A boundary survey measures the boundary lines of the property, only the length of each property line and their locations. A land survey includes a more in-depth measurement of the property, including the heights and depths of the terrain measured by a topographic survey. A boundary survey is typically the most cost-effective method for marking and measuring property lines.
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.
To prepare for a land survey, you must thoroughly check your land surveyor’s qualifications, reviews, and fees to align with your expectations. When it is time for the survey to be conducted, ensure that you have all your documents organized and available, know and mark your property lines, and inform your neighbors that the survey is happening.
If you can’t find any records online, you’ll need to contact your county clerk’s office to do further research. They should have property records on file, or can at least point you in the right direction of who to contact. You can also speak with your neighbors about when their houses were built because they were likely built around the same time.
The small lines on the tape measure either indicate inches, fractions of an inch, or centimeters and millimeters. On the imperial unit side (aka the inches side), the longest lines indicate inches, followed by the next shortest lines that indicate a half-inch, and then the quarter, eighth, and sixteenth-inch. On the metric side, the lines break down meters, centimeters, and millimeters.
The Springer, NM homeowners’ guide to land surveying services
From average costs to expert advice, get all the answers you need to get your job done.
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