Get matched with top land surveyors in Dakota City, NE

This is fairly rare, but sometimes the local government or a group like a historical society will label a tree as a landmark, or historical item. These designations almost always come with a small, on-site plaque for identification, but you should also be able to look up protected trees in your area on a city website or similar list. If the tree in question is a landmark, call your local government and ask how to proceed before making any plans.

A land survey includes the layout of a single property, including precise measurements and to-scale drawings of boundary lines, land improvements, and sometimes other features, like topography and drainage information. A plat map includes the layouts and boundary lines of several adjacent plots and basic structure measurements. Surveys are normally more valuable for homeowners and buyers, and plat maps are for governmental use.

Land surveying costs about $530 for the average homeowner. However, your total cost could range anywhere from $200 to $1,000 or more. Factors like the size of your property play a significant role in what you pay, but other things like the survey type and the time of year can also impact the final cost. 

For example, if you’re looking for a simple boundary survey, you can expect to pay between $100 and $600. However, if you want a more in-depth survey that depicts the elevations of your hills and trees, you can expect to pay between $500 and $1,200 for a topographic survey.

Prior to excavation, you should prepare the dig site and call 311 before you sign anything.

To get your site ready for excavation, you should move anything in the area that isn’t affixed to the land. You can save money on the excavation by removing hardscaping, including walkways, decks, concrete patios, and paver patios.

Before you carry out any digging, you should call 311 to confirm that there are no utility lines running through your excavation site. Skipping this step could lead to severe injury and property damage if your excavator hits a water, sewage, or gas line.