SURVEYING YOUR OWN LAND

(Page 7 of 7)

September/October 1986
 
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Second, draw lines running north-south and/or east-west through every angle point. You need be concerned only with lines in the interior, and once they meet another inside line, you need draw no further.

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Your polygon is now divided into rectangles and right triangles (Step 2). To figure out the area of the triangles, all you need is a math book or calculator with sine and cosine functions. Remember them from high school trigonometry? In a right triangle, the sine equals the length of the side opposite an angle divided by the length of the hypotenuse (which, you'll notice, is always a boundary line with a known length). A cosine equals the adjacent side divided by the hypotenuse.

You already know one angle of each triangle — remember, the bearing is the angle from the north-south line you drew. So if you look up the sine or cosine (whichever is appropriate) of that angle, you can use that and the length of the boundary line to solve for the remaining sides of the triangle.

For example, take the shaded triangle from Step 2 — one that has a hypotenuse of 917 feet running S13E (Step 3). The sine of 13° is .225.

Since .225 = opposite side/ 917, then the opposite side = 206. Now you can use the cosine of 13°, .974, to solve for the angle's adjacent side: .974 = adjacent side/917 ... or 893 feet. The area for a triangle is 1/2 base times height, in this case 1/2 X 206 X 893 = 91,979 square feet.

As you work, write every calculated distance on the appropriate grid line, and record the area of each subfigure inside that shape. When you add all those areas up at the end, you'll have your square footage. Divide that by 43,560 and you'll know your acreage.

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  • Douglas Casey 12/17/2008 6:59:03 PM

    You're going to get a lot of people in a lot of disputes because you have made a very complex job into a simple peep and measure affair. The "art" of surveying encompasses much much more than sighting and measuring, especially in the eastern part of the country where the the public land survey was not used. Please urge your readers to be very careful of "homemade"surveying.The urge to save money is something all of us want to do, but some things require some practical experience and specialized education to accomplish.
    Douglas T. Casey
    Certified Land Surveyor
    Virginia

  • Eric Ackerman, PLS 10/10/2008 9:31:32 PM

    As a Professional Land Surveyor in California I'd have to say this was well written. For the homeowner, it a good primer into the world of Land Surveying. Unfortunately there is much more to surveying than measuring. Regarding measuring: The methods use by the author might work well for flatter land, where it's easier to measure horizontally, but anywhere where there are obstructions and hills may not yield measurement within 20 feet or more. Many of the "old-timers" measurements where off by feet, and they were experienced using the older equipment. A lot of time was spent learning to use a Solar Compass, transit and metal chain or tape. Generally a new hire will take a good 6 months to be proficient and accurate with modern survey equipment. Unless Surveyors are hiring dump people, that should be a clue as to the difficultly of measuring. Plus, the solar compass was used sometime after 1850’s and that means the majority of property (mostly out west) is base on “True North” and not magnetic. The act of measuring can be quite difficult and that’s why many surveyors use Total Stations that can cost up to $35,000. GPS equipment can range from $20,000 to $80,000 depending on the type of equipment.

    Anyway, in addition to the cost and difficulties of measuring there are other legal issues that require professional judgment. Surveyors have to know common law (court cases) Roman law, English common law, and local and state laws to property retrace or re-establish boundary lines. A surveyor has to know the legal weight given to words found in a deed, and that only comes with training and education. Many times there are conflicting calls in a deed such as “North 88 degrees 34’ 24” West 2,300 feet along said Wilson Tract to a 1” pipe; said pipe being at the northwest corner of said Tract and North 45 Degrees 00’ 00” East 404.89 feet from the southwest corner of Lot 2 of the Parcel Map filed in Book 12, Page 45 of Parcel Maps, thence……………….”

  • r9999mike 2/12/2008 2:16:36 AM

    I am a land surveyor alot of this article is really great. There
    are some things that one should know about land surveying. The
    compose reading of today is not the same as 50 or 100 years ago.
    ALSO the adjoined has a description that most times does not match
    your description. Bearing are usually different and sometime
    distances are also different. In my opinion a home owner can
    retrace the boundary to an accuracy far less than a professional
    land surveyor. A professional land surveyor may have to survey all
    the adjoining parcel to establish your boundaries. And there maybe
    gaps and/or gores between adjoining parcels. If one chooses to
    retrace their boundary make sure one gets all the surround deed
    descriptions. If one feels there is a problem seek a professional
    land surveyor. A suggestion is get three quotes for your survey and
    you get what you pay for. If your property is important to one make
    sure you weigh it $1500 for a twenty acre parcel is a good
    price.

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