Finding property lines

[bones1]

Thanks for the replies. Would a marker or pin be in the middle of the street in front of the property in the asphalt?
Didn't look there,but I will tonight.
Thanks all.

PS Neighbors shed was put up 2 weeks after I moved in.Interesting huh.Marking his ground like a puppy?.

 

[MikePA]

It depends what kind of shed it is. A box store, garden utensil type it gets moved. A tractor shed and it probably doesn't.

 

[MikePA]

Thanks for the replies. Would a marker or pin be in the middle of the street in front of the property in the asphalt?
Didn't look there,but I will tonight.
Thanks all.

PS Neighbors shed was put up 2 weeks after I moved in.Interesting huh.Marking his ground like a puppy?.

Our standard practice was to put a large head nail, with bright ribbon under the head, in the middle of the road as well as offset stakes at the edge of the road right of way.

 

[rozett]

What would a surveyor use to find my property lines?.
Is this something I can do myself.There are no property markers that I can find.Has anyone been successful doing this themselves?

In certain parts of the country, this can be a very difficult proposition. Our property was in the same family for 200 years. The deed was a typical "old New England" deed.... 'starting at soandso's property, got north 500 feet to someone else's property, turn 90 degrees and run xxx feet to another property'..... This was the type of deed that existed for our property. Our licensed surveyor researched 200 years worth of deeds for our property and for each abutting property. He also had to research at least one superior court case dealing with property lines after the town moved the road. At that point, his field work began. He had to 'rough out' the boundaries, based on the research, and looked for stone walls, wire fences, iron rods, etc. Armed with all of that info, he surveyed up the road from the nearest benchmark to locate the two front corners. Then he recorded GPS data for the balance of the boundaries.

After going through all of that, it's easy to understand why two different surveyors might come out with different results. In our case, we had him write a new deed and file that and a Boundary Survey Map with the county registrar of deeds. All of the deeds are public records, so you or your surveyor could go a pull copies for your property and your neighbors. If it has been surveyed in the last 30 years or so, you should be able to locate a reference benchmark that will be helpful in locating the first corner.

 

[MikePA]

After going through all of that, it's easy to understand why two different surveyors might come out with different results.

It's also why we couldn't quote a flat fee for a survey.

 

[Paddy]

You can dig and look all day and never find the pins. Use a metal detctor. If you can determine a general location, 20x20', you'll find it.

 

[dmccarty]

Bones1,

GPSes usually are not accurate to find property lines if you are tryng to get spot on the line or the corner. Its can get you in the area to find a pin but that is about it. If you have tree cover then the errors get larger.

The Register of Deeds might have a survey on file for your property. If you live in a subdivision I would be shocked if a survey is not in the Deeds office. If no survey then you have to go by what the Deed says about the lines. This can get you in the general area but its not going to be good enough to put up a fence or something permanent.

How much land are you talking about?
Is it wooded?
Mature woods or a cutover that is filling in?

I have been clearing my lines on the east and west side of our land. On those sides I have pins about every 300 feet. However its very brushy and the pins are very hard to find even though I know about where they should be. Since the neighbor's have timbered it makes it somewhat easy to know the general location of the line but since the sun gets in there is an explosion of brush that makes finding the pins very difficult. I got lucky on one line and a survery was done over there this winter and I have been following his tape. I'll keep those lines open from now on and mark them with painted trees and Tposts near the pins.

I have three other lines, two about 800 feet long and one about 1200 that I will have to have a surveyor mark. We know where the pins are located but getting a line accurate enough to put up a fence is not possible with us running GPS or a compass. The surveyor will have to do it We have tried but can't get the line to meet in the middle.

Later,
Dan

 

[RonMar]

The GPS's used in survey work are far different than the ones you might buy at your local sporting goods dealer. The major difference is in the antenna used which will determine the number of sattelites tracked simultaneously. This is particularly important if you are working back in under the trees. The small Garmins and Magellans you can buy are good, but they sacrifice antenna signal to noise ratio to get that tiny antenna that will fit into a handheld unit. They might say they are a 12 channel receiver, but how often do you see them tracking that many birds simultaneously, even out in the open? The birds are up there, if you have the antenna to see them. The more satellites you can track at the same time, the quicker your position will settle. They also culumatively average the position data so the longer you stay in a position, the more refined it becomes. You can do this with your handheld GPS, but you will have to output the position data to a computer to average it over time. You have probably seen survey crews using GPS, it will either look like a stick with a white dome antenna on the top about 6" in diameter or the antenna will be on a tripod over a survey mark. I worked with a guy last fall from the USGS getting him to remote sites to set up a receiver to take long term averages over USGS markers. The antenna was about 14" across and cost several thousand dollars.

I am working on a similar survey problem to lay out lines for fences. I have 3 good corner markers but so far have not found the 4th. It should be easy as it is one along the road and the corner marks are based on the road center line. My northern property line is also a quarter section line. Since the corner in question is along this line, the fences across the road give me a good idea of where to look but I havn't found it yet. I need to try the metal detector though, that is a good idea. The other three corners are marked with a piece of 1" steel pipe with an ID tag and the reference numbers that are stated on my deed. I also can't see from corner to corner so have been working on a method using a laser plumbbob to give me someting to sight on. I just need a night with enough moisture in the air to allow me to see the laser beam pointing straight up into the sky.

 

[MikePA]

When we couldn't see from corner to corner, we'd swing the transit 30 degrees off the line, mark a spot out as far as we could see, set the transit on this new spot, site back to the starting point, swing the transit 120 degrees and site the other corner. Sometimes we'd have to do this numerous times depending on how many obstructions there were.

Regarding the laser plumb bob, smoke would work as well to see the beam.

 

[bones1]

I guess it's time for a metal detector.
Any good brands recommended?.

Another question.Let's just say I went to the local fence company and bought a fence,say for the whole property,would they just come out,ask where the boundarys are and install or would they order a survey?.Do most people get a survey before a fence?