Why cant you put down sod yourself? For 2500 sqft that's about 800-900 dollars if you do it yourself. I've done it before, all 13 pallets myself... Not for people with weak back though!

IN MY OPINION, the best varieties for plugs are Floratam and Sapphire. They fill in so much faster than Raleigh (not recommended IMO) and Palmetto (preferable for solid sodding but slowpoke for filling in with plugs). www.lawnplug.com sells them. you probably can plant them 5 feet apart and they should fill in fast as long as you provide fertilizer and watering. I'd drive down to Conroe and pick up pieces from Turfgrass America if they have some leftover. You would have to call them and make arrangement to get Floratam even though it isn't recommended for zone 8 (probably based on severe winters in 1980s that we rarely ever get).

I have an idea, why don't you wait a month and I will give you some of my sapphire, palmetto, and floratam runners that you can plant them? I already edged them and got rid of them but they spread very fast so it's free...

Thanks for the offer Lou. I finally decided to have the yard resodded. I found a local landscaper to do it for a price within my budget, and I think its worth the extra cost in labor to have a professional do it (I've never sodded a lawn before and I just wanted to get it done).

Make sure your landscaper roll the lawn after he's done. I don't know what it's like at your house but make sure there is dirt on the surface of the ground to be in contact with the sod. I made my neighbor rent a power rake which is pretty much "mini" tiller just to till the top inch of the soil and get rid of old grass. It was entirely full of bermuda and there was no way new st augustine could survive by just throwing them on bermuda! After a month, his lawn looks pretty good. you just have to make sure to water pretty much every day for a couple weeks just to keep the sod moist. First day, water heavily but slowly all day. Rest of the time, just water moderately to keep the sod moist. And DO NOT MOW. Let grass grow tall for a few weeks. That will help put more energy into root growth. Set your mower at the highest setting.

Good luck.

I'll confirm the rolling - thanks for the advice. Yesterday I mowed as low as my mower would go (a good scalping) and the sod guy is going to weed whack down to dirt before laying the sod.

I think it would be REALLY worth renting the power rake. I've done both using power rake and scalping the lawn with the mower and power rake machine works much better mainly because it gets rid of more old grass and loosen up surface ground. I've done weed whacking but it didn't really get all the grass or do the job of power rack... Not even close.