Boundary Surveys:
What do we do?
We will survey your property per your deed. There are a variety of issues which may dictate that your legal boundary is different from the deed boundary we have staked. Some of these issues are discussed below. Only an agreement between the land owners or the court system can confirm a legal boundary. A Professional Land Surveyor can only provide you with an expert opinion of where boundary is located.
It is your responsibility to provide us with your correct legal description. If we suspect problems with the legal description we have been provided, we will attempt to research these problems but we are not always aware of dedications, vacations, boundary line adjustments, conflicts with your neighbors or other issues which may affect your property.
Normally on a boundary survey, we will set one of two different markers at your property corner. If the corner falls in dirt or asphalt, we will set a 5/8" iron rebar with a yellow cap marked 'STRATTON 10677' at the actual corner and a stake next to it to make it easy to find. If the corner falls in concrete, we will drill a small hole in the concrete, fill the hole with lead, and then place a tack and brass washer labeled 'LS 10677' at the property corner. We will paint a white circle around the corner to make it easy to find. Occasionally, a corner will fall in a fence post, tree or other obstacle where it is impractical to set a corner. In these situations, we may set a variety of markers depending on the situation.
10677 is Rob's Idaho Land Surveyor's number. This number will be different for different states and different surveyors.
Please note that we may set property corners at angle points and at the ends of curves. Sometimes these corners fall close to main corners of the property. Please review the survey while the markers are fresh to understand their relationship to the boundary. If you are unsure which markers are which, please contact us to help you understand them.
If a recorded survey is not required, your invoice will be your receipt that your property was surveyed by our company under the supervision of a licensed Land Surveyor. You should store a copy of this statement with your other records concerning your property.
Encroachments and discrepancies:
As mentioned previously, we stake the property per your deed. There are a variety of issues which may effect what you legally own. Some of the more common problems are:
- Encroachments: An encroachment is a physical feature such as a fence, irrigation system, landscaping or building which indicates that you or your neighbor are using land which crosses over the deed boundary as we have surveyed it. Our crews will pick up any apparent encroachments we observe on all boundary surveys for our records and for use if you need additional services. IMPORTANT: There is a law called Adverse Possession which generally states that, if an encroachment has existed for enough time and meets other criteria, the legal ownership will run with the usage and not the deed. The most common time period is 7 years but can vary from 5 to 20 years depending on state law. For this reason, it is important to address encroachments with your neighbors and work out a resolution in order to determine the legal boundary line. You can seek our help and/ or a lawyer's help in resolving these situations. It is also important not to let an encroachment go unaddressed as you may lose your property by adverse possession in the future. It is equally important that you do not do damage to the disputed area until the issue is resolved as you may be found liable for this damage. Several solutions exist in these situations including moving the improvements to fit the deeded property line, recording an easement, license or agreement that allows the impovements to stay for a period of time or recording a deed that changes the property line to fit the improvements.
- Old or incorrect legal description: We survey the property from the legal description you provide to us. You can find your legal description in your deed. You can find your deed in the documents provided to you by your title company when you purchased your property. Sometimes you may acquire or give land away for road use or a boundary line adjustment. It is important that you make us aware of any changes to your legal description. Sometimes a legal description is written or has been copied incorrectly which can also influence your survey.
- Conflicts with neighboring legal descriptions: Sometimes your neighbor's legal description will describe your common boundary different than yours. Resolving this type of discrepancy requires additional research and depends on legal factors such as senior rights and possession.
- Easements and Rights-of-way: Normally, you own the land which an easement or right-of-way covers and can use it in any way which doesn't interfere with the intent of the easement or right-of-way. In the case of roads along your property, you often own to the center of the road. We will typically place boundary stakes at the edge of access or roadway easements instead of the true property corner as this is more usable for our client and has less chance of being disturbed in the future.
If you have any questions regarding this information, please feel free to contact us.
