Can you scrounge up a 2x4 about 10 feet long, a rope about 20 feet long, and about 10 feet of chain link fencing? If you don't have a drag you're going to make a lot of excess work for yourself. After about 10 minutes with the drag you'll be saying, "How could I do this without a drag?" Attach the fencing to the board and tie the rope to either end of the board. It will need some weight to hold it down. I used a bag of soil.

Don't plan on putting 1/2 inch of sand down. Plan to just fill the low spots. Adding 1/2 inch is just the wrong mind set. Adding soil always changes the drainage. The point of leveling is to just fill the low spots and stop scalping. You can probably buy sand in bags at a hardware store. The advantage of that is you can return unused bags or you can buy more bags in a hurry rather than waiting for delivery of another ton of sand. It costs a little more but you have these other advantages.

If you have high spots, let the mower scalp them down for you. You might want to rent a mower for that part of the process so you don't ruin yours. You could also use something like a slit seeder, slicer, or vertical rake to help loosen the soil on the high spots. Then the drag will drag that soil around along with the sand.

Are you already deep watering as a general rule?

Where do you live?

When I water (which I don't normally need to since we seem to get a decent amount rain every week or two) I water about an inch at a time and once per week.

I live in Woodstock Ga which is about 15 miles north of Atlanta.

The only item I'm not sure I can get would be the chain link fence. But I could buy a drag on Amazon for $80 instead of purchasing a landscape rake for $45 if you think it's worth it.

I laid about 900 sq ft of sod last year and tilled the ground (yes I know that was a bad idea) before hand so that area is pretty bumpy. The other side of the yard isn't quite as bad but there are some holes where tree roots used to be. Maybe I should get a smaller load and then buy bags if needed?

I am now trying to decide between white sand and river sand.

Good idea to buy maybe half as much as you think you'll need in bulk and then use bags for the rest. I would not overthink the sand choices. I used generic kitty litter successfully for small spots. Even river sand will lock in once the turf is in. But if it ever thins out, it becomes very loose sand again.

dc...do you know of a lawn leveling company in San Antonio? Where can I purchase the best leveling sand? What feed store in San Antonio for organics? I topped dressed my lawn with a molch, compost mix, but it isn't level. I have a reel mower, and my last step is getting the lawn leveled out. thanks!