I have just gone through this process after researching a lot of choices and will say No you can't drop your new sod on top of your dead/dying lawn. The reason is the new sod needs to put roots down directly into dirt as deeply as possible.

We are 6 days into a new bahia lawn and are watering every morning deeply to encourage rooting.

When I get time and after about 3 weeks when we can have our first cutting I'll post photos of the WHOLE process. Before and after photos.

I also asked the question about seeding and was told that getting seed to take hold could take over a year. One GW member posted (tomcath) that he was successful seeding a bahia lawn but if you've seen his tomato plants you see he has an exceptional green thumb.

We like you were looking for a cheap replacement. And that also includes cost to maintain (irrigate). Bahia was our choice after much deliberation. Plus one of our neighbors just put in a new bahia lawn and it looks fantastic.

Denise

This and other links on this site will answer most of your questions . There is no good answer and you will not be pleased with what you read .

No , you cannot just drop sod on top of a weedy lawn .
Considering how much labor and effort is involved to renovate a lawn , you might want to investigate either having it done professionally with written guarantees or selecting a different cover for the site .

Here is a link that might be useful: Establishing Your Florida Lawn

There is a big difference between renovating your own personal yard and a rental property .
I agree that Bahia is an excellent choice .

The watering restrictions apply to in ground sprinkler systems but not hand watering .
But how will you water enough on a rental property with the new restrictions of once a week ?

I can tell that I have bugs in the yard, so I need to lay down some insectide to kill the bugs as well. I'm not sure if I should do this first or after killing the grass?

I've been reading a lot and I'm thinking about just buying roundup or some spray and spraying my lawn and killing all the St. Augustine, then going back with a rack and racking everything that's dead up. Then putting top soil on top of everything and laying down the new sod. Anything wrong with this?

As far as the watering comment, my sprinkler system in my rental has given me so many problems that it just doesn't work period. The new water restrictions of once a week, plus it seems most renters don't water the lawn that I would really like to go to Bahia.

A friend of mine who has bahia in his yard from when he purchased his home told me he has no sprinkler system, has never fertilized his yard and never has put down insecticide and showed me a recent picture of his yard and I was amazed how well it looked after it was mowed. He indicated that during the winter there's brown spots and it doesn't look so good, but when it starts to rain it grows right back during the summer.

Yes you can drop your sod on top of your old lawn, I have seen it done numerous times. My neighbor just did it on his lawn 4-5 months ago and the grass is just fine.

Now, having said that... I would not do it. Dropping sod on top of weeds, well it speaks for itself. Go get an herbicide and kill it off. Rake it up in a week. Your done. Maybe even consider putting Preen down after you rake, then put your sod down. And yeah, drop your bug killer in before putting the sod down.

One other thing if you are going to go with bahia--git er done now before cold weather. Bahia goes dormant in winter and it may die before putting enough roots down.

@ imagardener2
That's one thing I was concerned about is the weather as well. It's starting to get pretty cold here in central florida and it will probably be a week if not two before the sod is actually on the grass.
It's a rental as I've mentioned before and i already told the new tenants that I was soding, so I'm hoping the weather isn't going to be that major of an issue?

I sprayed chemicals similar to roundup today and hopefully in a week I'll be able to rake everything up and use a weed eater on anything else. I guess during this time would be a good time to put down the insecticides to kill all the bugs I'm sure the soil has.

My question is, should I put down a really thin coat of top soil if I don't think my soil is great quality? I was told to water twice a day for two weeks and the grass will grow, should I put down any type of fertilizer or anything else?

I've replaced St. Augustine before. Used a sod cutter to pull up old turf, and simply put the new turf down. Went over new turf with Milorganite-won't burn. Now I am planning if possible to kill the lawn where I'm at now and after a few weeks lay new sod on top if there is dirt where the old weeds and turf used to be. Think I might be okay. What do you think?