Lawns - can you walk on new topsoil and seed?

My entire house was excavated about 2 ft out from the foundation. Then there are other areas where the bobcat went and they just put a bit of topsoil on and seeded as well. Then there are other areas a patio was dug out so of course more topsoil went over there

For any area that was dug out, when i walk on it i literally sink about 6 inches down and it covers my sneaker. It's impossible to get to my entire new lawn to water it without walking on at least some of it so i was wondering, are you supposed to walk on it at all? now i have 6 inch deep footprints that will no doubt be fun to mow over and i was wondering, how long does it take dirt to compact down so i can walk on it?

I need to have my oil delivered while prices are low in summer but i dont want the guy dragging a heavy hose and walking thru my new lawn destroying it. Nor me keep messing it up walking on it

I would avoid all possible activity that compresses soil that has seed on it.If it isn't seeded you can always refill that area at some other time but you will damage seed by pressing it into new soft soil.

If you must walk on it etc try to minimize the contact and plan on redoing those areas probably in the fall.

Honestly,this wasn't the best time of year to have this done.you will battle summer weather to save the seed and new grass,you will have to water (early in the day not late day or at night as this promotes fungus).

And the guy with the heavy oil hose,I know the drill I have lived in oil heated homes,will scrape away your seed anywhere the hose is dragged.

well it would have been nice if the excavators told me all that..the only thing emphasized was water every day or it wont grow. Then my gen'l contractor yesterday said if they have to come back in they will and fill in some spots. No one ever said stay off it. but of coruse now i will as much i can. I didnt realize better to have bare patches than try to water every single inch like i was (took over 1.5 hours first day i was so diligent lol) Plus they saw me watering before they were even done the job so knew i walked all over the place and they knew my difficult access to the hoses made it necessary to do so. I did carry the hose and not drag it as best i could but some moving was inevitable. Sigh. I guess they can come back in a few weeks and fill in all the prints i made

but how long does it take for this soil to compress so you dont sink 6 inches into it?

i had to have it done now, he doesnt get paid until the job is complete and i doubt he wanted to wait until fall to get his money lol.

Well I doubt your contractor is all that knowledgeable on yard work etc and frankly what he cares about it getting the job done and getting paid and moving on to another job.Unless he is actually in the business of lawn care and upkeep you are not going to get much beyond the job itself done.

I doubt the soil will compact very much before fall seeding time etc so you'll probably just have to try and maintain it,limit the damage as much as you can,try to avoid erosion etc and wait until fall to get serious with reworking your lawn.Try to save what seed you can.

As time passes you can tell what's going on.As for the oil thing,wait as long as you can but be prepared to repair any damage that causes,be there when he comes and maybe you can direct him around areas etc.

well i had an oil delivery scheduled for today but we got terrible storms last night so i called to cancel. And had my contractor out since last week i noticed some gutter issue and yes, old stuff was in there and he had to unclog it..the storms must have really cleaned out the old crap lol. But i had tons of water coming over the side of the gutter and that had cleared out a line of seed. So he will drop off some dirt and more seed for me.

he said will be a while until this settles since they put about 6 inches on some areas. so ill wait and then fill all the footprints in a few months i guess. But i just need 3-4 days of no rain to make it 'ok' enough for the oil guy to get to the back.

oh and the grass has grown pretty well..some bare spots..but where it grew it's a few inches high BUT i just realized if i cant walk on it, i cant mow it! So thats gonna be funny. And to do the rest of my front of my yard i need to go thru some of the new stuff..not fun

It sounds like you are over watering. You only need to keep it moist, not saturated. You can back off the water for a day or two inorder to mow or take delivery of oil then continue your watering as before. Don't expect the soil to settle much. The roots from the grass will tighten up the soil as they grow more dence and the lawn becomes established. Light, frequent water until establishment. No flooding!

The contractor should have run the bobcat over the deepest fill as he built it up. Then spread the topsoil, then rolled it with a 70# water filled drum roller, then drug an 8' section of chain link fence over it to level it. Then rolled again, then scratched with a metal grass rake, then seed it while walking on it. Immediately water it.
Read the "limited preview" books: install a seed lawn - Google Books (http://books.google.com/books?ei=8h0KSqSpLKTgtAPf5ezhCA&ct=result&q=install+a+seed+lawn&btnG=Search+Books) Be safe, G

well i wont be watering for an entire week now lol. Past 3 nights got bad storms and more predicted this week. I think the footprint holes will never empty out. Of course that means i cant get oil in and get the cheap summer oil but if we get 4 days of dry, ill risk it and map out a 'footpath' of least destruction. But actually since the grass is getting high, there's no need to even water anymore is there?

there was a 'dry' period about a week ago, could see cracks on the surface dirt, but i still got deep prints when i walked over it. so it's gonna be 'forever' until i can even mow because i cant run a mower and put deep prints all over the yard! (tire prints plus my footprints)

As far as the bobcat and rolling, i was thinking why didnt they do that but i wasnt there for 1/2 day they day they did the dirt and seed and didnt see what went on, i arrived just as they were strawing up the yard. Maybe once it's 6 inches high i call the contractor and say um, how can i mow this since you didnt tamp it down?

Unless the "contractor" was a landscaper etc they didn't know to do all that was suggested nor would they have wanted to go to the expense and take the time to do all of that.

Even if it was a landscaper etc they may have been contractually limited by either money or specific duties to do but so much.

A contractor capable of excavating an area doesn't guarantee they are very good at landscaping.If this is someone you hired I'd look at whatever paperwork you have for exactly what you hired them to do versus what you didn't hire them to do or any exclusions in any contract.A conversation with the contractor probably makes sense however what comes out of it and how he reacts to a suggestion either he does more for you,basically for free,or he didn't do enough/what he was supposed to do for you is another story.

well i'm getting more dirt and grass seed to use once this does settle. I doubt will do much more than that for me unless i ask. And this guy is my gf's family's recommendation, he lives right near them, hangs out with her brother, did their roof, and many in their rural neighborhood use him so i know as long as my requests arent too demanding, he will come do things. He's not someone that will be skipping out on things and he has a reputation to uphold. small communities like that talk.

he hired an excavating company to do the actual work though since he only has bigger equipment and knew these guys were better at the drainage issues. He more builds houses and does outside work like siding, roofs etc, not draining.

as far as contract it was pretty much a trust thing, with vague wording. since i had such good recommendations it was a very general contract but he did do all he said he would, and more.

i got a lot of free tree removal /cut down and other little things around my house done totally 'free' without complaint. And i put other 'stuff' in the trash pile they took away without complaint. So i have to temper my grass issues with what i did already get above and beyond. Plus one day soon, i'm gonna trudge thru the sinking earth and see if there's water in the crawlspace or not. As long as there is zero water from all these storms, ill be thrilled. If there is, then ill be back here *****ing up a storm lol

welp i got oil delivered today..was here to walk the guy thru the minefield so he didnt go on the 'ditch' part of the new job. And yesterday i mowed the front of the house but didnt have to walk on the deeper part of the new topsoil, just all my old stuff that wasnt dug up but was reseeded. With the 6+ huge storms the past 2 weeks i stopped watering but seed must have got washed away because in the middle of the front of the yard it's kind of sparse.hopefully the grass i mulched plants itself ;)

i didnt touch the back patio area because it's 100% new 6 inch plus topsoil and i still sink decently. no one can see it so doesnt matter.

but did carefully do the area near my garage since is only 1/2 newly dug up there...came out pretty good

it does appear that any grass that was planted next to the house grew thick and tremendously...i know that indicates possible lack of good watering on my part but for the 1st 2 weeks i was out there faithfully every day but rain days. So im tending to think the seed got washed away.

Well at this point you might as well wait a month maybe 6 weeks and reseed at the best time to seed which is fall.

well parts of this may be moot...a week ago i crawled in my crawlspace and there is water there..so some parts of the new work will have to be dug up to find out why. and since the ground is so soft, it's impossible for him to use any equipment unless he wants to do the entire 'around' my house. The part where it's leaking is the worst place to get to. I also noticed end of last week rain in morning and late afternoon all my 6 inch deep footprints still had water in them! insanity. Shouldnt that water be going somewhere?

Where I live, if you were to core the ground, you'd come up with topsoil, sand, blue clay, red clay, shale, and sandstone - in alternating bands. Water obviously easily drains through topsoil and sand, but not the other stuff too much. But thankfully ground is not sand, all the way to China, since the other stuff allows underground aquifers and springs.