Should I scrape up my lawn?

Infested with lesser calendine, compacted, clay-like, uneven and with lots of crab grass. I'm considering scraping and having new soil put in. At least 700 sf in back yard. 

I'd welcome your thoughts on either 

1) DIY with  a hoe and a bucket and a bagster and some day labor help. (AM I CRAZY??)

or 

2) hire a crew to scrape and put down new soil. They'd have to bag and landfill the lesser calendine--it's an invasive species and should never be composted!

Also, if #2, then about how much would it cost to have this done? and whom should I call??

How old are your kids?  If they are under 18, don't bother.

We did this multiple times in our front yard. It is doable but it is a lot of work. Also you may want to consider waiting until the fall to do it, since it may be a little late and will soon be too hot to plant grass. 

For the backyard you may also want to consider clover seed.

Neither option may help if these plants are present in your neighbor(s)' lawn/garden.

My backyard was a disaster last fall.  Just moved in and it was dying from drought, covered in crabgrass and wild strawberry, and loads of bare spots.  Got a plan with Truegreen and there has been a significant improvement.  Lawn is mostly grass now.  Verry green.  And because of aeration and seeding (in the fall I think), many of the bare patches have grass now.  

It's not perfect yet, but it is 70% better than it was.  My point being is that it is a lot of work to maintain a lawn (the best defense against everything you've described).  If you can do it, great.  If not, I'd try a service like Truegreen and see what results you get.    

joan_crystal said:

Neither option may help if these plants are present in your neighbor(s)' lawn/garden.

shanabana said:

Infested with lesser calendine, compacted, clay-like, uneven and with lots of crab grass. I'm considering scraping and having new soil put in. At least 700 sf in back yard. 

I'd welcome your thoughts on either 

1) DIY with  a hoe and a bucket and a bagster and some day labor help. (AM I CRAZY??)

or 

2) hire a crew to scrape and put down new soil. They'd have to bag and landfill the lesser calendine--it's an invasive species and should never be composted!

Also, if #2, then about how much would it cost to have this done? and whom should I call??

You can rent a machine that cuts the "sod" into something like a carpet rather than use a hoe. Its about the size of a rototiller or large mower.

We did it in the front yard of my last house, works to remove everything but dandelion (roots too deep). 

Its a lot easier to replace the lawn than you would think. I found decent quality sod over at this place in Scotch Plains last fall ,it really rooted nicely over the winter: http://www.theyardnj.com