Lawn · Sod installation
Sod installation, done by the irrigation company
Most sod failures aren't grass failures — they're water failures. We're the licensed irrigator that also installs sod, which means your sprinkler coverage gets verified before a single pallet is ordered, and your new lawn gets watered like the system actually works.
Free on-site measure · flat quote per project · You approve the flat price before any work begins
Texas Licensed Irrigator — LI0026061Required by Texas law for sprinkler repair. Ask any company for theirs.
Request a sod quote
Tell us the rough square footage and what the lawn looks like — we'll come measure and quote it flat.
Where we install
Sod installation, city by city
Each city we serve grows grass a little differently — different tree canopies, different watering rules, different builder soil. Your city's page has the local detail.
Sod installation in Plano
Mature-canopy east side, sunnier west — variety choice is half the job here. Local detail on the Plano page.
Sod installation in Frisco
Young trees, full sun, HOA standards — and a watering ordinance that makes install timing matter.
Sod installation in McKinney
Stonebridge-era lawns hitting replacement age together, on a trash-day watering schedule.
Sod installation in Allen
Sunny west-side subdivisions, shaded old Allen — two different grass conversations in one city.
Sod installation in Richardson
The oldest canopies in our territory — where honest shade math decides whether sod succeeds.
Sod installation in Dallas
Lakewood and White Rock lawns under century-old oaks — deep-shade turf is its own discipline.
Fresh-cut pallets from North Texas farms — Raleigh and Palmetto St. Augustine, Tifway 419 and TifTuf Bermuda, Palisades and Zeon Zoysia — laid within a day of harvest, because sod is produce and freshness shows in the rooting.
Diagnosis guide
Which grass belongs in your yard?
The right variety is a sunlight question first, a budget question second, and a lifestyle question third. Six situations, six honest answers.
Deep shade under mature trees
St. Augustine is the only warm-season turf that tolerates real shade — and even it needs 4–5 hours of sun. Below that, the honest answer is groundcover or beds, and we’ll say so before selling you a pallet that dies.
Full sun, sensible budget
Tifway 419 Bermuda: the most affordable installed, the fastest to recover from traffic, and bulletproof in Texas sun. Its one rule — it will not tolerate shade, at all.
Premium look, dense feel
Zoysia — Palisades for moderate shade, Zeon for the fine-bladed carpet look. Costs more per pallet, walks like a putting green, and handles cold snaps better than St. Augustine.
Dogs and kids on the lawn
Bermuda and Zoysia recover from wear; St. Augustine doesn’t, really. High-traffic yards get a wear-tolerance conversation before a variety pick.
Burned by the last hard freeze
The 2021 freeze killed St. Augustine across whole neighborhoods here. If yours died once, Zoysia or Bermuda — both markedly more cold-hardy — may be the variety the climate is suggesting.
Mixed sun — bright front, shaded back
Lawns split varieties more often than people think: Bermuda in the sun, St. Augustine or Palisades under the canopy. The seam is managed at a hard edge so neither invades the other.
Flat-rate pricing
Flat-quote sod pricing
Every repair is a flat rate quoted before work begins — never hourly, never a running meter while someone digs. The service call covers a full zone-by-zone diagnosis and applies to your repair, so diagnosis is effectively free when we do the work.
| Repair | Flat rate | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| On-site measure & quote | free | Square footage measured, sun mapped, sprinkler coverage checked, one flat number. |
| Bermuda (Tifway 419), installed | $[X.XX]/sq ft | Old turf stripped, soil prepped, laid tight and rolled, watered in. |
| St. Augustine (Raleigh/Palmetto), installed | $[X.XX]/sq ft | The shade answer — same full prep and installation. |
| Zoysia (Palisades/Zeon), installed | $[X.XX]/sq ft | Premium density — same full prep and installation. |
| Repair-area patching | from $[XXX] | Pallet-or-less patches after irrigation or utility work, matched to your existing grass. |
Per-square-foot rates assume normal access and include removal, prep, installation, and watering-in — grading problems and haul-off surprises get priced in the quote, not after. Full numbers with project examples on the sod installation cost guide.
Local knowledge
Why sod fails here — and how we install against it
North Texas is hard on new turf: heavy clay, brutal summers, and the occasional lawn-killing freeze. The installation has to respect all three.
The ground — Blackland clay wants preparation
Sod dropped on compacted clay roots shallow and dies in the first August. Our prep is the unglamorous half of the price: old turf stripped clean, grade corrected so water sheds away from the slab, the surface loosened and leveled, and seams laid brick-staggered and rolled so roots meet soil, not air. Pallets go down within a day of harvest — sod is produce, and freshness shows in the rooting.
Then the part nobody else on the sod truck can do: heads adjusted to the new grade and coverage verified head-to-head, because new sod under a sprinkler system with gaps grows a striped lawn on schedule. That check is a licensed inspection, included.
The climate — freeze history is variety advice
The 2021 freeze rewrote North Texas lawns: St. Augustine died across entire neighborhoods while Bermuda and Zoysia shrugged. St. Augustine is still the right call under canopy — nothing else tolerates the shade — but in open sun its freeze risk is a real input, and we’ll put it on the table rather than relay whatever the farm has extra of.
Establishment is the other climate problem: new sod needs frequent water for two to three weeks, under cities that schedule watering. Every quote comes with an establishment watering plan written for your city’s actual rules — hand-watering allowances, drip exemptions, and timing the install so the calendar works for the grass instead of against it.
The variety table
St. Augustine vs. Bermuda vs. Zoysia — the straight comparison
Fifteen thousand people a month search this comparison. Here it is without the brochure gloss.
The matchup — what each grass demands
| Variety | The honest profile |
|---|---|
| St. Augustine (Raleigh, Palmetto) | The shade grass: fine down to 4–5 hrs sun. Wide blade, thirstiest of the three, weakest in hard freezes. |
| Bermuda (Tifway 419, TifTuf) | Full sun only, 6+ hrs. Cheapest installed, best traffic recovery, drought-tough — TifTuf especially. |
| Zoysia (Palisades) | Moderate shade, 4–6 hrs. Dense, slow-spreading, cold-hardy — the premium middle path. |
| Zoysia (Zeon) | Fine-bladed, carpet-dense, the showpiece lawn — at the showpiece price. |
Sun hours decide more than anything else — we map yours on the measure visit before recommending a pallet of anything. Variety pricing side by side on the sod installation cost guide.
Watering it in — the first three weeks
New sod wants brief, frequent water — often daily at first — and every city we serve schedules sprinkler days. The plan differs by city: Plano allows hand-held and soaker watering up to two hours any day, Frisco permits drip and hand watering daily but grants no turf exemptions in June–August (timing matters there), and each of our city pages covers its own rules.
Week one: keep the pad and the soil under it moist. Weeks two and three: taper frequency, deepen each watering, and root-tug test. First mow around week three, high. We leave the schedule in writing, set to your controller where the rules allow it.
Your specialist
Meet Jonathan, your irrigation specialist
Eldorado isn't a sod crew with a wheelbarrow — it's the licensed irrigation company that also installs turf, which is the right order of operations. Jonathan has been pairing North Texas sprinkler work with sod since 2013, holds Texas irrigator license LI0026061, and works out of east Plano.
His rule on every job is the one customers keep repeating in reviews: fix only what's broken. You get a zone-by-zone diagnosis, a flat price before work starts, and an honest answer when something doesn't need replacing.
The visit
How a repair visit works
No mystery invoices. The price is on the table before a shovel touches dirt.
Call & describe
Send the rough square footage or just the address — we measure on site, map the sun, and check sprinkler coverage in the same visit.
Zone-by-zone diagnosis
You get one flat quote: removal, prep, variety, installation, watering-in, and any sprinkler adjustments the new grade needs.
Flat quote, your call
You get the exact price before any work begins. The service call fee is applied to the repair.
Repair & prove it
We lay it tight, roll it, water it in the same day, and hand you the establishment schedule written for your city’s rules.
Field record
Recent sod work
Real jobs, our own photos — valve boxes, manifolds, trench lines, and the lawns after.
Reviews
What our customers say
"Many charge outrageous fees and try and upsell. Eldorado doesn't do that. Pleasant, responsive and most importantly, honest... 5 star and will be my go-to sprinkler guys."
"Came out same day and took care of business at an unbelievable price. Took about 30 minutes to diagnose and repair. Would absolutely utilize again."
"They gave me options and fixed only what needed to be fixed. They are honest good people that do good work."
Questions
Sod installation, asked & answered
How much does sod installation cost?
Installed sod in our territory runs $[X.XX]–$[X.XX] per square foot depending on variety — Bermuda at the affordable end, Zeon Zoysia at the premium end — including removal of the old turf, soil prep, installation, and watering-in. A typical front yard lands around $[X,XXX]; every project gets one flat quote after a free on-site measure. Full numbers on the sod installation cost guide.
Which grass is best for shade in North Texas?
St. Augustine — Raleigh or Palmetto — and it's not close. It handles real canopy down to about 4–5 hours of sun, which nothing else here matches; Palisades Zoysia covers the moderate-shade middle. Below 4 hours, the honest answer is that no warm-season turf will hold, and we'll recommend groundcover or beds instead of selling grass that dies.
St. Augustine, Bermuda, or Zoysia — how do I choose?
Sunlight first: under 6 hours rules out Bermuda; under 4–5 rules out almost everything but St. Augustine. Then budget — Bermuda installs cheapest, Zoysia highest — and lifestyle: dogs and traffic favor Bermuda or Zoysia recovery, freeze worry favors anything over St. Augustine. We map your actual sun hours on the measure visit before recommending anything.
How much area does a pallet of sod cover?
Around 450 square feet for the pallets our North Texas farms cut. A typical suburban front yard runs two to four pallets; we measure precisely on site, because ordering by guesswork either strands you short mid-install or buys grass that wilts on the driveway.
When is the best time to install sod here?
Warm-season grasses root best from late spring through early fall — the grass is growing and earning its keep. Cooler-month installs work too with the right expectations (the sod sits dormant and roots slowly), with one local wrinkle: city watering rules differ by season, and in Frisco the winter spray ban makes hand-watering the whole establishment plan.
How do I water new sod under my city’s restrictions?
Every quote includes an establishment plan written for your city's actual rules. The common thread: most of our cities allow hand-held hose and soaker watering daily even when sprinkler days are limited — Plano explicitly permits up to two hours any day — and drip beds are broadly exempt. Your city's sod page covers its specific rules.
Do you check the sprinkler system before installing?
Always — it's the reason to hire the irrigation company for the sod. Coverage gets verified head-to-head before pallets are ordered, heads get raised to the new grade after laying, and if the old lawn actually died of a leak or a dead zone, we fix the cause first. New sod over a broken system is a striped lawn on schedule.
Do you remove the old grass first?
Yes — laying sod over old turf is how you get a lumpy lawn with a dead layer underneath. We strip the old grass, correct the grade so water sheds away from the foundation, loosen and level the surface, and haul off the debris. The prep is the unglamorous half of the price and the visible half of the result.
How long until I can walk and mow on new sod?
Light, necessary walking is fine immediately; regular traffic waits about two weeks. First mow comes around week two to three, once the root-tug test passes — grab a corner and pull; when it resists, it's rooted. Mow high the first few times.
Will new sod survive a hard freeze?
Variety-dependent, and 2021 was the exam: Bermuda and Zoysia came back; St. Augustine died across whole neighborhoods. Fall-installed St. Augustine going into a bad winter is the riskiest combination, and we'll say so when the timing points that way. Established Bermuda and Zoysia handle our winters reliably.
Can you patch sod after a repair instead of doing the whole lawn?
Yes — pallet-or-less patches matched to your existing variety are routine, especially after trenching, utility work, or our own leak repairs. The match matters: the wrong St. Augustine cultivar next to your old one reads as a checkerboard for a season.
Do you offer a warranty on sod?
We stand behind the installation — seams, grade, prep, and the sprinkler coverage we verified — and we'll put that in the quote. What no honest installer warranties is watering we don't control: follow the establishment schedule we leave and the grass takes; skip week one and no guarantee on earth saves it. We check in during establishment either way.
How fast can you quote my yard?
Usually within a couple of days — the measure visit takes under an hour, and the flat quote follows in writing. Call (469) 970-2715 or send the square footage through the form and we'll get you on the calendar.
Service area
Sod installation available across North DFW
Licensed repair within about 30 minutes of our east Plano shop:
Searching “sod installation near me” or “sod companies near me” in Collin County or North Dallas? We measure free, quote flat, and we’re the only sod installer on your list who can also sign off on the sprinklers as a Texas Licensed Irrigator.
Sod and sprinklers are one project: a system inspection before installation, heads set to the new grade after — and if the old lawn died of a leak, we fix that first.
Ready for a lawn that starts over?
Free measure, flat quote, fresh-cut pallets — and sprinklers verified before the first one lands.