Land Surveying

Joined
Mar 2, 2004
Messages
4,098
Location
Kentucky
Wife and I just closed on our house and we have plans either this year or next to put up a metal building/pole barn. Need to find a suitable location, but I'm only able to find one property line marker in one corner of the property, which is about 2 acres. No fences or other good landmarks to go off, unless it lines up with utility poles or something, but I'm really not sure. I got the plat from the county clerk which shows the layout/size of the property, and it shows that markers were installed at that time, but someone has pulled up the boundary markers that were set (in 2008). I know there's several kinds of surveys, I just need to establish property lines so I can find a site for the new building. Anyone know what that type of survey is called, and how elaborate / expensive a process is this? Obviously I know rates vary widely depending on where you live, just need to know what to expect and what I should be asking for before I start calling around.
 
Wife and I just closed on our house and we have plans either this year or next to put up a metal building/pole barn. Need to find a suitable location, but I'm only able to find one property line marker in one corner of the property, which is about 2 acres. No fences or other good landmarks to go off, unless it lines up with utility poles or something, but I'm really not sure. I got the plat from the county clerk which shows the layout/size of the property, and it shows that markers were installed at that time, but someone has pulled up the boundary markers that were set (in 2008). I know there's several kinds of surveys, I just need to establish property lines so I can find a site for the new building. Anyone know what that type of survey is called, and how elaborate / expensive a process is this? Obviously I know rates vary widely depending on where you live, just need to know what to expect and what I should be asking for before I start calling around.
I found aerial photos which showed the boundaries of my property and located the existing markers. A neighbour had rented a metal detector and it took less than 5 minutes to find my "hardest to find" corner post.

But the aerial photo which showed where to look was the key.
 
I recently paid around $900 CAD for what is referred to as a Real Property Report up here. It involved a couple guys surveying for about 1.5-2 hours, then a report with diagram being drafted back at the office. This was to support compliance certificates on a house sale, so if you're just doing it for your own information, there are probably some steps you could cut out of that process to save a few bucks.
 
You need a lot or property survey. Your realtor may be able to recommend a registered land surveyor. The property corner irons should not have been removed. Your county may have an engineering/GIS department which might have a plat or map showing your property in relation to existing roads and utilities. Please educate yourself about utility easements and public right of ways. The property you own and the property you have available to use as you chose are two different things.
 
Do a search. Type in the name of your county followed by qpubilc. Example: Hardin County qpublic. Your property will show up along with satellite photos. This should get you close and it may help you find your corners. Do you have access to a metal detector? They can be very useful in finding the iron pins.
 
Do a search. Type in the name of your county followed by qpubilc. Example: Hardin County qpublic. Your property will show up along with satellite photos. This should get you close and it may help you find your corners. Do you have access to a metal detector? They can be very useful in finding the iron pins.
How long do the iron pins last in the ground? I may be buying a building that has been there since probably around 1910... aand is on a narrow lot with close proximity to the neighbors’ outbuilding. I’d like to identify where exactly the lines are...
 
Do a search. Type in the name of your county followed by qpubilc. Example: Hardin County qpublic. Your property will show up along with satellite photos. This should get you close and it may help you find your corners. Do you have access to a metal detector? They can be very useful in finding the iron pins.
That seems like a good resource, but when I click on "view map" it requires a subscription unfortunately. I don't have a metal detector. There is a property marker in one corner, so I know what it should look like, but there's absolutely nothing that I can find in the other three corners.

I do have a plat in hand from the county clerk's office, so I'm aware of easements, setback requirements, and I've studied the zoning ordinance to be sure what I'm doing is permitted.. The plat isn't very helpful in determining where exactly the lines are though, that's the trouble I'm having.

I have a feeling the neighbor behind me is mowing/encroaching onto my land a good ways, judging by the location of the one marker I did find. I talked with my other neighbor (to the side of me) and he's fairly certain the encroaching neighbor has pulled the markers. I suspect since this house was a rental for a few years before I bought it, he's just helped himself to what he wanted to mow.

I'll look for the markers one more time, but if it's a few hundred bucks or whatever to have the boundaries identified, I think it's money well spent.
 
Before you build you also need to check with the county/city to see if you're required to stay off the neighboring owners property by x number of feet or if you have to leave x number of feet between structures for emergency/fire use. In the county I live in I can build anywhere on my land with the exception of within a certain number of feet of electrical lines. The county I lived in in NC had different property line setbacks for building next to property located in front of yours, to the sides and to the rear. As I remember they were 50' to the front, 20' to the side and 5' to the rear.
 
I asked 2 of my neighbours where the property lines were. They both said they weren't concerned about it were as much as 20' feet out.

If you have one corner marker and know the length of the sides you can lay out arcs, and two corners will lie on them.

One of my corners had a piece of rebar in the ground that was 12" or 18" away from the actual corner marker. Our property markers are really long and have been pounded into the ground so it's readily apparent which are the real ones. They're just below the surface so a metal detector (and knowing where to look) helps a lot.
 
If there is any doubt where the lines are you will need the meets and bounds recorded in the deed then a surveyor to mark them. As to siting a building the local codes will be needed for set backs and buffer zones if there are zoning regs.
 
They use metal detectors to locate existing monuments, then use the plat or legal description and some math to set the missing corners using their surveying instruments.

The surveyor who did my (undeveloped) property used an RTK GNSS/GPS. I think he used Trimble equipment. I think he had to set new monuments because none existed.
 
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