SURVEYING YOUR OWN LAND
(Page 3 of 7)
There are even better information sources than your deed.
The best (and sometimes most elusive) document you can lay
your hands on is the surveyor's map, or plat (Fig.
2). The plat translates that legal confusion of numbers and
terms on the deed into pictures. It may also show
references to natural landmarks, or triangulation data
which may locate a particular point.
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Plat-chasing is a major pastime among surveyors. Your plat,
if one exists, may accompany your deed. Or it may languish
in city or county records (clerks' or surveyors' offices
would be the best places to search) or reside with a
previous owner. Plats of neighboring land are helpful, too.
They may show the location of a common boundary.
If you live in a subdivision or built-up area, you may be
wondering why your deed's legal description reads only "Lot
22, Rock Creek Estates" or "Tract A, First Addition." But
these, too, are metes and bounds surveys. The surveyors
created several lots at once, so they drew one map of the
whole thing. Deed descriptions merely refer to the master
plat, which you will find in the public records.
You should also keep an eye peeled for early versions of
your property description, surveyor's notes, and
descriptions of roads that border your land. Why? First, to
ensure that your deed doesn't contain mistakes; second, to
find out all you can about boundary markers — the key
to property lines.
You are now nearly ready to step into the
surveyor's shoes. First, though, you'll have to gather your
equipment. You'll need a compass, long measuring tape,
plumb bob, level, hatchet, some ribbon, and stakes. You'll
also need a willing assistant. Now check your
instruments. Do they read in the same numbers as the
survey? If not, you will have to translate.
Most people will have on hand the type of compass that uses
the directional measurement known as azimuth .
Being ornery as a rule, surveyors use another system,
called bearings . To learn how to translate one to
the other, see the sidebar "Converting Azimuths to
Bearings."
On to distances. We measure lengths in feet and inches,
don't we? Well, the surveyor uses either feet and
tenths of a foot (be very alert for this!) or a
venerable system called chains . Don't panic at
this. A chain measures 66 feet. Why 66 feet? Because it's
convenient for land computations. Ten square chains equal
one acre — which means to compute acreage rapidly,
all you have to do is find the number of square chains,
then move the decimal point once to the left. Also, one
mile stretches exactly 80 chains.
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