thing, which probably explains the yard. Also, I would love to save the extra money - this is main reason I have not gone with the company as of yet as I am trying to gather all possible options. My lot is ~17,000 sq ft. (1/2 acre).

Any tips, or advice would be greatly appreciated. As a note I had my soil tested and it cam back in pretty decent shape so I should be able to grow a lawn. I would like to avoid the topsoil if possible as this become very expensive and tough to get out in a lot this size.

There are some relatively low growing grasses that are sometimes sold as lawns that don't need to be mowed, but I think they grow a little too high for most people to consider them acceptable unmowed. So I think you're always going to have the problem that if you don't keep it mowed, it's going to get too tall.

For now, your best bet is to try to control the weeds. If they're everywhere, you can just blanket the lawn with a broadleaf weedkiller, but it may be too late in the season for that, depending on your daily high temperatures. I think you're supposed to apply that stuff only when the highs are below 85 (maybe 80, check the label). That would be the case whether you're doing it your self or hiring it done.

If you can't kill the weeds now, you'll have to wait until the heat breaks, unless you want to kill everything (grass included) and start over. If you kill the weeds after the heat breaks, you need to wait a few weeks before seeding, so you'll be cutting down on the time available. Before you seed, cut the existing grass as low as possible to give the seed a chance to get tall enough to survive mowing before you cut the first time.

If you want to kill it all and start over, you can spray glyphosate in late July, then water a couple of weeks to germinate any weed seeds and spray with glyphosate again 3 days before you seed.

To get the best results, use a slit seeder or core aerate to expose more soil to the seeds.

After you spread the seeds, you'll need to lightly water 3x a day until the seed is germinated (probably 3-4 weeks). Then gradually cut back on the frequency and increase the duration until you're watering once a week and applying about an inch at a time (adjusted for rain and soil conditions).

If you can't water regularly enough and can't count on late summer/early fall rain to do it for you, you can try dormant seeding, where you put the seed down when it's too late to germinate and it will germinate as soon as conditions are right in the spring. That may be in February (I forget what NJ winters are like; I have to do it in November here or the lawn will be snow covered in spots when other areas should be germinating).

If you're replacing the lawn, you may want to consider getting premium seeds and going for the showcase lawn. Here is a list of custom blends of premium KBG by state.

If you're overseeding into your existing lawn, you'll want to match its color and growth, which will probably be more like a good seed blend or mix from the big box store.

When I tried to kill weeds once when the heat was around 90 I wound up also killing a good portion of my grass. Apparently, when it's that hot all those type chemicals must act like Round-up. So, be careful.