FINDING YOUR PROPERTY PINS

The process of finding your property pins will vary depending on the layout of your land-and what exactly it has been through over the years. Check your deed to get a good idea of where to search. A certified surveyor can help you achieve this if needed. Let’s begin with knowing what we’re looking for, then examining areas they are commonly found.

Do not forget to read our additional tips on declaring your property lines.

These are long pieces of metal called rebar. Each 30 inch piece is driven into the ground. Their girths range from ½ inch to ⅝ inch. These pins often get caked with dirt and are dark colored so they can be hard to spot with the bare eye.

Each pin should be capped with a colored ignia of the surveyor who evaluated the space most recently, and placed them in the ground.

Usually property pins are placed in each of the corner of the lot. Measure 14.5 feet from the curb towards your property, this is the average lot setback for property pins. If your property line is uneven, you may have more than just the two corner pins.

They are 6-10 inches from the surface of the ground so it will take a little digging to find and raise them as needed. Since pins are metal, a shovel will help you find them when you hit a hard spot.

A simple metal detector could make the process of locating the property pins much faster. Metal detectors can often be rented from equipment providers if you have no other use for one of your own.

Property pins that are damaged (or even completely gone) can be replaced by the aid of a certified surveyor. This should not be done by someone who is not certified to ensure exact measurements and proper placement. Surveyors give an evaluation of property lines and can determine the location of a property pin without seeing it.

Local installation companies have aids with the credentials to perform this evaluation, which makes the process of finding a certified surveyor much simpler.

• If there are any fences in place, old or new, they might follow your property lines from a prior survey.
• Asking a neighbor may prove beneficial. Neighbors could have knowledge of where their property lines are, which may closely mimic your own.
• Instead of digging the pins up, a surveyor can forgo this by inserting a metal T-Bar at each property pin location.
• Connect property pins with a long string to see exact property lines.
• Directly building on property lines is not allowed, except for a boundary fence situation.

Property lines can be the deciding factor in where your fence can legally be installed. Treading onto others land, even if it belongs to the city and is marked as Public Property, can lead you down a lengthy course of fines and even neighborhood hostility, or court cases. By locating property pins, you can then follow installation specifications, whether building a shared fence, or following the specified property line setback distance.