How much to get lot surveyed on the Big Island (Waipio: to rent, homes)

[Gyva]

If anyone here has had their land surveyed before to find your property lines, how much did it cost you? Is re-bar and plastic cap the norm for marking corners on the Big Island?

Thanks

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Gyva

If anyone here has had their land surveyed before to find your property lines, how much did it cost you? Is re-bar and plastic cap the norm for marking corners on the Big Island?

In my corner of the Big Island the norm seems to be 1" iron pipe. At least up here, rebar in the ground melts away too fast in the acid rain environment.

It's been several years since I checked, but when I last looked it was about $1,000 to do a basic four corner stake. And there are also "pin-finders" who will locate existing markers for about $500. The biggest issue at that time was that surveyor's schedules were full, so it was going to take a month or more.

I got lucky and found them all myself. One was buried under 3' of soil, carried downhill by the rains since the last time it was surveyed.

[Gyva]

Thanks OpenD

[oregonwoodsmoke]

If there are existing pins, it would be cheaper to rent a metal detector than pay for a surveyor.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

If there are existing pins, it would be cheaper to rent a metal detector than pay for a surveyor.

It's worth a try, if you've got the time, but even professional pin-finders get skunked sometimes.

In many cases it can take more than just renting a metal detector. It can take real detective work and deductive reasoning and archaeological skills just to figure out where the pins MIGHT be, especially if none of your neighboring properties are clearly marked. Many of the existing surveying pins were placed decades ago, and then roads got put in and utility poles moved and the wooden stakes from when the property was last sold 30 years ago have rotted, and nobody around remembers. That's pretty much what I ran into, and it was not an easy or quick process at all to resolve all the issues.

[CyberCity]

Also, if l having a lot surveyed is part of a purchase, just "finding the pins" will not be enough, unless the purchaser agrees to that lesser degree of assurance. If it is a new subdivision, with the original pins clearly visible that were put in place by the developer, those pins will more easily acknowledged as acceptable. But for an older lot, many buyers want a current survey by a licensed surveyor.

If you are just doing an informal survey, and don't need documentation, hiring a grade setter could by a cheaper alternative.

[terracore]

Originally Posted by Gyva

If anyone here has had their land surveyed before to find your property lines, how much did it cost you? Is re-bar and plastic cap the norm for marking corners on the Big Island?

Thanks

Don't know about the Ka'u desert but on the east side the original pins are put in flush with the ground and get completely covered within weeks.

As far as cost- it will vary widely. If the surveyor can simply access all the boundaries it can come in well under $1000.00. If they need an assistant on site to spend all day hacking paths through thick jungle its going to cost more.

Your specific experience is going to depend on what you need. In my case I had the original 4 pins found and then the property line on one side marked every 150' for a fence line on a 3 acre spaghetti lot. It was $550 and very little (less than an hour) of jungle hacking was required.

[CyberCity]

Originally Posted by terracore

Your specific experience is going to depend on what you need.

Yep. A fence line, for example, can be pulled by a grade setter without too much worry. But a purchase, or locating where to place a pad for a house, best be done by a licensed surveyor, because a mistake on either of those can end up being a very costly mistake. For pricing, it is worth checking around, because you might get a lead on a surveyor who will do it as a side job, compared to a larger company's quote that has high overhead. It is just like all trades that way .... shop around.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by CyberCity

For pricing, it is worth checking around, because you might get a lead on a surveyor who will do it as a side job, compared to a larger company's quote that has high overhead. It is just like all trades that way .... shop around.

One big factor at our end of things is that pin finders advertise their services and some surveyors do too, but I've never seen business cards from grade setters tacked to the bulletin board at the General Store, which is the level at which a lot of business transpires in Puna.

[Razzbar]

WAIT A MINUTE: Where is the property? If it's in a recognized subdivision, that's one thing. If it's an old plantation or ranch or homestead or ... old Hawaiian deed... that is in a whole other league, and you might as well ignore the rest of this...

You can very often get the job done with a high degree of certainty with a piece of string and a tape measure.

Hehe, I've seen SO many people build on the wrong property. They might correctly find their front pins, but then go off by one pin in the back. That used to happen to about half of the "pilgrims" I knew. Or they'd get ONE pin in front, but think it was the Makai corner when it was the Mauka... Or they'd get the front pins, then try and walk back 90 degrees from a front pin, a thousand feet or so, and start looking for the back pin. And get the wrong one, but not know it.

All these beer belly dudes with their transits, gps, metal detectors... Once I stopped listening to the experts and looked at the problem on a map, it became so simple. And it was so certain when I actually did it. I just carefully measured the width of a lot and made loops at each end of a length of nylon twine. Go to the corner and find one pin. Or you might be able to start with an existing house. Point is, you start with a *known* location, then measure to where the next "supposed to be" location is, and wonder of wonders, there's usually a pin there! What are the odds? If there isn't a pin where there's supposed to be one, pretend there is, and continue on, and whoa! There's another pin where it should be... repeat until done.

THEN do the back pins, independently of the front ones.

It ain't hard!

Again, this is ONLY for the Puna subs... and HOVE, I rekon. NOT for Waipio valley.