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Thread: Anyone with surveying experience?

  1. #16
    The city I live in, back in the '40's my grandfather (dad's dad) owned a whole bunch of land, a big chunk of which was about 2 city blocks long, and whoever surveyed that property was drunk, plain and simple. Picture 5 houses on 1/3 acres equally spaced. From east to west lived some nice folks, my dad's sister & husband, our house, my dad's brother & wife, and my grandparents. The house numbers in east to west order were 2364, 2368, 2374, 2498-?- and 2508... ?? So, the address numbers of hese homes increase by 4, 6, 6, 124, and 10... 124? That's over a city block! To add to the nonsense, about 20 years ago a doctors office complex was built just east of the 2364-5th house, and it's access street is numbered 2400 West, based on newer surveys. So from this street the house numbers go BACKWARDS until my uncles 2498 address... To this day they're still fixing the address numbers along those 2 blocks. AND the property lines of those 5 homes.

    And don't get me started on fences

    This was my last house, the day I moved in in 1982,
    house 1982.jpg

    -and, as we were prepping to sell it in 2006, 24 years later...
    house 2006.jpg
    --notice the yellow arrows, they point to a PERMANENT fence, put up by the homeowners above, before I ever moved in. It's actually a chainlink fence, but it's 'permanent' based of the fact the concrete footing holding it up extends 40" above the ground, 48" below ground and is 10" wide. The footing itself makes it 'permanent' even without the chainlink...

    The problem? The fence is at a minimum, 6' within their property line, and that distance only gets larger as the fence follows the flat ground closer to their home. Before we moved we were about to sue to take the land on our side of the fence thru adverse possession. Why? Because the neighbors above (not the original owners) thought that because part of the land on the other side of the fence was theirs, they could use that land as their #%$#*@& garbage dump! They'd throw lawn clippings and trimmed tree branches over the fence regularly! Look at that hill-- guess where all that crap ended up? We had words many times over than nonsense. But we sold the house before it got to court...
    ========================================
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  2. #17
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
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    9,882
    Who did the survey? Was it just the contractor with a tape measure and a GPS? Or was it a real surveyor who has a legal responsibility to be accurate.
    Bill D

  3. #18
    At least in this area few surveys are recorded. The original survey plats are. Anything after that is not. So if I need part of my property surveyed, there is nothing filed except the metes and bounds description in the deed. Deeds often have errors and don't match the corners placed in the ground. At least in my state, certain staked corners and monuments take precedent over deed descriptions. While your deed may say 102 ft, the actual distance between markers might be a few feet off that figure. The real lovely is where property has been in the same family for generations and the deed says 3.5 rods. That could be anything from 48 feet to 56 feet. So the corner stakes if any, actually control. It is even worse when streams change course, the old black oak is long dead and rotted away, etc. One of my corners is a rock. A monstrous huge boulder. At some point in history, somebody drilled a hole in the rock and placed a pin and poured melted lead in the hole around the pin to hold it in place. Considering the distance from any barns or houses, that person must have been pretty determined to carry a lead pot into the woods to melt some lead.

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    Coquitlam
    Posts
    394
    We recently had survey done (BC, Canada).

    Surveyor told us that he measured (word used was tied) the property by taking reference from few public markers and the sole marker on property.

    One marker was on edge of neighbors driveway and they were surprised. Since neighbors were surprised, we asked what if there is an error? He said that measurements can be repeated within a centimeter or so. And, all steps taken to arrive at markers are filed with city. Neighbors measured their property (by themselves) and everything turned good.

    Given survey is a legal thing, if you have doubts dispute early. I would imagine it will become painful as time passes.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
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    Dickinson, Texas
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    Don't they drive metal corner stakes when a survey is made? you might find them with a metal detector.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    Coquitlam
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    394
    Quote Originally Posted by lowell holmes View Post
    Don't they drive metal corner stakes when a survey is made? you might find them with a metal detector.

    With new survey they did.

    Original markers were all lost but one.

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Los Angeles, California
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    961
    Quote Originally Posted by Perry Hilbert Jr View Post
    the metes and bounds description in a deed are not necessarily the actual lines of the property.
    I disagree. You own the property only which is described in legal filed deed, no more, no less. Unless the description is based on a changing natural feature (like a river), the metes and bounds description is accurate, and if not, one has to go to court to change the legal description.
    Regards,

    Tom

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Austin, TX
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    4,082
    OK gang, thanks to everyone for their input. Cannot say I know any more today than when I made the post but here are the pics of what I’m seeing. The part which still perplexes me is that if you line up the nail and the curb, the nail appears to be well within the imaginary line of what my driveway “ought” to be. That driveway threshhold is original city construction, probably from the 1940’s. The neighbors’ construction is not really going to affect our common fence but maybe I will call for my own survey at some point. 🤷

    Erik
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Ex-SCM and Felder rep

  9. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by lowell holmes View Post
    Don't they drive metal corner stakes when a survey is made? you might find them with a metal detector.

    Utility companies set poles and transformers EXACTLY on property corners, thus wiping out any property irons at that corner. This way they don't have to get permission to run services to either property. A few years back, after building a house, I found out that I didn't even own our front lot, as it belonged to church next door. Seems surveyor and lawyer made a SMALL, TWO ACRE error. Graveyard at church was on next over land owner's property, which it had been since 1952. We all got together and signed a boundry line agreement, including a survey, with each getting what we had been using. Lawyer and original surveyor paid all the costs associated with this process. Could have been tied up in court, with damages awarded to all parties. Remember, I had built a house on this lot. They got off CHEAP!
    Last edited by Bruce Wrenn; 05-07-2021 at 10:24 AM.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Cambridge Vermont
    Posts
    2,282
    To me that looks like just a marker used to triangulate the property marker. If I had to guess the ribbon on it is to make it easy to locate to remove when they are done. I would call up the company though and ask them since that's free and you could find out that there's nothing to worry about. It's possible they could be returning so they left it in place. I wouldn't pay for a survey unless you really want one or there's a question/ issue with where the line is.

  11. #26
    I find the name of the surveying company, B&S, a bit ironic
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  12. #27
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Posts
    4,082
    The more I think about it, the more I think that nail is not the actual survey marker. The ‘neighbs have thick vegetation all the way up to the curb on their side of the fence while our side is just decomposed granite. Possibly the surveyors just couldn’t find a clear area to reference off, so stepped over to our side. Thanks again to all for your insight.

    Erik
    Ex-SCM and Felder rep

  13. #28
    I worked for several Surveyors here in Florida for 20 years (my father was a Surveyor registered in two states for 50yrs) . We most certainly would NOT use that as a temporary marker (possibly this is a permanent offset marker). this looks like the typical 5/8" x 24" inch rebar with plastic Cap, in Florida you must imprint your license # on these. To resolve this simply ask to look at the copy of the survey, your neighbor surely will have one. The "offset" will be clearly marked with a bearing a distance to the actual boundary .
    hth
    Ed

  14. #29
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Pickens, SC
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Wrenn View Post
    Utility companies set poles and transformers EXACTLY on property corners, thus wiping out any property irons at that corner. This way they don't have to get permission to run services to either property. A few years back, after building a house, I found out that I didn't even own our front lot, as it belonged to church next door. Seems surveyor and lawyer made a SMALL, TWO ACRE error. Graveyard at church was on next over land owner's property, which it had been since 1952. We all got together and signed a boundry line agreement, including a survey, with each getting what we had been using. Lawyer and original surveyor paid all the costs associated with this process. Could have been tied up in court, with damages awarded to all parties. Remember, I had built a house on this lot. They got off CHEAP!

    Until the pole needs replacing. Then it gets replaced to the side. Mine was.
    Howard Garner

  15. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Harry Hall View Post
    We most certainly would NOT use that as a temporary marker (possibly this is a permanent offset marker). this looks like the typical 5/8" x 24" inch rebar with plastic Cap, in Florida you must imprint your license # on these. To resolve this simply ask to look at the copy of the survey, your neighbor surely will have one. The "offset" will be clearly marked with a bearing a distance to the actual boundary .
    Ed
    Agreed! The survey company I worked for would NOT use that as a temporary marker. Also, our field crew would often blaze through shrubbery to mark a true corner unless it was obvious $$ landscaping. On the rare times they could not get to the true corner location, they would set a permanent marker that clearly indicated it was X amount from the true corner on the stake, as well as clearly note it on the survey.

    Contact that survey company and ask for a copy. Most often, they can email you a pdf without a charge.
    I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and I think, "Well, that’s not going to happen."

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