Honestly, I can't imagine the lawn is in need of repair if you cared for it properly. What appears to be in need of repair just might be the grass in a dormant state and will recover when temps cool down. You don't tell us how much water that once a week or three times a week amount to be but if you have supplied too much water, then it explains a lot. Please describe these "spots or areas" in your lawn.

You don't want to only reseed the bad spots. You want to overseed the whole lawn, including the bad spots. This way, you're sure to have even coverage and really should be done every couple or three years anyway.

Also, you don't want to drop the blade unless your intention is to severely stress/damage the lawn. There may be instances of such cases, but I don't think it's your intent. So, mow it down gradually, never removing more than one their of the grass blade at a time. Cut off 1/3, another 1/3 3 or 4 days later, another 1/3 3 or 4 days after that until you get it down to 1-1.5 inches. If you normally mulch mow, you want to catch the clippings for now.

mow down
rake good
fertilize
sow seeds
topdress with 1/4 inch peat moss (that works out to be 1 cubic yard per 1000 sq. ft.)

I don't know how much area you have to cover, but that can be very expensive. While peat moss (Canadian Sphagnum) is my personal favorite growing medium, compost is a lot less expensive. It's up to you and the budget.

You can broadcast seeds or rent a slit seeder from Home Depot or Lowe's.

Do you think you may be in need of aeration? That's always a good idea, too.

hello again - i will post pics this evening of the areas that need repair - thank you very much for the clarification on "dropping the blade" - i really did not think that is what i wanted to do - this forum has been a real help to me for much info on keeping my lawn - i thank you - the 3 times watering has produce the required 1 inch of water per week - i believe the amount of peat i will require will not be too expensive & i have heard such good things about it here that i want to try it -

i believe the amount of peat i will require will not be too expensive & i have heard such good things about it here that i want to try it -

I had excellent results with peat as well so it's a good idea. Even a full season later I can see the transforming effect of it in the soil.

Let me pipe in and be wrong again. But give it some thought, as even a stopped clock is right, twice a day.

You very likely have fertilizer starvation. That's because you don't have a lawn. You have sod that was delivered, what, a year ago? Two years ago? It does not yet have the properties of a 'mature' or 'established' lawn, it still has the properties of sod. Sod that has been neglected, mistreated, and even walked on, for crying out loud.

The sod, at the sod farm, was coddled. It got regular (every two weeks) half-doses of a mild, organic fertilizer like Milorganite, and watered regularly. That sod couldn't help itself, but to grow strong, dark green (there's iron in that Milorganite) and spread out, filling in all the gaps that might be there. And then, here comes another shot, another half-dose of Milorganite. That sod grew literally from seed, through May, April and June, and was harvested, rolled, mistreated onto trucks, and battered back into a flat lot in a subdivision, over subdivision 'soil'. Sheesh. Ya can't help but feel sorry for it, can you?

But the Duke? How does he treat these almost-orphaned, forgotten slices of sod? The Duke is a tough man: he feeds them about a third of what they've been used to. They don't do as well, do they? As that peat that they are rooted in fades away, rots, (I'm sorry, I meant to say "naturally decomposes") those roots drift downward toward the "soil" that the subdivision builder left for the homeowner. That soil isn't so cool, but that's ok, because the builder was going to cover it up anyway, with the sod we've been talking about.

It's not OK, if you're the sod. Think about it.

What I'd recommend is that you go get some Milorganite, and spread it around, do your best, with a hand-held whirley spreader. You don't have to be perfect, but do a 'good' job. Here's the clue: two weeks later, I want you to do it again, in the other direction (if you were walking North-South, you'll go East-West).

Do that three times. Really. Then comes September, and if you see no improvement, go ahead and tear it out. But my money says you'll see terriffic improvement. My money says you'll see enough improvement that you can move to step two: put down a heavy application in the fall of nitrogen. Maybe twice: one in mid september, one on October 30th.

Next year, that sod will kick butt. And will be one year closer to being a 'lawn'.

here are the pics - thank you again for all your help - really infomed & knowledgable people here
1st pic is spring - last pics are now

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Looks like some areas near the fence may need to be overseeded. Easily done by hand since it is such a small area. The rest just needs some TLC.

I'm in Ohio too and yes, this summer has been very hard without much rain. Even so, you've managed to keep a respectable yard. Many in my area are the straw colored.

hello again - thank you for all the help & a special thank you to the last poster for the nice comment - i have been really angry when i have had to mow these past months & it makes me feel good to know that all my hard work & watering has not been in vane - i thank you - best of luck to all the others that are trying to keep their lawns going until fall