For that size you might want to hire a guy with a tractor and box blade to resurface the entire area. With no obstructions he can easily do that in a morning. That will leave all the surface looking the same. Leave it up to him whether to bring in more soil or have some removed. Why? He will determine the way your garden drains. He might need to build up or haul away for best drainage. You might find such a person working as a landscaper. Find someone who specializes in large project, not necessarily homes. If you have any new apartment buildings or new subdivisions going in, ask the superintendent who he's using to do the "Finish grading." He'll be the one who repairs all the damage done by the construction. After that you won't need another machine. All you need is seed, a roller, and a hose to water it. By far the best time of year to renovate is in the fall. Now is a poor time time and getting worse all the time with the approach of summer. New grass has a hard time making it through the summer heat. For you in Central PA I would start this project in August. Ideally you'll have new grass by the end of Sept and be on your way. Until then you should be able to live with the "mixed" lawn you'll eventually have. Might be a lot of crabgrass, but who cares. You'll reap the big reward after it's done right and seeded with good seed in the fall.

Hi Nancy, I am just a home owner with a 1/2 acre lawn. It looks like you have quite a large property that requires, and indeed has quite an investment in machinery. One thing that I found useful is this web-site. http://www.lawnserviceforum.com/index.php They have a discussion area "Commercial Equipment Discussions" that various professionals talk about mowers, tractors etc and the pro's and cons. They have quite a bit of history as well, so you can usually get a good feel of what equipment is good for what type of lawn. Hope this help. Warmest regards, Mike.

It could be a simple as more shade in the back which might require a different type of grass or different care. If you use RoundUp to kill the grass, you should come through and rake the dead stuff out before seeding. If you are concerned about your back raking a large area you can rent a power rake, verticutter, or slit seeder. These machines have vertical cutting blades and can be adjusted to just slice the top of the soil. The machine will chew up all the dead foliage and you can rake or blow it away into a compost pile. Then you can seed right on top of that. I suggest using a roller after seeding to ensure good contact between the seed and the soil. Then water it 3x per day for about 5 - 10 minutes each time just to keep the seed moist. The good grasses for NY are the fescues (which germinate in 2 weeks), Kentucky bluegrass (germinates in 3 weeks), and/or rye grass (germinates in 1 week). If you get a mix of grasses be sure to water 3x daily long enough to get the slowest germinating seed to germinate. Once you have 80 of the seed germinated, then you can start to back off on the frequency and move up on the duration. Ideally a mature lawn will get a full inch of water per week, all at one time, during the hottest heat of summer. The rest of the year you can adjust the frequency to 2 weeks, 3 weeks and 4 weeks but keep the timing to deliver a full inch. KBG is a great grass for full sun. I goes dormant in winter and can go dormant during severe heat in the summer. KBG will spread all by itself without reseeding every year. Fescue is a great grass in sun and can tolerate some shade. It does not go dormant. It becomes more dense with annual overseeding for the thin areas in the fall. Rye is a full sun type grass and needs annual reseeding to remain dense. Unless you need to change your drainage, you don't need new soil. You can repair your soil easily with at least one application per year of organic fertilizer. My favorite organic fertilizer is straight alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow). Cost is about $12.50 for a 50-pound bag. Apply at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. I like it because it works and because it costs a lot less to use than commercially bagged organic fertilizers.

A couple thoughts on the master bath: - You can do a large, luxurious shower by running it across the whole back wall. - I can't read the dimensions on the sink vanity, but I don't think this is big enough to support two sinks. And if you do cram in two sinks, you'll have no space for drawers. - I never like toilets in closets, but imagine sitting on this one: With the wall angled in, your knee will knock against the door ... yet without the angle, you can't get into the closet ... plus, when this door is open, it'll block one of the sinks. Basically, too much is going on in this little cramped corner, and something has to change. How big a table do you intend to use? It's going to be sitting in front of the only (public) door to the back yard, which may end up being a problem. Also, I'd lose the French doors and go with a slider (look at the new glider doors - they look like French doors). I have a French door in a similar spot, and I HATE IT; the inswing is always in the way. The function of an island should be as a work surface and a place to interact with your family. Eh, I think this is an opinion. There should be 2 sinks, one for prep and one for cleanup I don't think this kitchen is big enough to need two sinks. Also, you should try to increase the master closet width to 6.5-7 feet so you can have clothes hanging on both long sides. I agree. There's no point in building a walk-in closet with hanging space only on one side. You'd be better off opening the closet towards the bedroom; you'd have better access to a closet of this dimensions. the master making it around 15x16 which is still plenty big. That's very big ... I agree with stealing some of this space for the closet (and maybe bathroom). You're going to use these spaces every day, and you don't want them to be under-sized.