Overall, this is great--and better than I would expect from a Chicago soil. You have two adjustments to do, and no major problems (both adjustments are minor).

EC 20: Very high, which is not a problem. This soil will resist changes in resource balances.

pH 7.1: This is set off by the magnesium excess. Don't lime--and if you require it in the future, we won't be using the cheap lime off the shelf as it has too much magnesium in it. A bit more on this below. It's not a problem, you can grow a gorgeous lawn at pH 7.1.

OM 8.5%: Excellent to Extraordinary. There's no problem increasing this if you want, and certainly you'll want to work to maintain it. But we're far and away beyond emergency territory here.

Sulfur 13: Perfect. We have tons of wiggle room to play with things, which is going to happen a bit.

Phosphorus 362: On the high side of the normal range. No phosphorus sources are needed or desired on this soil. Grasses like around 200, but are perfectly happy right up to a lot higher than this.

Calcium 68.55%: Perfect, right at the top of the normal range, just where it should be.

Magnesium 23.6%: Very high. While not a problem, avoid any magnesium sources (cheap lime and Epsom salt) for the foreseeable future. This is pushing your pH up out of the normally acceptable range, but again, not an issue.

Potassium 3.02%: Right in the proper range, although the numbers above show you a bit short. I've recommended potassium sulfate, but the application is optional next year. I'd still do it.

Most Trace Elements: Good ranges, no fiddling required. Even boron is exactly where it should be, which is amazing.

Iron 153: Not deficient, but not going to produce the best color on a mature lawn at your pH. Use Milorganite as your primary feeding in May, August, September, and October to green-up the lawn immediately and slowly increase the soil iron.

Recommendations:

April or May: Potassium sulfate at 2 pounds per thousand post green-up and before a rainfall.

September: Potassium sulfate at 2 pounds per thousand.

Feeding: Use Milorganite as your primary feeding, four times per year minimum.

sounds good. thanks for the advice.

So is it safe to assume my soil is not causing my newish grass to look bad?

Although chemistry at the top layer may not be quite the same as chemistry down below, with these results, I wouldn't expect anything badly out of whack up top.

thanks again. the mystery continues. I'm going to post pics and start another thread looking for potential strategy. bc it only seems to get worse.

really appreciate your help with the logan lab report

When you start the new thread, please mention what your watering plan was over the summer. How often and how long did you water? And how high/low did you mow?

I am starting to wonder if that is the problem. it rained a lot in early summer through the end of june (8in in june). then july was a little light (1.6in) and I watered some in early august. then we got a lot of rain the rest of that month 7in. sept was only 1.25 inches but I watered 2 or 3 other times and probably put down 1.5 to 2in extra. october we've had 3.23 in so far. so it's been a little all over the place.

as far as mowing I mowed mostly weekly on the highest setting my old lawn chief has but I am not sure the length.

we had some scotts love your lawn service come 4 times and spray the broadleaf weeds and put down some fertilizer (allegedly). and had aeration done in june.

it looks crappy and since it's not the soil I guess it's on me. putting bluegrass sod on a semi shaded lawn might have something to do with it too though the sunnier spots arent doing noticeably better than those in more shade.

Too frequent watering is almost always a primary player when lawns turn bad. Of course picking the wrong grass for the situation is an underlying issue all the time.