Locating property boundaries

[Nandy]

Long story short. I'm moving back to the house I owned in charlotte and I need to build a fence to have my toys. I was told by the home depot expert that I need to locate the boundary rods that are buried. He told me I need a metal detector for this. Been to a couple of places and I can't find anywhere they rent those. So,
Is really how you find the boundaries? I will think he does know what he is talking.
Does any one knows any retailers that do rent them detectors?
I went to the gis site and while it is great to know my boundaries it don't tell me jack where exactly are they laying in reality.
Thanks!

 

[jonesg]

Re: Locating property boundaries

Surveyors work from certified monuments, its worth paying for now than paying for the fence twice.

 

[arks]

Re: Locating property boundaries

Agreed. Some corner markers are concrete and a metal detector wouldn't work.
You can go to your county courthouse and have them print out a plot plan of your property or neighborhood. That'll show the actual dimensions of each line.
Unfortunately the corner markers can be hard or impossible to find on your lot because of past excavation, fencing, etc.
Spend the money for a surveyor. They often take their reference measurements from a point away from your specific property

 

[dolluper]

Re: Locating property boundaries

A surveyor you will need if you can't find them with the map from your manise office and a 6lb magnet {buy harbour frieght?}

 

[PS94]

Re: Locating property boundaries

The tax office should have a survey of your house you can buy or get off them, has property lines measured from your house.

 

[BuzzStPoint]

Re: Locating property boundaries

I too had to do this when I wanted to put a fence up.

I All properties around me were certified so I know the markers where there.
I went to a rental company and rented a metal detector. I couldn't find any markers. Tried for 2 days.

Finally I ended up calling a survey company. 45 minutes later he dug up the markers and put wooden stakes in back and flags in the front. Cost me 225 to have it done. Well worth it because I now know where the lines are.. Got into an argument with the neighbor in the back because of my fence. She's not too happy that she lost a little room.

Actually glad I did it. I was going to put the fence about a foot away from the edges of the evergreens. Found out with the property line These overgrown evergreens grew over my line, I gained another 4 feet of space on the side of my house. and marking the lot also extended the back of the yard by 2 foot. When we bought the house we just took what the relator said was our property. Basically following the power poles.

Also another side note before you start your fence.
Call Diggers Hotline to mark the utilities. It's free and they only need a few days notice. If you don't do this, and you hit a cable, you will be responsible for any and all damages you cause.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Locating property boundaries

does your county have an online GIS mapping? Most counties in NC do. You can use the areal photos to find your corners then if you can see line-of-site from one marker to another you may not need a surveyor. With an assistant just sight between markers and place stakes or flags along the sighted line. I used to install fence for sears and I have helped the owners do this many times. Keep in mind that you cannot put your fence directly on the property line.....check with county and city to see what the setback is.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Locating property boundaries

..... Cost me 225 to have it done. Well worth it because I now know where the lines are.. Got into an argument with the neighbor in the back because of my fence. She's not too happy that she lost a little room......

I have the same issue with a neighbor in the rear. I had to get an attorney to send him a letter that stated the property line is where it is, not where he wishes it would be.

I still have to have the real line marked. I called a local surveyor and they wanted about 1500 to remark it. I thought that a bit steep so I have not done it yet.

The 225 figure you mention is more like it. I'll have to keep checking around.

Once the line is marked, (it is on a slope), my real work begins. I'll need to build a stacked block retaining wall, back fill it then build the new fence on top of the backfill.

 

[jeeperman]

Re: Locating property boundaries

All of the above.

If your going to put in the fence yourself, without a building permit, you might not want to spill the beans to the local gooberment when you ask for the property plat.
Some do not charge for a building permit, etc. but only want you to get a permit so that you are aware of the regs, setbacks, etc. if your doing it yourself. And of course so that the property value can be bumped a bit so you can pay some more property taxes every year forever.

Is this a recent purchase? in your mortage/closing papers there should be a plat of the property showing the lines as well as the location of your house from those lines and corners.

If you can find it and want to send it to me as a pdf or jpeg file, I can plot it all out on Autocad and add some more dimensions. That way you can maybe measure from your house corners, etc.

 

[BuzzStPoint]

Re: Locating property boundaries

Building codes and such will vary from local to local.

In my area. No building permit is needed as long as the fence is 6 feet from a sidewalk and is under 8 foot tall. The setback here is 1 inch. But I pulled back 12 inches on my property.

As for cost of the surveyor. Every place around me wanted around 5-- to 600 dollars. But that was to get my plot certified. I'm not certified but I didn't see a need to get a certification as every house around me is certified. So I just called a Surveyor to find the corners.

 

[mommicked]

Re: Locating property boundaries

Look up your Deed info. on line or at the courthouse.it may call for a plat or map of your property or the subdivision if your in one.These maps have bearings and dist. for each side of each lot.deeds can give bearings and distances between all the corners on your lot and if its not too big a lot and not too wooded or hilly you might be able to find them w a 100' +/- tape if you can find one corner to start with.look for hollow iron pipes or rebars w flagging on them,not always buried, and measure between them to verify the map or deed distances.If theres any question about the locations of the corners get a surveyor to verify or replace missing corners. update just checked your GIS site, Gaston co.click on layers on the gis map and turn on the aerial photo feature it may help you find your corners if you zoom in on your lot.these maps are only so accurate though.if your lots an acre or less you might find the corners w a tape and probeing w a shovel to find the iron corners.

 

[Nandy]

Re: Locating property boundaries

This is an about 8 years old subdivision in Charlotte. It has the steel studs in the ground, I saw them when they were building the house but since then we had grass grow over it and they are impossible to see. I went hunting for them with a screwdriver but had no luck. As I said before I have access to the gis but that only tells me the directions and there are no way to tell where anything starts. I will be building the fence way off the side neighbors boundaries as my lot has a little shoulder at both ends and I dont want the fence siting there as there is where the water drain so locating my boundaries are more of an academic excersize than needed. I can tell how far the line back is since all I have to do is measure from the sidewalk.
I have had the utility locators in the residence at least 3 times for different reasons, there is absolutely nothing past the phone line box. I might call them again, it is free and they might have the detector I need.
Thanks.

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Locating property boundaries

I would expect prospector/treasure hunter shops to rent metal detectors.

 

[OldePharte]

Re: Locating property boundaries

does your county have an online GIS mapping? Most counties in NC do. You can use the areal photos to find your corners then if you can see line-of-site from one marker to another you may not need a surveyor. With an assistant just sight between markers and place stakes or flags along the sighted line. I used to install fence for sears and I have helped the owners do this many times. Keep in mind that you cannot put your fence directly on the property line.....check with county and city to see what the setback is.

I wouldn't trust GIS. At our lake place, the GIS is off by 25 feet in some areas.

A surveyor is the best bet. Even those can be off by 6 inches or so. We have one boundary that has been surveyed 3 times, by different companies, and each was different from the others, but by no more than 6 inches.

 

[64osby]

Re: Locating property boundaries

We live in an area that everyone owns a few acres or more and most of the property lines are in the woods. One thing I did after the purchase - the property was surveyed - was to place fence posts where the wooden stakes were placed, pounded them in about 3 ft. It takes a little to find them but they are there, 15 years later. One of my neighbors used stainless or galv. pipe, its easier to see. Once it is done you always have it, as long as it was done correct the first time.

I used to have 20 acres up north in the woods and I actually found one of the corner stones. Then I used a GPS compass and a 300 ft tape to locate the other corners. Took about a day but it was worth it. The PO had a nasty outhouse "on the property" that turned out to be on the neighbors property. It was no longer my issue to deal with.

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: Locating property boundaries

Even though you may have the northings and eastings of the corner your GIS may get you close enough to find the rebar and red cap, but is in no way accurate enough to establish a property line.

 

[Brewman61]

Re: Locating property boundaries

The monuments are the property line. In my city, the plat drawing of our lot shows the location of the monuments. I use the plat drawing to get close, then my metal detector to pinpoint. Then I dig just to make absolutely sure.

If you can't rent a metal detector, try a pawn shop and buy a used one, then if you want, sell it back. It'll cost you but it's way cheaper than moving a fence if it goes over your property line. Or try craigs list, etc.......
Cheap ones can be had for under $100 at Fleet Farm type of stores, etc....

Or you can pay a service to locate the markers- probably cost you a couple Benjamins but still cheaper then relocating the fence.

The contractor will likely make you sign something that will make the location of the fence entirely your risk and not theirs.

 

[rbh]

Re: Locating property boundaries

You may find your frontage pegs by measureing the distance from the edge of the road to your neighbours pins, and taking the same distance on your property.
Distance from road's edge to all the propertie's pins on your road should be the same distance in.
I think

 

[bigdee]

Re: Locating property boundaries

I wouldn't trust GIS. At our lake place, the GIS is off by 25 feet in some areas.

A surveyor is the best bet. Even those can be off by 6 inches or so. We have one boundary that has been surveyed 3 times, by different companies, and each was different from the others, but by no more than 6 inches.

Here in NC i have found GIS to be pretty accurate....the survey coordinates are legally dead-on so you can punch them into your GPS and get within a few feet (accuracy determined by your GPS). After you search this small area and find a marker it is relatively easy to find the rest. It may be a good idea to review your plans with your neighbors and if all are in agreement go for it and save some $$. Here in the South we have a way of getting along.

 

[marlboro180]

Re: Locating property boundaries

If you know about where the corner markers are, try a set of diving rods. They work very well for me , and a pair of metal clothes hangers or brazing rods are cheap.