What does a "1/2in steel bar set" look like? (agents, mortgages)

[doss1]

Hi all,
I am looking at a plat map for my tract of land and trying to find the boundary. The plat map gives some coordinates marked by a "bar set". I am guessing this is a steel rod or some kind of spike placed in the ground? I tried doing a Google search for what some may look like but I'm not sure if they are what I am looking for.

"....passing a 1/2" steel bar set.."

Thanks for any clues.

[MrRational]

ROUND bar, aka rod or pins, driven into the ground at the corners of a lot

[doss1]

That's what i thought, thanks!

[399083453]

It may be underground and need a metal detector to find. People often sink them underground so no one pulls them out.

[DMenscha]

Surveyors in CA (And I assume everywhere else) set a 2' long piece of steel reinforcing rod in the ground with an identifying tab on it with their surveyors license number. It can be a plastic cap (rare) or usually a brass tab wired to the bar. They set them so that there is about 2" clear of the ground. Around here, forest litter usually covers them in a short period of time.

A metal detector is standard equipment for agents in my area.

EDIT: It's also illegal for me to find a pin in the ground and make any statement that might be construed as telling a buyer or seller that it is a true corner of the property. My disclaimer is, "I found a metal pin which may or may not be a corner, you'll need to hire a licensed surveyor to verify any corner."

[MrRational]

Yes... a metal detector is invaluable finding them.
A website describing the adventure and where I got the pic posted below.

As this is a RE section thread...
Buyers do yourself a favor and have your soon to be newly purchased property surveyed...
BEFORE you go to settlement.
---
Here is a picture with some surveyor pins.
The one on the right is typical of what most residential lots will have.

[CptnRn]

I worked as a land surveyor in Colorado, Wyoming and Arizona, for different companies in the 70's, and we never set a property corner using more then a 12" long piece of steel rebar (reinforcing bar), 3/8"-1/2" dia. Anything longer was often likely to encounter stone that prevented it from being driven into the ground. A major monument like a Section corner would often use something like some of those in the photo above.

[accufitgolf]

My new house had steel pins (like rebar) sticking up about 2in in each corner of the lot. After sodding, grass growing, etc., some 8 years later (when selling), we could not find them without a metal detector. They were 3in or so below the ground.

[NY Annie]

When I was doing title searches, I ran across one partitioned farm that someone had taken ordinary pipe and laid it out delineating about 12 parcels to be sold. One after the other of these parcels was sold by landmark. As was my training, I always did a (freehand) sketch of the parcel along with immediate neighbors. I took a quick glance at the property description of the immediate neighbor and it struck me that the description was too familiar and I gave it a more thorough read. Every single description, it turned out, of the 12 parcels were not only similar but identical. This was back in the 70s, long before there was any problems with mortgages and I don't even know if Fannie/Freddie were in existence then. But what a brouhaha I caused. Turns out there were 3 major banks involved and at least 2 title companies.

Point is to show why a surveyor is important, especially in unrecorded plats.

[doss1]

Enjoyed the discussion! And, Mr.Rational...many thanks for your blog link. I actually am doing the same and I've been documenting my "adventure" of searching for rural land to buy and placing in a blog format. I finally bought about 6ac last year and was able to add about 2ac more by simply asking the non-existent landowner if she'd sell me a little piece, lol. Figured I'd give it another year before asking for more Land prices are not rising (they seem to be falling) at the moment. I don't have much $$, but am surely and slowly adding more land while I can....after all, they ain't makin' no more of it

I will get my tract surveyed but i am having too much fun looking for the spikes and rebars. Reading my plat map, I see a system of "metes and bounds" is used, thus I need to use the riverbend at the corner of my property as a start and walk about 140 ft to the west to find the first steel bar. I've seen one spiked in the ground with nothing more than a colored cap exposed, so I know they are out there. My little bro has a metal detector...I'll ask him if I can borrow it so I can find the other spikes.