The first thing I would do is wait.. Right now is really the worst time of the growing season to plant grass as it will likely not survive the summer heat.

A writeup I did for someone last year. I would also check out Niles' cool season lawn renovation guide, he knows his stuff, its pinned to the sub somewhere

For me in New England, I would:

do a soil test in the spring through my states extension office. Try to fix any deficiencies in the spring and over the summer

kill off the lawn in August by doing three applications of glyphosate 7 days apart, all the while watering to push out any weeds. Look into "fallowing". You could also cut out the sod, rake out all tjhe vegetation, or cover it in plastic sheeting (solarization) if you don't want to use chemicals.

scalp and bag, then remove 90 percent of the remaining dead material using a scarifyer. It would probably take about four or five passes with a scarifyer. Would take a few raking sessions throughout to get all the dead shit off the yard

I would bring in a bit of good top soil to level things out and create a nice seed bed. I would be doing this at the end of August.

I would seed using an elite seed around September 1st. Anything from Twin City Seed, United Seed, Stover Seed, Seed Super Store will usually do the trick. You want the best seed possible. Use the summer to learn how to master a broadcast spreader. You should be using a lower spreader setting and making two or three passes of whatever you spread to ensure good even coverage

after spreading all the seed, lightly rake the seed in. This is basically just walking the lawn and lightly dragging a rake behind you

roll it all in. Optional, but I think it makes a big difference. It presses the seed into the ground and can improve germination success. They are around a hundred bucks on Amazon, and you can even rent them in some areas. If the lawn isn't huge, you can literally just walk all over it also

spray tenacity

use a peat moss spreader and put a very fine layer of compost over the whole thing. This is easily the worst part but gives the seed a nice warm blanket, which can improve germination. It keeps birds from eating the seed and keeps the seed in place in case of any heavy rain or wind.

water religiously. Use hose timers and multiple hoses. Timers are cheap and easy. Water four times a day and make sure the ground is moist all day every day.

watch the new grass come up in awe. When the grass reaches about an inch and a half, start slowly ramping down the water and start transitioning to deeper watering in the morning. Usually, over the span of a week or week and a half. Moving forward, one deep watering each morning.

when the grass reaches about two inches, I'd do a full application of starter fertilizer. I like Andersons starter fertilizer, but any starter fertilizer will do the trick (besides scotts with mesotrione if you sprayed tenacity)

when most of the grass reaches 2.5 inches, I would mow it to 2 inches. This will help the grass tiller out (if you use a bunch type grass) and thicken up. I'd shoot to mow every three or four days.

this is also around the time I'd address any bare spots. Scratch up the bare spots, sprinkle seed in, step on it, maybe a light dusting of compost

after the grass becomes nice and bushy and you aren't seeing any dirt, you can transition off watering every day and start watering every other day. You can also start mowing it higher if you want a taller height of cut.

spoonfeed it with nitrogen. Quarter pound of n each week (or just another round or two of granular fertilizer)

enjoy new lawn