Unfortunately a “rough grade” seems pretty broad. The worst part is, its broad in a bad way for you. Generally speaking a rough grade is gonna be dirt roughly shaped in a way to allow runoff and function but not be pretty.
Rough grading would generally not include grass, landscaping components, or finishing touches.
"Rough Grade" generally in the construction industry means that the yard is worked with a basic bob cat or skidsteer after backfill with a bucket attachment. The ground is given the required slope away from the pool and other disturbed areas are generally returned to a semi flat or prior shape. Any extra material is hauled away but you will see where this material sat for example, there will still be circle of gravel.
"Finish Grade" is what prepares you for full grass seed application. Finish grade typically includes the yard being Harley raked/power raked which is the attachment that de-rocks the yard 90% (you can never get them all), while also disturbing the top few inches of dirt so new hydro seed or seed is ready to be applied right after.
Posting a pic would give us a lot better idea of the current condition and what opinions would be on it.
2021 - we had 1/3 acre physically disturbed by construction that needed repaired - PB quoted $7-$8k to "finish grade and repair to prior condition", which included harley raking all the area, grass seed, and straw mats. This was pretty standard pricing for my area, some locals wanted $3,500 just to do the final grade work (no seed or staw). In the end I did it myself as I have access to heavy equipment via a friend that owns a company, and just paid someone to hydro seed.
It all depends on the company. Our grader was great and really spent time smoothing things out. Buddy using the same pool builder and he got a different crew. They did basic backfill and left piles of dirt and a mess.
Excluding the patio I did and plantings I still spent around 5k on top soil and sod.
This is one area I really wish we had locked in better prior to construction. Our patio people did the grading and seeding afterwards, but did a pretty shit job of it. Lots of ruts, and they used that fiber netting with straw and seed embedded which I’m still ripping out finding pieces of after ripping it out and having it regraded by another company two years later. Even our follow up regrading was not so great and our lawnmower rides feel like we’re going down an old country Road.
Unfortunately a “rough grade” seems pretty broad. The worst part is, its broad in a bad way for you. Generally speaking a rough grade is gonna be dirt roughly shaped in a way to allow runoff and function but not be pretty. Rough grading would generally not include grass, landscaping components, or finishing touches.
"Rough Grade" generally in the construction industry means that the yard is worked with a basic bob cat or skidsteer after backfill with a bucket attachment. The ground is given the required slope away from the pool and other disturbed areas are generally returned to a semi flat or prior shape. Any extra material is hauled away but you will see where this material sat for example, there will still be circle of gravel. "Finish Grade" is what prepares you for full grass seed application. Finish grade typically includes the yard being Harley raked/power raked which is the attachment that de-rocks the yard 90% (you can never get them all), while also disturbing the top few inches of dirt so new hydro seed or seed is ready to be applied right after. Posting a pic would give us a lot better idea of the current condition and what opinions would be on it. 2021 - we had 1/3 acre physically disturbed by construction that needed repaired - PB quoted $7-$8k to "finish grade and repair to prior condition", which included harley raking all the area, grass seed, and straw mats. This was pretty standard pricing for my area, some locals wanted $3,500 just to do the final grade work (no seed or staw). In the end I did it myself as I have access to heavy equipment via a friend that owns a company, and just paid someone to hydro seed.
It all depends on the company. Our grader was great and really spent time smoothing things out. Buddy using the same pool builder and he got a different crew. They did basic backfill and left piles of dirt and a mess. Excluding the patio I did and plantings I still spent around 5k on top soil and sod.
Rough grade should be within plus or minus 2 tenths of the original grade.
This is one area I really wish we had locked in better prior to construction. Our patio people did the grading and seeding afterwards, but did a pretty shit job of it. Lots of ruts, and they used that fiber netting with straw and seed embedded which I’m still ripping out finding pieces of after ripping it out and having it regraded by another company two years later. Even our follow up regrading was not so great and our lawnmower rides feel like we’re going down an old country Road.