Sod estimator

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Price: Sod (10 ft2 roll)

$ / ft²

Default: 0.94 $ / ft² · allowed 0.23 to 3.76

The unit price before tax your supplier quoted you.

Rental days

days

Default: 1 days · allowed 1 to 14

Skid steer, Sod cutter

Amounts before taxes. GST (5%) and QST (9.975%) are added and shown separately.

Do it yourself, beginner: $5,300*; * Includes your time: 59 h × $35.05/h (beginner). Money spent only: $3,272
Money spent only: $3,300; doing it yourself, before taxes
Contractor, typical: $5,900; $4,800 to $7,300
Break-even, beginner: $44/h; At $35/h: doing it yourself still costs less.

OverviewOverview MaterialsMaterials and rentals HoursHours by step ContractorHire a contractor SourcesAssumptions and sources

Before you digYou are removing the old lawn and grading: that is digging. File a free Info-Excavation request before you start.

You are removing the old lawn and grading: that is digging. File a free Info-Excavation request before you start.

Source: Régie du bâtiment du Québec, Travaux d'excavation · Hydro-Québec, What to do before you dig (underground lines) · APSAM (Association paritaire pour la santé et la sécurité du travail, secteur affaires municipales), Fiche technique 34, Protéger les services publics souterrains

MunicipalityA new lawn needs frequent watering. Check your city's drinking water bylaw before laying: days, hours and conditions for a new lawn.

A new lawn needs frequent watering. Check your city's drinking water bylaw before laying: days, hours and conditions for a new lawn.

Source: Soumission Rénovation, Prix de la tourbe au Québec : combien coûte le gazon en rouleau en 2026?

Other notes from the calculation (5)

Labour of {phPerFt2} person-h/ft², outside the published band (0.01 to 0.049) for this kind of project.
No machine within 1 m of the locate marks: expose utilities by hand.
RBQ licence: subcategory 2.7 for this kind of excavation (licence required: false).
Lay sod the day it is delivered: it heats up and dries quickly on the pallet. Roll it, then water deeply (BNQ 0605-100 is the Quebec reference).
Watering: water deeply right after laying or planting, then keep the soil moist until roots take. Check the municipal water-use bylaw; new lawns often have an exemption.

Where the money goes

Before taxes, one scale for both bars.

Do it yourself, money spent

$3,272

Materials$1,959
Equipment rental$687
Disposal$625

Contractor, typical price

$5,880

Materials$1,812
Labour$611
Equipment and rentals$656
Delivery and disposal$625
Overhead$1,588
Margin$588

True cost: money and time

Before tax, one scale for every bar.

People

Value of one hour$35.05/h

By default, the average hourly wage in Quebec:

Money spentYour time ($35/h)Contractor's rangeTypical price ($5,900)

Do-it-yourself true cost and a contractor's price, before tax
Money, do it yourself	$3,272
True cost, beginner	$5,341
True cost, intermediate	$4,684
Contractor	$4,800 to $7,300 ($5,900)

Your time

Money, hours, days, value of the time and true cost, beginner and intermediate
Measure	Beginner	Intermediate
Money spent	$3,272	$3,272
Person-hours	59 h	40 h
Days of 8 h, 2 people	4 days	3 days
Your time at $35/h	$2,069	$1,412
True cost	$5,341	$4,684

Working days only: add rain days and waiting times (curing, deliveries).

Hiring costs less if your time is worth more than:

$44/h

Based on beginner hours.

At $35/h: doing it yourself still costs less.

Break-even = (the contractor's typical price minus the money spent doing it yourself) divided by your person-hours. Before tax on both sides: GST and QST apply to both.

Actions

Estimates are computed in your browser: no account, and your projects stay on your device. The page link holds your choices: copy it to come back or to share it. "Save this project" keeps it in this browser only, nothing is sent. My projects

Step-by-step guide

Phases, "done when" checks, safety, common mistakes and sources, with your project's quantities.

Read the guide

Do it yourself

What you buy, rent and pay for

Quantities in orderable units, retail prices before taxes, with the source, date and region of every price.

Do-it-yourself cost detail
Item	Quantity	Unit price	Amount
Materials
Sod (10 ft² roll)	1,130 ft²105 m²	$0.94/ft²	$1,062.40$0.94/ft²
Screened topsoil (lawn soil)	23 yd³17.58 m³	$38.99/yd³	$896.77$38.99/yd³
Equipment rental
Skid steer	1 dayUse: 7.6 machine h	-	$551.48
Sod cutter	4-hour blockUse: 2.7 machine h	-	$135.89
Disposal
Sod and organics (container)	8 t	$625.00/container	$625.00$625.00/container

Tools to buy (3)

Untick the ones you already own.

GlovesPPE$16.99
Landscape rake$34.99
Sod knife$32.99

Total before taxes: $3,271.54
GST (5%): $163.58
QST (9.975%): $326.34
Total with taxes: $3,761.46

GST and QST are computed on purchases and rentals; your own work is not taxed.

Your time

How many hours, at what pace

Person-hours (p-h): a professional's hours times a documented factor for your experience, rework and machine learning included, plus the guide's planning and checks (planning, locate request, permits). The factors are in the assumptions.

Beginner

59 h

about 4 days of 8 h with 2 people

Work: 39.7 h
Rework: 4 h
Learning the machines: 1.5 h
Planning and checks: 13.9 h

Beginner: has never compacted a base or cut pavers.

Intermediate

40 h

about 3 days of 8 h with 2 people

Work: 28.8 h
Rework: 1.4 h
Learning the machines: 0.5 h
Planning and checks: 9.6 h

Intermediate: has done at least one similar project.

For comparison, a professional: 15 h of work, about 1 crew day.

Step by step, from the guide

Each guide step, timed by the same calculation as the total: each task's hours at your level's pace, rework included. Hover a value to see the range.

Hours per guide step, beginner and intermediate
Step	Beginner	Intermediate
1Look over the yardguide rate	1.5	1
Measure, order and set the delivery dateguide rate	1.5	1
2Request a locate and check the watering bylawguide rate	0.7	0.5
3Remove the old lawnweather	12.9	9
Rough-grade the areaguide rateweather	5.8	4
4Spread the topsoilweather	16.7	11.6
Fine-grade and roll lightlyweather	5.8	4
5Lay the strips with staggered seamsweather	8.2	5.7
Roll the lawn and water it deeplyguide rate	1.5	1
Look after the lawn for the first weeksguide rate	2.9	2
Learning the machines	1.5	0.5
Total (p-h)	59	40.3

The rows add up to the total: 45.2 h of work calculated by the engine, plus 13.9 h of planning and checks at the guide's rate (beginner). 5 steps depend on the weather. Read the full guide

Detail by calculation task(4)

Detail by calculation task
Task	Pro	Beginner	Intermediate
Sod laying	2.8	8.2	5.7
Fine grading	2	5.8	4
Sod stripping	4.4	12.9	9
Topsoil spreading	5.7	16.7	11.6
Learning the machines	-	1.5	0.5
Total	15	59	40.3

Person-hours per task. Beginner and intermediate hours include rework.

Hire a contractor

What a contractor would charge

Range before taxes for the same project built by a crew: labour, equipment, materials, overhead and margin.

Low

$4,800

Typical

$5,900

High

$7,300

Before taxes · $5 to $7 per ft²

Where the money goes (typical price before taxes, $5,880)

Breakdown of the typical price before taxes
Materials	30.8%	$1,812
Labour	10.4%	$611
Equipment and rentals	11.2%	$656
Delivery and disposal	10.6%	$625
Overhead(estimate)	27%	$1,588
Margin(estimate)	10%	$588
Typical price before taxes		$5,880
GST (5%)		$293.99
QST (9.975%)		$586.51
Typical price with taxes		$6,760

What moves the total

1Contractor overhead
Typical price from $5,292 to $6,735 with this factor
2Price: Screened topsoil (lawn soil)
Typical price from $5,576 to $6,724 with this factor
3Contractor profit
Typical price from $5,292 to $6,387 with this factor

Each factor is pushed alone to its low, then high value; the others stay at their typical value.

The range shows the effect of documented price and productivity spreads. It is not a probability.

Every price, production rate and parameter has a documented low, typical and high value. The range shown starts from the typical cost and combines the swing of each factor taken one at a time, by the root of the sum of squares (independent spreads rarely all land at their extreme together). The stacked extremes stay in the detail. It is not a probability.

Range with taxes: $5,600 to $8,400.

Contractor crew: 15 h of work, about 1 day.

Rules in Quebec

Permits, licences and neighbours

What applies to this kind of work, with the source of every rule.

Permit
Municipalities regulate watering with drinking water, and many set conditions for new lawns. Read your city's bylaw before laying sod; during restrictions, postpone the job.
Source: Soumission Rénovation, Prix de la tourbe au Québec : combien coûte le gazon en rouleau en 2026?
RBQ licence
Laying sod on private land needs no RBQ licence, and the R-20 Act treats sodding as construction only in cases set by regulation.
Source: Régie du bâtiment du Québec, Guide pour déterminer le besoin d'une licence et la sous-catégorie pertinente : sous-catégorie 2.7, Entrepreneur en travaux d'emplacement · LégisQuébec, Loi sur les relations du travail, la formation professionnelle et la gestion de la main-d'oeuvre dans l'industrie de la construction (RLRQ, c. R-20)
Utility locate
If you remove the old lawn or correct the grades, file a free Info-Excavation request before digging.
Source: Régie du bâtiment du Québec, Travaux d'excavation · Hydro-Québec, What to do before you dig (underground lines)
Neighbours
When raising the ground, do not make water flow worse for the lower neighbouring lot (Civil Code of Québec, art. 979).
Source: Gouvernement du Québec, Écoulement des eaux (rapports de voisinage)
Consumer protection
If you hire a contractor, ask for a written contract stating the soil preparation, topsoil depth, sod type, any watering included, the total price and the warranty. A contract signed at your home after a sales visit can be cancelled within 10 days.
Source: Office de la protection du consommateur, Request a contract (lawn and landscaping)

Assumptions

Calculation parameters

Typical value (low to high), source, date, region and confidence grade of every parameter in the calculation.

See the assumptions(22)

Calculation parameters
Assumption	Value	Source, date, region	Grade
Contractor overhead (share of price)	27% (20% to 35%)
Net profit (share of price)	10% (3% to 15%)
Contractor discount on retail prices	7.5% (15% to 0%)
Crew round trip to the site	1 h	fixed rule	-
Non-productive time per person per day	0.5 p-h (0.25 p-h to 1 p-h)
Job Bank median wages, no CCQ rates	Job Bank medians, no CCQ rates	fixed rule	-
GST	5%	fixed rule	-
QST	9.975%	fixed rule	-
Base hourly wage: foreman	$28.00/h ($22.00/h to $40.03/h)
Base hourly wage: heavy equipment operator	$36.00/h ($24.00/h to $43.40/h)
Base hourly wage: labourer	$21.89/h ($17.36/h to $28.50/h)
Base hourly wage: operator	$36.00/h ($24.00/h to $43.40/h)
Base hourly wage: paver installer	$27.00/h ($20.00/h to $38.00/h)
Time multiplier, beginner	2.65 x (1.88 x to 3.81 x)
Time multiplier, intermediate	1.92 x (1.52 x to 2.44 x)
Rework, beginner	0.1 x
Rework, intermediate	0.05 x
Learning time per machine, beginner	1.5 h (1 h to 2 h)
Learning time per machine, intermediate	0.5 h
People working (do it yourself)	2
Productive hours per day (do it yourself)	6 h
Fuel price	$1.51/L

Region: Quebec · prices as of October 13, 2026 · engine 1.2.0. These three values are enough to reproduce this calculation.

Sources

Where the numbers come from

Every price and parameter on this page points to one of these sources.

1.paysagement (research), Costs: equipment rentals, labour, production rates and contractor sell prices (Quebec, 2025 to 2026)October 10, 2026 · Amérique du Nord · 10 values
2.paysagement (engine plan), Engine parameter registry seed list (estimates with no external source)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 3 values
3.Job Bank (Guichet-Emplois), wage report, EI survey data 2023-2024, updated 2025-11-19November 19, 2025 · Québec · 2 values
4.Jardins Zeillinger (Jardinz), VracOctober 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
5.Job Bank (Guichet-Emplois), wage report, EI survey data 2023-2024, updated 2025-11-19November 19, 2025 · Québec · 1 value
6.Job Bank (Guichet-Emplois), wage report, EI survey data 2023-2024, updated 2025-11-19November 19, 2025 · Québec · 1 value
7.Job Bank (Guichet-Emplois), wage report, EI survey data 2023-2024, updated 2025-11-19November 19, 2025 · Québec · 1 value
8.Patrick Morin, Coupeur a pelouse a lame dentelee GarantOctober 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
9.Patrick Morin, Gant de travail WATSON GLOVES STEALTH, grandOctober 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
10.Patrick Morin, Rateau a niveler a 14 dents Garant, double dosOctober 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
11.Paves Concept, Rouleau de gazonOctober 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
12.Simplex (product page, CAD before tax)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
13.Simplex (product page, CAD before tax)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
14.Soumission Renovation, driveway paver expansion guideSeptember 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value

Yourself$5,300*Money spent$3,300Contractor$5,900Break-even$44/hbefore taxes, estimate

Good to know before you start

Where the money goes

Do it yourself, money spent

Contractor, typical price

True cost: money and time

Your time

Hiring costs less if your time is worth more than:

Actions

Tools to buy (3)

Step by step, from the guide

Where the money goes (typical price before taxes, $5,880)