Ok, looked further into it and thought about the advice here and I'm gonna do a re-seed by myself. Rip out the existing turf, do a soil test, put a new layer of top dressing on top (from a quality source), and I'm going to plan a different blend (
https://www.westcoastseeds.com/produ...=8709232328764) that's chafer beetle resistant and much lower maintenance than regular grass (less water, less fertiliser, and less mowing). Wife finally agreed to a non-standard lawn and will accept clover as the alternative was a browned out lawn during the summer.
Pops got his rototiller fixed up so I can get the soil ready this week if the rain eases up.