California Surveyors Forums

Did I understand you correctly? One or more of the more recent PMs are calling found original monuments to be off based upon holding record distances from some remote junior monuments?

I bet whomever did the most recent survey also used two of the original monuments for his basis of bearings, then calcs "record" to show the remaining monuments out of position. I've always wondered which flip of the coin they use to decide which mons to use for the BOB, and which to show are out of position.

Seems that someone was issued a license by mistake.

"killer" here is, who checked/approved the final map of these later surveys. I guess nothing jumped out at them for 3 or 4 feet.

The final hook is on the signer of the map, as far as I am concerned, but the city or county doing the checking should have done something. Maybe they did, and the surveyor(s) preparing the later maps got all high and mighty with the checker. But this is a digression.

My thoughts? If I can convince myself that I am in the right place, I blow that other stuff away, and let the chips fall where they may. Try to work things out with existing land owners/adjoiners and stuff like that and hope to get paid for all the "extra" work involved in this procedure.

But this is a general attitude of mine, and could change if the situation warranted it, but probably not. I gotta know where I am, cause if I don't, I am in big trouble. Heck, even if I know where I am, I can get into big trouble. Done it before.

even find the original pipes that you were refering to if you dig a hole next to that wire fence or chain link fence post.

I do precalcs, and I am sure you do also, and when those pre calcd points fall next to metal, the pipe finder don't work real well. And I have to dig a hole more than a foot in diameter and maybe more than a foot deep. Sometimes even wider and deeper. It depends.

I have found pipe on more than one occasion near metal fencing and block walls with rebar, that wasn't found by a previous surveyor. Not always but every now and again. And I scratch my head and wonder "I found it and there is nothing special about me. What was the other guy doing?"

" successful corner search is a lot about attitude. I've worked with guys that while they're getting out of the truck are saying "These are gonna be gone" or "I bet they never even got set" and I've had crews that I tell them "Go find this corner and this corner and locate this and this" and they call me and say "We can't find sh.." and not that I'm so great but I go out and they're waving the Schonstedt and hanging their heads in dismay and the thing is right where they're looking. You've got to WANT it to be there and not give up until you're convinced it ain't. "

Steve - I don't think I've heard it said any better. I just printed that out and put in on our wall. Hope you don't mind me giving you due credit. I'm thinking of framing it.

John Coffey
San Diego, CA

I hope you let us know how this turns out. But you know you put a hex on yourself by talking to folks before about the job before you have the job.....

Have fun talking to the other surveyor. I've had better luck talking about boundary resolutions with other surveyors that I already know. If it's a guy from a big firm that you don't know, you may get blown off. I've had that happen.