Are There Soil Issues for New Home Sod Installation?
If If you’re purchasing a new home you may be wondering if there are issues associated with the soil at your new home site. Should you assume that your contractor will spread topsoil enriched with organic material around your new home? Will the soil around your new home help you grow an attractive lawn during your years of ownership? Are there questions that you should be asking your contractor about soil before your new home sod installation?
Michael Romine answers your questions in this blog post. Michael is the owner of Houston Grass South, located in Arcola, Texas just south of Highway 6 and just east of Sienna Plantation. Michael and his family have been in the grass sod business since 1981, and he’s an expert in all aspects of grass sod and sod installation in Southeast Texas.
Here’s a summary of the video:
The contractors will generally scrape off all the good topsoil because they don’t want to build your house on topsoil. And they need something in to fill around your foundation, so they’ll bring in select fill clay. They’ll always bring in some amount of select fill once they form up the boards to pour the concrete for your new home’s foundation. If they have any extra, the contractors will smear it around your yard rather than haul it off again.
And at some point they’ll just bring in sand, bank sand, at the end of the project to smooth everything out and gently slope the ground away from your house. The problem with the bank sand is that it’s generally not very good for growing grass. If the contractors don’t use sand, then what’s left is the select fill clay or the clay-based soil that was probably on your lot under the topsoil. If you let that clay-based soil dry up, it’s like concrete. That high clay soil is not ideal for growing grass either. Grass will grow on just about anything if you give enough water, but it’s not ideal.
So what’s the solution? Ideally you’ll talk to your contractor and agree that your contractor will bring in topsoil before your sod installation. This little bit of foresight in preparation will make your new home sod installation a success, and your neighbors will envy your lawn for years to come.
If you have any questions, please call Houston Grass South at 281-431-7441. We carry three varieties of St. Augustine grass, two varieties of Bermuda grass, and Palisades Zoysia grass. We have the best grass sod you’ll find in the Houston area at the best prices for any comparable grass sod.