Dethatching has become a big thing lately because of Youtube and other non-expert sources. This has caused a lot of wrong info to spread.
Thatch is actually a layer of living and dead stems and roots on top of the soil. Grass clippings don’t cause thatch, and you can only tell if you have a problem by digging into the soil.
A little bit of thatch is actually good. While some experts say up to 1 inch is okay, most agree that half an inch is best. Thatch helps in many ways, like preventing weeds, handling traffic, and protecting against heat and moisture loss. Don’t remove it unless you really need to. If you have over half an inch of thatch, it’s worth checking out what’s causing it. If it’s over an inch, then action is probably needed.
Excessive thatch usually means something else is off, like too much fertilizer, overwatering, using fungicides, or certain types of grass taking over.
Using a flexible tine dethatcher can cause serious damage to your lawn and might even help spread weeds. Sometimes, the damage is necessary, but you should always reseed afterward.
A better way to deal with thatch is core aeration. It won’t take out much thatch but will help it break down faster. Verticutters and scarifiers are less damaging too.
If you’re overseeding, less damaging options include slit seeding, scarifying, manual raking, or using a Garden Weasel. Make sure to also check for those causes mentioned earlier so you’re not just covering up the real problem.
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Wow, how much seed did you use? I just put down some seed two weeks ago. It’s sprouting, but it still looks patchy. Used a bit more than what the instructions said, but now I’m thinking it wasn’t enough.
@Juno
I used 6-7 pounds per 1,000 square feet. I ended up using about 80 pounds for around 13,000 square feet of lawn. Started lighter but felt it wasn’t covering enough, so I went heavier.
@Juno
Get that first mow in with a sharp blade. Lower it from around 3.5” to 2.5” or from 4” to 3”. It’ll fill in better. Grass grows more sideways than upwards after the first mow. Not all types do, but most will spread out.
You might feel like you’re hurting it, but it’ll bounce back quickly and get thicker fast. You could add more seed, but it’s going to need a lot of water. If you keep watering daily, you could end up with fungus. Try to get it down to once or twice a week with about an inch of water total.
Stay on top of it 
Nice work!!! It looks really good.
Dang, that’s looking awesome!
What was wrong before you overseeded? It’s looking really nice now.
Dana said:
What was wrong before you overseeded? It’s looking really nice now.
@Emerson
Oh, so you killed off the old stuff first. Got it. Great work 
@Emerson
What’s that clumpy grass or weed there? Is it tall fescue?
Looks like a perfect green carpet.
That’s one sharp looking lawn.
Looks great! Just did something similar myself. How often did you water?
I’m guessing your steps were:
- Glyphosate
- Dethatch
- Core Aerate
- Overseed
- Water
Nice job.
I’ve got the same dead spots from Dallisgrass. Did you really go at it with the rake on those areas before seeding? Whatever you did, it came out great!
I’ll be over the moon if mine looks as good as yours. Just starting to see some growth today.
I was hoping you’d figured out how to fix dog spots 
Bailey said:
I was hoping you’d figured out how to fix dog spots
That’s from using glyphosate, not dog pee.