I had a soil test done before all of this which showed low ph(5.32), low phosporous(35), high magnesium(557), high calcium(2179). Not knowing any better, I may not have used the calcitic lime that the report suggested for amendment. I used a Scott's drop spreader (which I'm finding awkward and finicky) for seeding, fertilizing, liming.

Thanks for any help!
Jeff

Soil can vary across a small area based on whatever was done over the years. Someone might have had a flower garden in the middle of a yard, or a tree, and that could change the soil forever. In my case back in 1997 I built a fort using treated lumber. The spot where I set up the saw is still visible as a bare spot. Treated lumber is not a good soil additive ;-) It is hard to guess why different spots might not grow seed.

You might do a structural test on your soil. Get a straight sided glass or plastic jar, fill it half way with soil, then fill it all the way with water and one drop of dish soap. Shake the jar and take a picture of it with a ruler next to it. Take the picture after 2 minutes, 2 hours, and 2 days. Sand and rubble will fall immediately to the bottom of the jar (2 minutes). Silt will fall after a couple hours. Clay will remain suspended and cloud the water for days. With the test and a ruler you can estimate the amount of sand, silt, and clay you have in your soil. Organic matter will float in an unmeasurable amount on the surface.

Next time you seed for a lawn, don't till and don't add any topsoil unless you need to change the flow of water drainage. Tilling ultimately causes the surface to become bumpy. The settling process takes as much as 3 years before you finally become disgusted with it. Adding small amounts of topsoil over the years can lead to something like this...

The house across the street has the same situation. Apparently adding 1/4 inch of topsoil annually was a common practice in this neighborhood. There are a few homes which were spared and have a flat hell strip.

I'll do the structural test you mention. I'll gather it from different areas and test each.

I do already notice some bumpiness in the new lawn area, so that's not a comforting thing after what you've told me can happen over years. It seems very sensitive to the lawnmower. At nearly every mower turn, I feel I disturb at least some of the grading that I did before seeding. It was dead flat then. I also pulled a lot of weeds, which made it even more bumpy.

I'm a bit concerned now about potential amendments. Am I understanding you correctly that you don't believe it's possible to repair the areas of your lawn and your neighbors because of the addition of topsoil over the years?
I want to believe there's a solution for everything. Core or liquid aeration maybe? Different seed variety? Digging up the soil and adding a deep layer of good soil? There has to be something, right?

BTW, a sprinkler system was just installed here and talk about bumpy! The sprinkler guy recommended getting soil and feathering it out around the bumps. But yes, this lawn is going to need some real work to get it flat again. Now you're making me wonder about topdressing, which I was planning on doing later on this year.

This is becoming quite a project. I really should have sodded, and I'm thinking that careful cutting down of the high spots might be better in many areas than feathering with more soil.