We bought 20 acres unimproved land 3 years ago. Now we are ready to fence it and build. The land was surveyed 15 years ago and I have a sketch of it marking the shape ("L" shape) and giving length in feet of the property lines as well as the degrees that they use in surveying. One front corner is established; there's a 3/8" iron rod where our neighbors' property to the east starts. there is supposed to be a nail in the center of the road at our western property line. Would it still be there after 15 years? We walked up and down the road looking for it but can't find it. Would a metal detector help? We know we have 600' of road frontage so we could measure that far from the iron rod that we did find. The land to the west of ours is overgrown and swampy with absentee owners. We are trying to avoid paying $600 for a new survey but I don't know what our chances are of finding the nail by ourselves or the other iron rods on the back of the land. Does anyone have any advice? I have lots of time to get out there with a machete, if I only knew how to start.

-- Elizabeth in E TX (kimprice@peoplescom.net), July 25, 2001

Answers

all electronics sells a metal detector for $30. Also wallymart had some, but don't remember the prices.

I'll let other folks chime in on the suggestions.

-- (perry@ofuzzy1.com), July 26, 2001.

I've used a metal detector with good results. The thing is, when you're looking for the ones on the back of the property, you're going to find every piece of metal that's ever been dropped in the general area, and will need to dig up anything that sets the detector off to determine exactly what you found.

-- Connie (Connie@lunehaven.com), July 26, 2001.

Elizabeth, is that 600 feet along the curves in the road, or the chords of the curves, or who?

If you can tell me that, it is possible to measure off the 600 feet, with a REASONABLEdegree of accuracy.

Most likley the nail in the center of the road has been paved over with chip seal, or asphalt. A metal detector would be a possible tool to find it, once you've approximated the location with a good measurement.

Can you find the corner at the other end of your west line? If you know how to use a good compass (don't forget declination), you can run a line down the west line, also, to confirm you're in the right place looking for the nail.

another issue is whether you need to know "exactly" where the corner is. Does close count? In other words, for instance, if you are just trying to make sure you're building your house "on your own property" it is often pretty easy to find the "approximate" boundaries, then make darn sure you're well away from them, rather than trying to find the line to the gnat's eyebrow.

For your fence, you can either make sure you know "exactly" where the line is, or build the fence a ways onto your own prop. It depends on how much it's worth to you to utilize every square foot of your twenty acres.

Check with your county surveyor, if there is one. He should be able to show you a copy of the survey map, and perhaps there are other clues there, which could help you find the missing corner.

Perhaps, also, your neighbor on that side knows more about its location.

Good luck!

JOJ

One last thought; perhaps, if all else fails, a surveyor could come out and find your corner for a lot less than you think; after all, he doesn't have to survey your whole property, and does not have to set any pins, nor draw maps, pay fees to the county, etc.

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), July 26, 2001.

Thanks to you all for your suggestions. Joe, it's 628 feet along the chord of just one not very sharp curve. I don't know exactly what that means. Wait, something's stirring in my brain--is it a straight line from one known point to another on a curve? I have the exact wording from the warranty deed if that'd help? There is also a 3/8" iron rod 33 feet from the nail in the center of the road going along that western line, so maybe if we can't find the nail we can find the rod. I've stepped off the 628 feet, but I followed the curve of the road. I'm thinking of making a measuring wheel with a bicycle wheel-- any hints on how to do that?

I used to be good with a compass, twenty years ago. Probably I could read up on it and get good again. Finding the southwest corner will be hard--maybe if I can find the nail in the road I'll call in a surveyor for the rest. It's not really important to utilize every last square foot but we have *no idea* where the boundary is. I've found out this week that 20 acres is about twice as much land as I had pictured in my mind--about 300 more feet of road frontage. The reason for this is that there is a driveway up onto the land and directly to west, next to the driveway, is a relatively new barbed wire fence going south at a right angle to the road. We just assumed it was the property line. The former owner is a strange character who probably put that fence up there just because there happened to be trees there to wrap the barbed wire around.

-- Elizabeth in E TX (kimprice@peoplescom.net), July 27, 2001.

I was wrong--the measurement is along the curve of the road, not along the chord of the curve.

-- Elizabeth in E TX (kimprice@peoplescom.net), July 27, 2001.

Elizabeth, I retired from 33 years as a road construction surveyor. If you can get someone to help you, you can measure from your "found" point to the supposed location of the nail in the road with reasonable accuracy. A lumber crayon makes a fine marker for measuring. If the road has not been resurfaced since the nail was set, it should shine and be easy to spot if you look toward the sun. Most survey nails have a 1/2" diameter head with a small dimple in the center. It seems like they are easiest to find early in the morning when the sun angle is lowest. A metal detector will help you if the road is not built of reinforced concrete. Also, your survey plat might have some tie points listed that you could use to reset the corners. Good luck!

-- Paul (hoyt@egyptian.net), July 28, 2001.

Well, you were right about a chord. It's like a shortcut, in a straight line, between two points on a curve. But since you now say your line is 628 ft along the curve of the road. Do you own to the center of the road? Is this the 628 feet? If so, it's simple to use a bike wheel for measuring. My bike has an odometer which I have calibrated to be accurate to within five feet in a mile.It's calibrated in .01 mile calibrations: 52.8 feet. So I can walk the bike along a known line until I get close to where I want to be, then measure the last little bit with a steel tape.

You could tie a rag or piece of flagging to one of the spokes on your bike. Walk the bike along a straight line for ten turns of the wheel. Mark the start and finish of this line. Now measure this distance. Divide by ten. This is the circumference of the bike wheel. Now, divide 628 feet by this circumference. It will be a whole number of turns, plus a fraction of a turn. Take the bike out, and walk along, counting the turns, until you have counted up to the whole number of turns. Then, you'll only have to measure from that point to the pin (the fraction you get from dividing 628 by the circumference)

If you wanted to send me the metes and bounds (the exact wording from the warranty deed, I assume), I'd be a little clearer about where all your corners are. Change eco to echo in my email address. JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), July 28, 2001.

Thanks, Paul, for the info, and JOJ, for your offer. As soon as I can find a minute away from my kids I'll type up that stuff and send it to you. Most of it I can understand, but there's one place that has me mystified.

By the way, I did measure with my bicycle and what's really cool is that I got a spot just 11 inches from the place I located by simply stepping it off! Got out there with a metal detector and there's a definite strong signal right there, but no nail to be seen, so I know it's been paved over. It's soft blacktop, but I'm sure the county would take a dim view of my chiseling a big hunk out of the road.

-- Elizabeth in E TX (kimprice@peoplescom.net), July 30, 2001.