Marking property lines

[sherpa]

I am wanting to mark my property lines again.
My property contains trees, hills and hollars.
My property boundaries join with the US Forest Service.
I usually use marking ribbon, it last about 3 years.
I think I used spray paint once and it did not last 2 years.
I have always used 3 ribbons at the corners with pins.
Are there any rules about marking your property lines?
What do you use to mark your property lines with?
What do you do at the "Iron Pins" in the ground at each corner?
Sherpa

 

[Transit]

I have used White PVC next to the iron pipe to make it more visible and photographed them, one neighbor dose not like it; they pulled up their survey stakes. As I remarked, "I know where all my boundaries are and I don"t care where your property is? I can use any pin to locate my boundaries. "Good fences make good neighbors" Ben Franklin. :thumbsup:

 

[GGB]

sherpa-

Our surveyor marked the pins with T-posts and ribbons. I like the idea of slipping white PVC pipe over the T-posts to make it even easier to see the corners.

Transit-

Hard to figure out why someone would pull surveyor pins. That one has me puzzled. I had a survey done on our place when we bought it, and one of the neighbors tried to claim the surveyor was wrong on where the pins were placed. Ultimately he had to recognize that the surveyor was right. Fortunately we now get along with the neighbor, but it didn't look like it would be very friendly for a while.

It also seems to me that sometimes the prior owner of the property either didn't really know where the boundries were, or was trying to make the property seem bigger than it is to make it easier to sell. Since most people who are buying won't pay to find out for sure either, it can get to be a mess down the road.

GGB

GGB

 

[Kays Supply]

Another vote for the PVC pipe. I took a post hole digger and dug just inside my property corners. I sank a 3" PVC pipe x5' in and put a cap on it. I can stand just about anywhere on my wooded lot and see the corners. I put a healthy pile of wood chips around each post so I don't get too close with the brush hog.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

When we bought an L shape plot around our current place that is very hilly I had them set a wood stake a the top and bottom of every slope then drove T posts so if we ever fence it we can run a string from post to post.

After my dad was nearly killed by a neighbor when he was working on his tractor on his own place because the new owner said the survey was wrong the first thing I try to do is to make sure the markers are clear and strong.

The first mistake my father made was letting the prior owner doze out the old fence row with huge trees with old wire deep in them from before anyone one then living were around.

If I find a small tree on any new line fence I now nail to it for the sake of my kids/future grand kids.

 

[Armed in Utah]

What kind of neighbor would pull your surveyed pin ???

 

[Gale Hawkins]

What kind of neighbor would pull your surveyed pin ???

The kind that may shoot you in the back too.

 

[2458n]

Galvinized or black iron pipe was driven flush with the ground on our farm 70 years ago. It has remained along with some well rusted fence "T" posts. A surveyor told me the original marks were made on stones buried below the surface. As stated before good fences make good neighbors. Had great neighbors for 30 years then they passed away. Did not realize how important boundaries were until the new folks moved in with expanded veiws of their property lines.

 

[Thomas]

Also pvc pipe w/cap on top end..by the road side granite post for it looks better.

 

[Skyco]

Hard to figure out why someone would pull surveyor pins.

What kind of neighbor would pull your surveyed pin ???

Transit didn't say pin he said stake. To me pins are permanent like steel. Stakes are just a temporary more visible wooden marker to show where the pin is hidden.
He also said "their" stakes....it is common around here for surveyors to put said stakes on the property being surveyed. It isn't on the adajcent properties, so that being said they have every right to pull them up. But no one should ever pull the ones on someone elses property.
Maybe its regional but thats the way it is around here.
Big difference...maybe Transit will come back and clarify.

 

[rtimgray]

Just a side note - and I'm sure it's not the case for everyone - but alot of the pins that mark my property boundaries are not the actual "corners" of the property. If you read the deed, you will see that the pin is a reference point for the corner of the property. Reason being, their is a fence post in what is acknowledged by the survey as the property line.

Alot of this goes back to the meets-and-bounds method of land surveying. On my original deed, which went back to the 1800s, it references a boundary between my land and my neighbor to the west as being a creek. Well, there's no creek there! From what old folks have told me, people started using the creek as a dump, it filled in over the years, and eventually re-routed to the other side of my neighbors property.

Anyway, I say all that just say that it's a good idea to read what the survey/deed actually says and not assume that the pins are the actual corners of the property.

Good luck and take care.

 

[Ken45101]

Here in Ohio, I believe that if you destroy survey markers on a shared property line, you are required by law to have a surveyor replace them at your expense.

It also seems to me that sometimes the prior owner of the property either didn't really know where the boundries were

Yes, the previous owner of some property we had in the past did not know where the corner was. I found out that we owned another 100+ feet AND the creek It had survey stakes but I guess he never looked across the creek. I found it using a compass.

Ken

 

[Transit]

What kind of neighbor would pull your surveyed pin ???

The neighbor pulled out THEIR wooden markers not mine. I had the land surveyed by the same people that did the sub-division plans. This neighbor thinks she owns everything. She is a High School teacher and has all the kids treed, and then she meet me.

 

[Transit]

Transit didn't say pin he said stake. To me pins are permanent like steel. Stakes are just a temporary more visible wooden marker to show where the pin is hidden.
He also said "their" stakes....it is common around here for surveyors to put said stakes on the property being surveyed. It isn't on the adajcent properties, so that being said they have every right to pull them up. But no one should ever pull the ones on someone elses property.
Maybe its regional but thats the way it is around here.
Big difference...maybe Transit will come back and clarify.

Sorry, should have said PIN for me, wooden stake for neighbor. Pull pins = court case, fins, jail.

 

[Transit]

The kind that may shoot you in the back too.

I am from Brooklyn NY, Sicilian-Neapolitan wrong ethnic group to fool with.

 

[grnspot110]

My markers (town lot) were surveyed by neighbors at different times, so I didn't have to pay! I augured a 4" post hole at each corner, filled them with concrete level with the surface & enough rebar to be able to find with a metal detector if they get covered. ~~ grnspot110

 

[stratton]

I have been surveying since 1996. I have seen all kinds of odd things when it comes to neighbor disputes over property lines. I have even seen a guy cut his rebar down the middle with a hacksaw because he "owned" that half. It is a misdemeanor to remove a surveyors pin. A lot of the time we set a wood lathe for a witness post. Of course you can remove these. But don't get them mixed up with whats actually set in the ground or flush. The best way to mark your corners is to dig around the pipe or rebar about the size of a coffee can. and then fill it with concrete and add a few magnets in the mix. this will make it easy for you to find it with a cheapo metal detector. Or really easy for us to find it with our equipment. As far as neighbors moving or pulling pins. There is only one way to stop that. You need to make a swing tie sketch of the point. Another words you draw a sketch of the point and then measure to at least 3 known points or land marks like a house corner, trees, fence post, manholes etc. Later on you can measure back from these points and where your distances cross is exactly where your corner rebar is. This way you wont need to hire a surveyor to find them again. You can pound nails or we use Mag nails into a couple of trees around the area. This makes it easy to identify, if your corner is in the middle of the woods with no other landmarks around. 3 ribbons or surveyors flags also means a corner is near by. Or 3 slashes in a tree with an axe or machete. Just make sure the tree is on your side.

 

[RobA]

I augured a 4" post hole at each corner, filled them with concrete level with the surface & enough rebar to be able to find with a metal detector if they get covered. ~~ grnspot110

I like that idea.

 

[Storm56]

My boundries are all woods. I cut pieces of aluminum flashing into 3 inch squares and simply nailed them to trees using aluminum roofing nails. Every couple of years I check them and if a tree fell over or whatever I just put up another. Real easy to see the lines.

 

[tallyho8]

I bought an 8 acre piece of wooded property a few years ago. It's a mile long and 72' wide. The survey cost me $10,000.00 and all they did was put pins in the 4 corners.

Now I want to build a fence on part of it but it is impossible to tell where the property line is since the pins are a mile apart in the woods.

I called the surveyor back and he wants $2000.00 more to come set pins every 500' on the property line.

I have no choice so I am going to go pay him today to set the pins.