This is an ok introduction to some decisions that are part of the process of building a home, and can certainly help you avoid allowances--but just know that it doesn't cover everything. Also, you'll have some products named but this template gives no consideration to standards for execution (preparation and how the products are incorporated). Complete specifications would also describe quality control, tolerances, repair/replacement of damaged/defective/poor work, cleaning, among many other things to make sure that you get what you intended--not just that the products you wanted are there, but that it's all put together the way it should be. While you can acheive this without the CSI format, CSI is something that all of the professionals involved in the project should be familiar with. An architect would prepare specifications as part of standard design services.

We moved into a new house (new construction) about 2 months ago. The builder seeded the lawn with (mostly?) rye for quick growth. Parts are coming up fine, while some portions of the lawn had to be re-graded and the new seed is not coming up so well there. Anyway, I know that I need to seed with general-purpose seed, but beyond that I am pretty clueless and looking for help. In particular: Should I be seeding the entire lawn, or only the bare patches? Should I do this now or wait a while? Some of the lawn is quite hard and compacted, even with daily watering/rain -- what to do about that? How/when/how much should I be fertilizing? Thanks in advance for your help!

Yes to your own RE attorney. Yes to a methodology of lien release tracking. Yes to setting up a construction draw schedule even if you don't have a loan. Your builder should know when he needs draws and design a schedule for you. Planning is everything. Know what you want and stick to it. Strangely enough, once the foundation is dug, a lot of risk diminishes. If there are no rocks or water, your foundation costs drop off. Shop around for other lenders. You only need a construction loan. Not a construction to perm. They are different. It's good to have a line of credit in your back pocket when building. I suggest you explore a home equity line of credit on your current home. If you need it, you have it. If you don't use it, you were prepared. Lenders will love you. They love to lend to people who don't need the money. And, they love lending to people who already own the land. Expect and prepare for cost overruns. Construction lending is high risk and you are lowest level of risk of a high risk endeavor. Make the lenders compete for your business.

Gardengal is thinking of the ideal situation. If you can afford it, then have the top 6-8 inches hauled away and replaced. Just to scope this, 6 inches equals 18 cubic yards of material per 1,000 square feet. That is about the capacity of one 18-wheeler. How many square feet are we talking with this project? Never EVER rototill in preparation for grass. If you can get a tractor to do it, then it sometimes works. The problem is that tillers grab soft soil and sand and dig way down making a hole filled with fluffy soil. They also hit roots and rocks and buck up out of the ground leaving an underground hill with much less fluffy soil. When you level it all, you end up with different amounts of fluffy soil everywhere. When it all settles in, the holes will be holes and the hills will be hills. You'll have a bumpy surface to mow. Never EVER mix compost into the soil. Compost contains plenty of undecomposed wood. When wood starts to decompose, the fungus that decomposes it will steal nitrogen from any source available. When you fertilize, ALL the nitrogen goes to wood decomposition. You can use compost, just don't bury it under the surface. Getting the grading right is most important. Don't bring in any topsoil or any other soil unless you have low spots to fill. If you bring in enough soil that it sits up higher than the concrete walkways or curbs, then you will have soil washing out onto the concrete for the next 20 years. The soil level must be below the concrete level. The soil should drain out toward the street or drainage ditch and never toward any buildings. Your builder should have done this for you. What if you only have 2 inches of "good soil?" It can be fixed. First of all ensure you have a good microbial variety by applying a scant amount of compost. You already have the variety, but most people want better assurance. Compost has it all. Scant means 1 cubic yard to cover 4,000 square feet. Toss it out willy nilly. That's good enough. Then I would spray the yard with shampoo at a rate of 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet to help water penetrate deeply into your relatively poor soil. Any clear shampoo works. I use generic baby shampoo. Some folks like the apple scented shampoo from the dollar store. Water this in deeply - at least 1/2 inch and preferably 1 inch as measured by tuna or cat food cans placed around the yard. This might take 8 hours depending on your sprinklers. Deep means real deep. Then scatter something like corn meal, alfalfa meal or pellets (rabbit chow), soybean meal, corn gluten meal, cottonseed meal, or whatever you can find at your feed store for under $20 per bag. The application rate is 15 to 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. This is where the magic happens. This is the feed for those microbes you injected with the compost. These grains can be moistened but do not need to be watered in like a chemical fertilizer. This regimen of compost, shampoo, and organic fertilizer will improve your soil to a very deep level. The next level would be to get a good soil test from Logan Labs and post the results here on this forum for help interpreting it. Logan Labs has the best quality control over the long term, and their most basic ($25) test is all you need. You can get similar tests done from your local university, but to get the same level of detail, the add-in testing will run you upwards of $60 at most and $100 at some. Logan Labs can keep their price low because every test gets all the testing, so they buy chemicals at a much higher volume discount than other labs. The next thing to do is get roots in the ground. If you live in the south and are planning to use a hybrid bermuda, you should wait until June to start. Bermuda really likes HOT soil. Most other grasses can be sodded in the spring with pretty good results. Seeding grasses in the spring anywhere but the Pacific Northwest seems to invite crabgrass to the lawn. Fall is a better time to use seed for grasses like fescue, rye, and Kentucky bluegrass. If that is your situation, you can try a cheap seed this spring and nurture the weeds and sparse grass until then learning how to water, mow, and fertilize for several months. Then nuke it and start over. People do this all the time.