Land survey for property lines?
#1
Land survey for property lines?
Anyone had one of these done?
We didn't have one done as part of the purchase of our property, because we were given by the seller a fairly detailed map that showed the property boundaries to our satisfaction at that time.
However, in the 5 years we've owned this place, a few issues have arisen, and we find ourselves very curious about exactly where the lines are. So we asked around, read web reviews, & hired a local firm.
Yesterday two fellows showed up, and spent a long time crawling through our undergrowth and our neighbours' undergrowth looking for 'trustworthy lot corners', a few of which they eventually found. So now we have a number of pink ties showing (sight line anchors?). Monday they'll come back with a robot to finish up; should be interesting!
We didn't have one done as part of the purchase of our property, because we were given by the seller a fairly detailed map that showed the property boundaries to our satisfaction at that time.
However, in the 5 years we've owned this place, a few issues have arisen, and we find ourselves very curious about exactly where the lines are. So we asked around, read web reviews, & hired a local firm.
Yesterday two fellows showed up, and spent a long time crawling through our undergrowth and our neighbours' undergrowth looking for 'trustworthy lot corners', a few of which they eventually found. So now we have a number of pink ties showing (sight line anchors?). Monday they'll come back with a robot to finish up; should be interesting!
#2
Heading for Poppyland
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: North Norfolk and northern New York State
Posts: 14,545
Re: Land survey for property lines?
Interesting! Are you going to end up with permanent posts, defining the boundary, that will withstand possibly being neglected for years?
I've vaguely thought of doing something similar. Our property is five acres, a simple rectangle, on a corner of two roads - so our boundary is defined by roads on two of the four sides. We have two neighbours. When we bought the property, twenty years ago, fence posts and barbed wire were visible - down on the ground, but still visible. Crucially, there was a clear big fence post with the remains of barbed wire at the fourth corner. In the interim, our (pillock) neighbour rented earth moving equipment and cleared most of his trees on the boundary, destroying and disrupting the ancient remnant fence in the process.
I believe he has mental health issues - he works all the time. Building additions to his house, cutting trees down, moving earth, making his lawn bigger etc. etc. He has one of those outdoor wood boilers/furnaces for all his heating and hot water, so has an insatiable need for firewood.
So I've thought of getting our boundary redefined, but I don't want to spend too much money doing it ....
I've vaguely thought of doing something similar. Our property is five acres, a simple rectangle, on a corner of two roads - so our boundary is defined by roads on two of the four sides. We have two neighbours. When we bought the property, twenty years ago, fence posts and barbed wire were visible - down on the ground, but still visible. Crucially, there was a clear big fence post with the remains of barbed wire at the fourth corner. In the interim, our (pillock) neighbour rented earth moving equipment and cleared most of his trees on the boundary, destroying and disrupting the ancient remnant fence in the process.
I believe he has mental health issues - he works all the time. Building additions to his house, cutting trees down, moving earth, making his lawn bigger etc. etc. He has one of those outdoor wood boilers/furnaces for all his heating and hot water, so has an insatiable need for firewood.
So I've thought of getting our boundary redefined, but I don't want to spend too much money doing it ....
#3
Re: Land survey for property lines?
Round here all corners of each parcel are marked with an "iron pin", which is actually a piece of rebar. I know where all but two of my iron pins are, and could probably find the other two with a metal detector. I occasionally tie new pink survey ribbon around the pins where they protrude especially the two in the grass! One convention is that utility poles are usually, but not always, placed against a pin, the pin literally is touching the utility pole where it is driven into the ground, and we have two such poles at corners. Another pin is about 20ft from the nearby pole!
The bizarre thing is that, per the lines between the pins, part of the clearing in which our house sits actually belongs to our neighbours, such that the concrete drive outside our garage (side-loader) is literally the edge of our property and and the grass area along side the drive is actually not ours. .... And the same is true for the other side of our property, that the land which is legally ours extends into the clearing in which the house on the other side of us sits. ..... AND the same is true on the other side of that house. In other words, when that house was built (it predates the houses on either side of it by several years), the clearing cut in the trees to accomodate it straddled the property lines on both sides!
Despite all that, we have never had issues with our neighbours.
The bizarre thing is that, per the lines between the pins, part of the clearing in which our house sits actually belongs to our neighbours, such that the concrete drive outside our garage (side-loader) is literally the edge of our property and and the grass area along side the drive is actually not ours. .... And the same is true for the other side of our property, that the land which is legally ours extends into the clearing in which the house on the other side of us sits. ..... AND the same is true on the other side of that house. In other words, when that house was built (it predates the houses on either side of it by several years), the clearing cut in the trees to accomodate it straddled the property lines on both sides!
Despite all that, we have never had issues with our neighbours.
Last edited by Pulaski; Nov 11th 2017 at 2:35 pm.
#4
Re: Land survey for property lines?
Mine is a simple lot. The next door house sold this year and they had a survey done. There are currently orange flags at each corner. I dug under the adjoining one's to me. About 6 inches down there are markers. At the front is a piece of rebar in concrete, at the back a 6 inch tube or pipe of about 3/4 inch diameter.
Eta recently the "council" decided to install sidewalks on some streets around here. A number of home owners had to move their fences back 10 feet from the road or so, to where their property line actually is!
Eta recently the "council" decided to install sidewalks on some streets around here. A number of home owners had to move their fences back 10 feet from the road or so, to where their property line actually is!
Last edited by RICH; Nov 11th 2017 at 1:22 pm.
#5
Re: Land survey for property lines?
We do have two things called 'monument stones' at two corners of our property. These are large stones (small boulders) with little holes/depressions in them that fit a little metal tool. But once we have the rebar markers installed, we can string a line between them and put some plantings in along that which will (I hope) be a somewhat permanent indicator of the border between us and neighbor.
I've vaguely thought of doing something similar. Our property is five acres, a simple rectangle, on a corner of two roads - so our boundary is defined by roads on two of the four sides. We have two neighbours. When we bought the property, twenty years ago, fence posts and barbed wire were visible - down on the ground, but still visible. Crucially, there was a clear big fence post with the remains of barbed wire at the fourth corner. In the interim, our (pillock) neighbour rented earth moving equipment and cleared most of his trees on the boundary, destroying and disrupting the ancient remnant fence in the process.
I believe he has mental health issues - he works all the time. Building additions to his house, cutting trees down, moving earth, making his lawn bigger etc. etc. He has one of those outdoor wood boilers/furnaces for all his heating and hot water, so has an insatiable need for firewood.
So I've thought of getting our boundary redefined, but I don't want to spend too much money doing it ....
I believe he has mental health issues - he works all the time. Building additions to his house, cutting trees down, moving earth, making his lawn bigger etc. etc. He has one of those outdoor wood boilers/furnaces for all his heating and hot water, so has an insatiable need for firewood.
So I've thought of getting our boundary redefined, but I don't want to spend too much money doing it ....
She also had no border survey done when she bought her place a few years before we bought ours. So neither of us know exactly where the line falls.
#6
Re: Land survey for property lines?
Round here all corners of each parcel are marked with an "iron pin", which is actually a piece of rebar. I know where all but two of my iron pins are, and could probably find the other two with a metal detector. I occasionally tie new pink survey ribbon around the pins where they protrude especially the two in the grass! One convention is that utility poles are usually, but not always, placed against a pin, the pin literally is touching the utility pole where it is driven into the ground, and we have two such poles at corners. Another pin is about 20ft from the nearby pole!
The bizarre thing is that, per the lines between the pins, part of the clearing in which our house sits actually belongs to our neighbours, such that the concrete drive outside our garage (side-loader) is literally the edge of our property and and the grass area along side the drive is actually not ours. .... And the same is true for the other side of out property, that the land which is legally ours extends into the clearing in which the house on the other side of us sits. ..... AND the same is true on the other side of that house. In other words, when that house was built (it predates the houses on either side of it by several years), the clearing cut in the trees to accomodate it straddled the property lines on both sides!
The husband wants to put up a good-sized shed near the line in the back, so we'd like to know for sure where that is....
#7
Re: Land survey for property lines?
Anyone had one of these done?
We didn't have one done as part of the purchase of our property, because we were given by the seller a fairly detailed map that showed the property boundaries to our satisfaction at that time.
However, in the 5 years we've owned this place, a few issues have arisen, and we find ourselves very curious about exactly where the lines are. So we asked around, read web reviews, & hired a local firm.
Yesterday two fellows showed up, and spent a long time crawling through our undergrowth and our neighbours' undergrowth looking for 'trustworthy lot corners', a few of which they eventually found. So now we have a number of pink ties showing (sight line anchors?). Monday they'll come back with a robot to finish up; should be interesting!
We didn't have one done as part of the purchase of our property, because we were given by the seller a fairly detailed map that showed the property boundaries to our satisfaction at that time.
However, in the 5 years we've owned this place, a few issues have arisen, and we find ourselves very curious about exactly where the lines are. So we asked around, read web reviews, & hired a local firm.
Yesterday two fellows showed up, and spent a long time crawling through our undergrowth and our neighbours' undergrowth looking for 'trustworthy lot corners', a few of which they eventually found. So now we have a number of pink ties showing (sight line anchors?). Monday they'll come back with a robot to finish up; should be interesting!
#8
Re: Land survey for property lines?
Mine is a simple lot. The next door house sold this year and they had a survey done. There are currently orange flags at each corner. I dug under the adjoining one's to me. About 6 inches down there are markers. At the front is a piece of rebar in concrete, at the back a 6 inch tube or pipe of about 3/4 inch diameter.
All our neighbours set plantings or fences well back from the street edge. I always thought it was to do with not wanting the snowploughs to scrape them by mistake when the snows are deep....
#9
Re: Land survey for property lines?
Permanent?... Probably not permanent, but I did persuade the Husband to opt for the rebar (metal) markers rather than the usual wood poles (--they're called beanpoles here, just flimsy wood stakes).
We do have two things called 'monument stones' at two corners of our property. These are large stones (small boulders) with little holes/depressions in them that fit a little metal tool. But once we have the rebar markers installed, we can string a line between them and put some plantings in along that which will (I hope) be a somewhat permanent indicator of the border between us and neighbor.
Yes, we have a similar issue. Neighbor on one side took down a big old bordering tree that we all agree was on her property, but in the process of doing that she also took down a holly tree that the husband & I assumed was ours. She--obviously--assumed it was hers.
She also had no border survey done when she bought her place a few years before we bought ours. So neither of us know exactly where the line falls.
We do have two things called 'monument stones' at two corners of our property. These are large stones (small boulders) with little holes/depressions in them that fit a little metal tool. But once we have the rebar markers installed, we can string a line between them and put some plantings in along that which will (I hope) be a somewhat permanent indicator of the border between us and neighbor.
Yes, we have a similar issue. Neighbor on one side took down a big old bordering tree that we all agree was on her property, but in the process of doing that she also took down a holly tree that the husband & I assumed was ours. She--obviously--assumed it was hers.
She also had no border survey done when she bought her place a few years before we bought ours. So neither of us know exactly where the line falls.
#10
Re: Land survey for property lines?
Mine is a simple lot. The next door house sold this year and they had a survey done. There are currently orange flags at each corner. I dug under the adjoining one's to me. About 6 inches down there are markers. At the front is a piece of rebar in concrete, at the back a 6 inch tube or pipe of about 3/4 inch diameter. .....
.... Eta recently the "council" decided to install sidewalks on some streets around here. A number of home owners had to move their fences back 10 feet from the road or so, to where their property line actually is!
.... We do have two things called 'monument stones' at two corners of our property. These are large stones (small boulders) .....
Last edited by Pulaski; Nov 11th 2017 at 2:44 pm.
#11
Heading for Poppyland
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: North Norfolk and northern New York State
Posts: 14,545
Re: Land survey for property lines?
Mine is a simple lot. The next door house sold this year and they had a survey done. There are currently orange flags at each corner. I dug under the adjoining one's to me. About 6 inches down there are markers. At the front is a piece of rebar in concrete, at the back a 6 inch tube or pipe of about 3/4 inch diameter.
Eta recently the "council" decided to install sidewalks on some streets around here. A number of home owners had to move their fences back 10 feet from the road or so, to where their property line actually is!
Eta recently the "council" decided to install sidewalks on some streets around here. A number of home owners had to move their fences back 10 feet from the road or so, to where their property line actually is!
#12
Re: Land survey for property lines?
Yes, same here in PA. And WE are responsible for clearing the snow of the sidewalk there, AND maintaining the sidewalk.
#13
Re: Land survey for property lines?
Interesting! Our property deeds make it clear that the boundary of our property is the middle of the road. (This description of the property dates back to 1865, when the lot was carved out and the house built.) Maybe that's a change between nineteenth century and modern times?
#14
Re: Land survey for property lines?
Some old deeds here in NC refer to an "iron pipe" rather than an "iron pin", presumably because iron plumbing pipe was widely available long before concrete reinforcing rods became widely available.
In urban and suburban settings the iron markers are invariably driven flush into the ground or below grade. Then when a survey is requested the surveyor comes out and sticks wooden stakes in the ground where the metal markers are buried in the ground.
In urban and suburban settings the iron markers are invariably driven flush into the ground or below grade. Then when a survey is requested the surveyor comes out and sticks wooden stakes in the ground where the metal markers are buried in the ground.
#15
Re: Land survey for property lines?
I need to look into the easement thing. Since they did the nearby sidewalks, I realized that most properties on my street have a "driveway entrance" from the road to the nominal property line. Mine doesn't, so if they do a sidewalk, I might get cut off from driving onto the front yard (it is not currently a driveway! The property is designed to drive in from the back alley)
The neighborhood was developed into lots in the 1950s if that makes a difference.
The neighborhood was developed into lots in the 1950s if that makes a difference.