When you first put down the new sod, how were you watering? How often and for how long?

After 3 weeks, how did you change your watering?

It's hard to see from that distance and in full sun, but it looks like there is some grass still growing. The green is still green and the golden stolons are likely still viable once the disease goes away and the watering gets corrected.

First thing is to get the watering right, so answer the questions and we can get you going in the right direction.

At first I was watering 30 min a day per station. after 2 weeks I tried to cut back to every other day at 45 min then a few days later went to 3 days, but thats about when I started seeing the wilting. at first I thought it was just from less water but several days later I checked for chinch bugs. I went down from there. I havnt been trying to keep it for the last 2-3 weeks but I did put out spectracide again today just for the neighbors sake. they were pointed out to me by the neighbor. tomorrow afternoon I'll post a few close ups. Thanks for helping.

Yes I'd like to see the pictures.

You were watering far too long at first and then switched to far too frequently. Here's more on watering. For most lawns you cannot go cold turkey from new grass to mature watering, but St Aug and bermuda are much more tolerant of the switch.

Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall.

I called McCall and they will send someone out on Monday. I have had trouble with finding professionals who are knowledgeable and care enough to actually solve the problem. I hope they are different.

I have some areas with no sign of life and others with a little barely hanging on. I would be absolutely amazed but very happy if it could come back.

Wow... curious what people say.

I would start with deep watering. Set out some short cans to time how long it takes to fill them. That will be your first deep watering. Then watch the living grass for signs of wilting. In your case the first sign of wilting, water again for half the time to get a full inch. Hopefully that will be at least 3 - 4 days. Plan to water like that for a couple weeks, but not forever.

I don't see a lot of signs of disease, but I'm not ruling that out. I would apply ordinary corn meal at a rate of 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Corn meal is an organic fertilizer that will green up the living grass (and weeds). Call around to your local feed stores to check availability. It should cost under $10 for 50 pounds. Corn meal is what you want, not corn gluten meal.

Is that sea grape in the lawn? I've seen sea grape coexist with St Augustine. Neither one seems to take over.

Thanks. I have a lot of dollar weed is mostly what is green, also some sedge. I have read about the corn meal thing didnt know how legitimate it was compared to commercial fungicides. McCalls guy said I should plan to re-sod the yard at this point. He also assumed it dies from not enough watering. I dont know why he didnt notice the fungus on the few remaining grass leaves or the massive areas of root rot. Not sure if I should use him or not.

Well dchall wasn't completely convinced about the fungus, he just said he wasn't ruling it out.

Yeah, there's a blade hiding behind that other blade that looks yellowish. For most diseases you see lots of spots on the blades. I don't see that.

Okay I looked back at the first pic in the bright sun. There are some disease spots in there. I would use the corn meal.

Whether corn meal is legit or not is in the eye of the beholder. It has worked for me every time I tried it (for the past 14 years). Other people can't seem to get it to work. It does not work on rust or red thread and it does not seem to completely stop the disease that comes following torrential rains. But yours does not seem to be the torrential rain type. Here is a picture of what you're looking for: