[jyl]

I didn't want to hijack the other Lawn Advice thread, so I'll start this one and hope some of you lawn-knowledgeable guys chime in.

My existing lawn has three problems: (1) it is lumpy with some low spots, (2) much of it is moss and weeds, (3) much of that part is shady due to some large trees. It isn't very big - at most 1300 square feet in total. I live in Portland and we are just starting the spring growing season. The soil is not rocky, it is a bit clay-ey but not too bad.

I got some estimates to redo the lawn and they are a bit more than I want to spend. So I am thinking about doing it myself.

Here is what I was going to do. I'd appreciate any comments.

(1) Get a load of mulch and a load of topsoil delivered and dumped on the driveway.
(2) Rent a roto-tiller and till the whole yard - grass, weeds and all.
(3) Spread the mulch and topsoil on the yard, evening out the low spots, and till again to mix it in.
(4) Dig trenches and install a sprinkler system (I've done that before).
(5) Rent a roller and compact/flatten the yard.
(6) Broadcast seed on the yard, put down a thin layer of mulch, and roll lightly. I'd use a mix of sun and shade grass seeds.
(7) Water and watch my new grass come in, along with weeds.
(8) Weed by hand until the grass is established (4 months?). Then add spray weedkiller to the hand weeding.

Does this sound good? It is pretty much what most of the landscape services were proposing to do. None of them suggested using sod, they said because we needed shade grass in much of the yard. None of them suggested stripping off the old grass/weeds/soil. One of them proposed first spraying the yard with something to kill everything - grass and weeds alike - before they'd come in and till/level/seed. Should I do that?

I've never used a roto-tiller.