slowrev
Elite Member
Too bad the property taxes are not on the horizontal measurements /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
How do I find survey stakes?
- Thread starter rcrcomputing
- Start date
HomeBrew2
Banned
Yep!, That would be a cool project!! I may not have my thinking cap on too tight this morn but, I'm getting more like 40% more surface area @ 45°. I'd imagine if you water table wasn't too high you could balance your dirt work and not have to import any fill either /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
HomeBrew2
Banned
Yep, in property disputes, everything is usually debated /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
HomeBrew2
Banned
Yeh, I don't know much about other state's tax system but in Kalifornia, standard survey practice is used in assessing taxes so it's "horizontal" for us.
MikePA
Super Moderator
<font color="blue"> How far underground are the survey stakes and how might I find them other than buying a metal detector? </font>
My FIL is a retired Civil Engineer and I worked for him over the summer while attending college. We did a lot of surveys and subdivision plans. As others have mentioned, stakes are placed at all corners and changes of direction. We also placed them every so often on very long straight runs. We used 2" square oak stakes with a small tack in the top or concrete markers with a brass medallion on the top, depending upon how much the customer wanted to pay. I can't recall ever using re-bar (it's not wrong to use re-bar, we just never used it). No matter what the marker material, it was always 'planted' flush with the ground surface (so it could be mowed over) and a guard stake pounded in nearby that had colored ribbon tied to it. In the case of a marker in a roadway, we used large head (size of a nickel) nails with ribbon folded up underneath the head and tied a ribbon to the closest tree/bush. In no case did we bury the marker. However, if it's been a long time since the survey was done, some of your markers may have been covered over.
As others have said, look around the areas that are easy to access and that appear to be a property line between your land and a neighbors. Fence posts, walls, hedge rows, etc. are all good places to start.
My FIL is a retired Civil Engineer and I worked for him over the summer while attending college. We did a lot of surveys and subdivision plans. As others have mentioned, stakes are placed at all corners and changes of direction. We also placed them every so often on very long straight runs. We used 2" square oak stakes with a small tack in the top or concrete markers with a brass medallion on the top, depending upon how much the customer wanted to pay. I can't recall ever using re-bar (it's not wrong to use re-bar, we just never used it). No matter what the marker material, it was always 'planted' flush with the ground surface (so it could be mowed over) and a guard stake pounded in nearby that had colored ribbon tied to it. In the case of a marker in a roadway, we used large head (size of a nickel) nails with ribbon folded up underneath the head and tied a ribbon to the closest tree/bush. In no case did we bury the marker. However, if it's been a long time since the survey was done, some of your markers may have been covered over.
As others have said, look around the areas that are easy to access and that appear to be a property line between your land and a neighbors. Fence posts, walls, hedge rows, etc. are all good places to start.
chatcher
Silver Member
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="blue"> How far underground are the survey stakes and how might I find them other than buying a metal detector? </font>
My FIL is a retired Civil Engineer and I worked for him over the summer while attending college. We did a lot of surveys and subdivision plans. As others have mentioned, stakes are placed at all corners and changes of direction. We also placed them every so often on very long straight runs. We used 2" square oak stakes with a small tack in the top or concrete markers with a brass medallion on the top, depending upon how much the customer wanted to pay. I can't recall ever using re-bar (it's not wrong to use re-bar, we just never used it). No matter what the marker material, it was always 'planted' flush with the ground surface (so it could be mowed over) and a guard stake pounded in nearby that had colored ribbon tied to it. In the case of a marker in a roadway, we used large head (size of a nickel) nails with ribbon folded up underneath the head and tied a ribbon to the closest tree/bush. In no case did we bury the marker. However, if it's been a long time since the survey was done, some of your markers may have been covered over.
As others have said, look around the areas that are easy to access and that appear to be a property line between your land and a neighbors. Fence posts, walls, hedge rows, etc. are all good places to start. )</font>
Around here the surveyors all use rebar, with their own custom plastic caps with their registered surveyor number on it. I've seen them in red, yellow, and silver on several diameters of rebar. I've seen them use a nail and ribbon for a temporary marker, as for under their theodolite. They carry special metal detectors to find the steel pins (regular metal detectors don't work nearly as well). Older surveys use creeks, trees, rocks, and fencelines to mark boundaries. Magnetic North has moved a lot over the years and not all bearings were properly corrected for declination.
It's very hilly here, but not all the surveyors seem to understand three-dimensional geometry. I had one use the wrong tree for a corner because he said when he tried to use the "right" one, the boundaries woudn't close (on paper). The lot had a steep hill in the middle of one line, and I watched him measure the distance up the hill and back down the other side. I understood the problem, but, hey, I'm not a registered surveyor!
My FIL is a retired Civil Engineer and I worked for him over the summer while attending college. We did a lot of surveys and subdivision plans. As others have mentioned, stakes are placed at all corners and changes of direction. We also placed them every so often on very long straight runs. We used 2" square oak stakes with a small tack in the top or concrete markers with a brass medallion on the top, depending upon how much the customer wanted to pay. I can't recall ever using re-bar (it's not wrong to use re-bar, we just never used it). No matter what the marker material, it was always 'planted' flush with the ground surface (so it could be mowed over) and a guard stake pounded in nearby that had colored ribbon tied to it. In the case of a marker in a roadway, we used large head (size of a nickel) nails with ribbon folded up underneath the head and tied a ribbon to the closest tree/bush. In no case did we bury the marker. However, if it's been a long time since the survey was done, some of your markers may have been covered over.
As others have said, look around the areas that are easy to access and that appear to be a property line between your land and a neighbors. Fence posts, walls, hedge rows, etc. are all good places to start. )</font>
Around here the surveyors all use rebar, with their own custom plastic caps with their registered surveyor number on it. I've seen them in red, yellow, and silver on several diameters of rebar. I've seen them use a nail and ribbon for a temporary marker, as for under their theodolite. They carry special metal detectors to find the steel pins (regular metal detectors don't work nearly as well). Older surveys use creeks, trees, rocks, and fencelines to mark boundaries. Magnetic North has moved a lot over the years and not all bearings were properly corrected for declination.
It's very hilly here, but not all the surveyors seem to understand three-dimensional geometry. I had one use the wrong tree for a corner because he said when he tried to use the "right" one, the boundaries woudn't close (on paper). The lot had a steep hill in the middle of one line, and I watched him measure the distance up the hill and back down the other side. I understood the problem, but, hey, I'm not a registered surveyor!
dmccarty
Super Star Member
rcrcomputing,
One thing I forgot to mention. If you have trees running along the lot lines look for slashes in the bark. In NC the surveyors mark the trees with two horizontal slashes if the tree is near a lot line. If there are trees near one of your corner stakes they will mark three or more trees with THREE horizontal slashes. In the middle of the three slashed trees Ye Shall Find a corner stake.
My stakes are pipes. Some with yellow caps. I have one corner marked with what looks like an old car spring pushed into a pile of rocks.
Later,
Dan
One thing I forgot to mention. If you have trees running along the lot lines look for slashes in the bark. In NC the surveyors mark the trees with two horizontal slashes if the tree is near a lot line. If there are trees near one of your corner stakes they will mark three or more trees with THREE horizontal slashes. In the middle of the three slashed trees Ye Shall Find a corner stake.
My stakes are pipes. Some with yellow caps. I have one corner marked with what looks like an old car spring pushed into a pile of rocks.
Later,
Dan
Highbeam
Super Member
I have been on the low end of the totem pole of a survey crew. My job was to find the corners when the party chief showed me "about" where they were. So I grabbed the metal detector and started poking around, the old survey drawing usually specified what was used to mark the corner. On new surveys it is plastic cap and a 2' long #4 rebar. On older surveys it was a 1" iron pipe, sometimes axle shafts driven in. On a few occasions I was lucky enough to search for a "stone monument". This is described as a rock with no business being there. It is not supposed to look like the other rocks around it. Engraved in the rock with a chisel is an X. These rocks are always buried so that they would get moved. Really old surveys used a tree, usually a cedar tree. The tree is described as burnt out or not.
I could usually find the corner with the detector. Even on the buried stone monuments, the surveyor would throw in a couple of railroad spikes on the way up with the backfill to help find it. Three feet down is where the stone mons seemed to be.
Washington State surveys are always measured horizontally. Your area is calculated horizontally and you are taxed horizontally. Any other way would be nonsense. Since the nation's land was originally broken up in sections horizontally. So your 10 acre parcel is almost never 10 acres as measured with a topographic survey unless it is water.
I could usually find the corner with the detector. Even on the buried stone monuments, the surveyor would throw in a couple of railroad spikes on the way up with the backfill to help find it. Three feet down is where the stone mons seemed to be.
Washington State surveys are always measured horizontally. Your area is calculated horizontally and you are taxed horizontally. Any other way would be nonsense. Since the nation's land was originally broken up in sections horizontally. So your 10 acre parcel is almost never 10 acres as measured with a topographic survey unless it is water.
OP
rcrcomputing
Platinum Member
Well, I walked it tonight. On the front I found a bluish green t-post beside the fence. On the back (same side) I found a bluish green t-post with evidence of the old fence corner posts laying beside it.
On the other back, where the fence is still standing, I found about a 5/8" rod sticking up about three feet. It's a hollow rod. On the other front, I found remains of a red cheapy flag stuck in by the corner post of the fence. This one probably means nothing. Do the other ones seem good? The are the only two t-posts I find on the property that are old bluish green colored.
On the other back, where the fence is still standing, I found about a 5/8" rod sticking up about three feet. It's a hollow rod. On the other front, I found remains of a red cheapy flag stuck in by the corner post of the fence. This one probably means nothing. Do the other ones seem good? The are the only two t-posts I find on the property that are old bluish green colored.
MossRoad
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2001
- Messages
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- South Bend, Indiana (near)
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- Power Trac PT425 2001 Model Year
<font color="blue"> 5 acres. And it's shaped like a parrelagram. </font>
Uh-oh! Sounds like math may be involved /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
Uh-oh! Sounds like math may be involved /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif