STOP EVERYTHING! Call off your gardener. He's rushing the process. If he has already ordered the sod you want to give him time to cancel the order. And I need to say this...Bwahahahahahahaha! Mesh backing??? Sorry, but I've never heard of that. Nothing short of chemicals will stop bermuda. Mesh anything that allows any light to the soil will not slow it down. All the Roundup did was kill the existing plants. If you have not watered in 2 years, you have a bazillion weed seeds there waiting to sprout as soon as you start watering the new sod. Your gardener should know that but he's also got a boat payment to make. Take a week and water the area he sprayed. The idea is to sprout the weed seeds so you can kill those. To do that you should water it lightly (15 minutes) at least once a day - preferably 3x per day (morning noon and night). Any weed seeds should sprout and any living bermuda should bounce back. If you see ANY thing, give it a week to mature and spray with Roundup again. You will save countless weed induced headaches by taking the extra week to go through this process. Exactly where in SoCal do you live? Name the town or zip (and I'll name the town for you). Does everyone around you have fescue? So did you want a second opinion on your gardener or on what he plans to do? I think he's rushing you. Are you planning to let him mow?

Well I can see the pic, and from the way the grass and the edging look, I don't think it's from the heat off the metal edging. If that was the case, then I think you would see more of the grass along the edging drying out, and it would be more uniform. The every other day watering should have provided enough moisture to prevent this, unless your sprinkler doesn't reach the area. Since you tilled and composted I assume the area in question doesn't have any large rocks a few inches below the surface in that area. I'm inclined to say it was fungal in nature since it was hot, and you were watering every other day. Where are you located by the way and when do you do your watering?

As far as what kind of sod that depends on what is prevalent in your area. Without knowing where you live you are best to ask advice from your local full service nursery. For example, if you reside in northern latitudes, known to use a "cool season grass" a good sod that is available is a combo of Kentucky Blue/perennial ryegrass and fescue. The exact combination is up to the dealer but such combo, if you decide instead to seed, should provide an excellent lawn able to take what nature throws at. If you live in a transitional zone...i.e. across the middle of America..Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky...you get the idea....you can try using either a northern type..a cool season type or a more southern warm season type. If you live in the south, then definitely consult your nurseryman and your neighbors who show good results with their lawns. Southern grasses are completely different than cool season types. Planting either where they don't belong is a good way to waste money and effort. Sod will not grow on top of old grass. That's the first thing you have to get rid of. Grass has to put down roots and it cant if it has to drill itself through hard clay soil holding old sod. Also, the clay soil as described, sounds like you have cement where grass should be. Tilling is the only thing you can do but further to that you have to ...you must....incorporate organic matter to make the grass want to grow and hold on to moisture. Organic matter comes in many forms; i.e. peat moss, newspaper and compost. Without going too deep into this you should do research on it. Without purchasing expensive compost, consult your soil dealer about what is called triple mix...a combo of different soils including sand. Whenever you see the word "SAND" used in conjunction with gardening, always think 'coarse sand', not beach sand, or playbox sand...that holds too much moisture. Coarse sand is larger and allows for good drainage. Coarse sand can be bought at soil dealers or from quarries--the place where gravel is bought. Drainage is one of the most used terms for good turf growth. Water should run away from the house. So it sounds like you have to till and one of the easiest ways to do that is to rent a roto-tiller..the size is dependent on what kind of soil it has to bite through. Into the soil which you dig down at least 6"...or more...you inject the organic matter. If you dig down 6", put at least 2" of organic matter in and turn it over. Then look to levelling and seeing to good drainage. Weeds, if you see them, pick out and garbage them. If your lawn is mostly weeds right now, I suggest you kill everything green there by the use of a glyphosate..i.e. RoundUp herbicide...it will kill the weeds, the grass presently there, anything and everything green so don't spray it around plants you don't intend to get rid of. Wait the time mentioned on the label before tackling the job of lawn replenishment. One thing about the use of RoundUP, use it according to directions and follow it exactly. Here, more is a waste just like using not enough. Moisture: Lawns require moisture at the right time. Usually that is 1" per week, rain notwithstanding. Fertilizer: Set up a fertilizing schedule with a high nitrogen type that will help grass grow and greens it up. Read the directions on the bag. To understand how much to spread, simply divide the first number (nitrogen) into 100--that is the amount per lb per 1000 square feet, to use. So if the bag contained 20/6/12....i.e. 20 percent nitrogen, 6 percent phosphurus, and 12 percent potash, then 20 into 100 = 5 lbs per 1000 square feet. If a bag contained 40 lbs, then it would cover 40 divided by 5 = 8000 square feet. Your small lawn...200 sq ft could be properly fed with 1 lb of fertilizer. But read the directions on the bag. If you live in a southern zone, then throw out the info on using a herbicide until you find out what it will do on your grass type and soil. Speak to your nurseryman before you do anything. Some types of southern grass cannot be given weed killers--it will kill the grass as well.

You will get the best results by thoroughly loosening what you have to a depth of at least 6"-8". The reason for this is: with a loose base, the grass roots can grow down deeply into the soil and form a strong grass plant that is far more tolerant of heat and that can get really thick and keep weeds out. Just a shallow inch of fresh stuff on top, and the roots stay in that shallow inch. When the roots are just in that shallow inch, the grass needs a lot more water, is weaker and more easily stressed by our hot weather. Deep loosening of the soil is really more important than amending the soil. Grass will grow in anything in Southern California, given sufficient water and fertilizer.