Finding your Property Lines
The best way to begin the process of locating and marking your property lines is to identify the corners of your property. The property corners are typically marked with metal identifiers by a surveyor team upon the purchase of a house or property.
If possible, contact your surveyor or your county records department for a property plat map with the approximation of your property boundaries.
Start near where you think the corner is, according to your property map, and search for your property’s corner markers. If a marker has been driven below the surface, sometimes probing with a shovel will help to find it. If the marker is too deep, a metal detector should solve the problem. If the marker is invisible to the naked eye, use a temporary stake to mark the corners.
Once you have located and marked all the corners of your property, tie a string to your original stake and run the string to each corner marker, trailing the string behind you as you walk until you have the border of your property outlined by string.
You should now have a properly marked property line, and are ready to begin construction on your new fence.
A few hints:
- Metal detectors can be purchased for under $50 at many hobby stores or pawn shops.
- Ensure that you’ve located your exact property line before attempting to fence in your property. If you are even an inch over into your neighbor’s property, you will have to tear down the whole fence and could have legal charges filed against you.
· If you can find your surveying posts, do not remove them because this is considered a misdemeanor offense in some communities
