My backyard is GROSS!

Yes! Get a rototiller and till the crap out of it. ('Scuse me.) ;) I've had to cut old weed/lawns from my Mom's house, and boy, was it a chore! I guess I still resent having to cut them out of the lawn with a kitchen knife. There are tools for ripping up old sod, including a blade-like contraption, but I think you'll make it a lot easier on yourself if you rent a rototiller and kill the weeds by first chopping them up, then applying a dry weed killer, top soil on top, and then your sod. You can use a dual weedkiller/fertilizer after the sod is down and has been established. You might also like to find someone with a metal detector to go over the property. They will remove all the metal (and any coins, rings, or artifacts that they find)- and they will usually work for free. Check with your family, check with friends, and if all else fails, I have contacts in the metal-detecting community on the web. I'd be glad to put out the call for a detectorist in your area. I have cleaned out local playgrounds that were absolutely littered with horrible rusty nails, hiding just under the surface of the playground sandboxes! I am horrified that our town would leave a park in such condition. I didn't say anything, though. I just pulled up all the offending metal and threw it in the trash bins. (I hope that gets me a little good karma!) In my Mom's backyard there were railroad ties, old square-head nails, and an occasional indianhead penny. I still find them in the garden that I dug for her over 30 years ago. (Shoot- I better get my metal detector over there! I forgot...heh.) Though I don't know if she'd be too keen on me digging in the yard... ;)

Check to see if there is a place that will take the contruction materials. If not, I'd suggest hiring a dumpster to put all that stuff in. You, my dear, are in for a lot of work. After the large pieces are gone, kill the weeds and rake! You'll be surprised how many little bits are still on the ground. Check and see if you can find a construction magnet as well. Sometimes you can rent them at hardware stores. go over the yard several times with that to pick up any nails and bits of metal that you may have missed. Even with new sod laid on top, those little bits will weave their way to the surface. The house we moved into was very similar to yours. We got a dumpster, and just started chucking stuff. We saved the fencing, though, because we thought that could be used in a garden. After we had the area cleaned out, we rented a tiller and tilled up the whole area. We dedicated 1/2 of the yard to a vegetable garden, and reseeded the other half with grass. This is it's second summer, and it's coming along nicely. I still find bits of glass or nails in the yard, but it's not nearly as bad as when we first moved in. The kids know, also, that they just can't be out there without their shoes on. good luck! Please keep up posted with how the clean up is going! :)

First you will need to get all of the weeds and other items out of your back yard. I would use a weed killer. The hard part is getting all the weeds out, as you need all of the weeds out because you don't want weeds into the new lawn right away. Once the weeds are gone use a rototiller to loosen the soil and put down 3 inches of new top soil mix it together. Next level the soil and put starter fertilizer on your yard. Use the amount listed on the bag. You can see its not easy and if you don't have a lot of time, then its easier to hire somebody else.