The $20 Logan test is worth about $100 to get done from another lab. Since it is Logan's routine test, they can do it cheaper. There is a lab here in Texas that does the same thing, but their test is $100 and their report is not as good.

ZachS: I couldn't have said it any better myself.

Thats fine, but meybe they need to hop on over to a weed growing forum to help them chill out.

Seriously, tilling is a huge mistake. It will not do what you want and it will bring new seeds to the surface to sprout. It will take 3 full years to settle and in the end it will be very bumpy. If you want to freshen your soil, the best thing you can do is cover it in 2 inches of shredded tree (or chipped tree) mulch for a month or two. By covering it with mulch it holds the soil moisture more constant and allows the soil fungi to multiply inn population. The beneficial fungi are what make soil healthy. Bacteria is a secondary player along with protozoa and microarthropods. Earthworms are nice but even they could not survive without healthy fungi. Once you get the mulch down, the improvement happens in a huge hurry. Have you ever seen how fast a bag of bread can turn into a bag of green mold? That's how fast it can happen in the soil. However I would argue that you don't need to do that. You can get the same effect by spraying any clear shampoo on the soil at a rate of 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet. Do that twice separated by 3 weeks and your soil will improve surprisingly well. Kill the weeds by spot spraying with Weed-B-Gone.

The way you remove all the old grass is with a tool called a verticutter, power rake, slit seeder, or any (rented) tool with vertically rotating blades. You can adjust it so it just touches the soil. It will take all the plants out. Rake or blow the old grass away before seeding. Seed directly onto that soil and roll the seed down with a rented roller.

From my experience, nuking with roundup, waiting three weeks, spreading new topsoil, broadcasting seed with sand, starter fertilizer, and watering the crap out of it did the trick.

I'm curious because I'm on a crusade to stop people from adding topsoil for no reason. I'm not sure of seeding is a good reason or not.

In my opinion, after seeing the results I had, adding new topsoil is a good way to avoid the hardest part of the prep-work: soil preparation and leveling. You kill 2 birds with one stone because you cover up the dead grass and fill in low spots at the same time.

The roller I rented wasn't very big/heavy, so its likely the seed that was spread over the areas which didn't receive any new dirt didn't make it to the ground, and got trapped by what I thought would act as a hay type covering (the dead grass).

Here's what I mean, this is after 3 weeks right after the first mow:

Here's a shot closer up:

samlawn, the reason I never suggest adding top dressing to seed is because most will bury the seed. Secondarily, Mother Nature does not cover Her seed with topsoil. Now it could be that She is planting prairie grasses and not turf grasses. She is going on percentages. And of course the other big reason is that adding topsoil can change drainage and really cause problems.