Deciphering a 1971 survey

[Chuck-OH]

I'm looking at the last survey done of my current home/land, done in 1971, and trying to make sense of it. There are corner points marked I.P., which I believe stands for Identification Pin, yes? There also points marked "Stake," and also a location in the road marked "Nail."

I'm trying to find the boundaries of my property. I know the pins can be found with a metal detector, but I haven't been able to find them. A neighbor told me he though the prior owner of this house removed the pins long ago, but I'm not sure if that's why I can't find them or not.

Also, "stake" to me implies wood. Does that mean after 37 years, they're rotted away?

And I can't find anything in the road that's metallic at the point marked "nail."

Can anyone clue me in?

 

[Tarmsolo60]

If you can't find the nail head in the road maybe they resurfaced the road sometime in the last 37 years, I was under the impression IP stood for iron pipe, and the actual measurement was at the top of the pipe not where it goes in the ground. I'm no surveyor though. Good luck

 

[peakbagger]

I.P. usually stands for Iron Pipe. I.P.F. usually stands for Iron Pipe Found. Stake is usually a temporary point that is not intended to be a long term reference (usually a wooden stake driven down into the ground). A nail in road, is usually a "PK" masonary nail driven in the pavement (or occasionally old railroad spikes). If its an asphalt road surface and hasnt been ground prior to overtopping, a good surveyors metal detector will usually pick PK nails up with several inches of tar on top of them. Note a surveyors detector works better than a standard metal detector, I think the favorite brand is Shoenstedt (?). Local water utility crews frequently use the same metal detector so if you have town water, you may be able to borrow one (only works in a small town typically). I have located old barbed wire several inches deep that was so rusted that all I could find when I dug it was a rust stain in the soil with the surveyors detector.

If you do need a survey, see if the orginal surveyor is still in business. They typically keep their field notes and can recreate a survey very quickly as they dont need to do the deed research and may have swng ties to known points that still exist. Usually one surveyor specializes in doing the surveys in one area. They can do it less expensively than competitors as they have already done the research and know where the subdivision reference points are and if there are any errors in the original surveys.

Frequently, the corner pins are driven farther into the ground rather than pulled out. I used to drive two pins, one real deep and one sticking out of the ground just in case the neighbors tried to move the irons (happens more often than you think).

 

[granpajohn]

All true, (I think).
I would like to add that we had often used our household (fun for the kids) metal detector next to the company Shoenstadt, and there isn't really much comparison. Point is; a typical Radio Shack type of detector may never find an iron pipe, or even a PK nail. They are designed to find valuable metals like gold and silver jewelry, and reject ferrous irons such as PK nails.

I should also point out that I've often finished up work with the metal detector and told someone "I don't know how surveyors ever found ANYTHING without a MetDet."

Remember also, the shovel has often been refered to as the surveyor's best tool. Good luck.

 

[Chuck-OH]

Thanks for the replies. The original surveyor is still listed in the phone book, after 38 years. I had called him originally and even asked to hire him to re-mark the boundaries, but he abruptly told me to buy a long tape measure, get a metal detector, and "do it myself." Then he hung up on me.

I assume he must have been more friendly 38 years ago.

There are three other surveyors locally. Two never called back, the third estimated a minimum charge of $600 to re-mark the boundaries, but could be as much as $1,000. He couldn't say ahead of time.

This has lead to me trying to do it myself. I'm bothered though by the report of one neighbor that the prior owner of my house had pulled the pins years ago. He was a town councilman, by the way.

I'll try the advice given by the folks above. Thanks.

 

[granpajohn]

The $600-1000 number sounds about right to me for a boundary survey, such as would be required to construct a fence.

Many survey outfits are located in the Construction Bluebook: http://www.thebluebook.com/