I did not chastise you for not getting a new survey, but you did misrepresent what you had. Clarification from the get go would have served you much better. You said you had a survey, but absent a surveyors name there is no telling what you have. Non uniformity of line and distance information is an indication of a non-survey. Age of a survey is not that important to a surveyor, what is important is that it is a proper representation of the circumstances at that time. You indicated no other references such as a deed of record or a filed map, either of which may have had your answer, but you may not have initially recognized it without some assistance. You indicate you used a compass, but we have no idea if your experience aids you in proper use of it. Compasses vary greatly depending on their construction, some read in bearings, some in azimuths, some are adjustable for magnetic variation, some are specifically built for survey purposes. Others are built to facilitate map reading. For instance a Survey Field Compass may have East on the left and West on the right to allow for reading bearings directly from the compass needle. Absent any other information the most we knew of you is that you could read/write the English language and could access the internet via a computer.
Paul in PA
Yes, lat/long from the pins with Apple Maps and crosschecked with another GPS app. All I have is a photocopy of half of the survey. Thank you for the input. People on this forum have been very helpful, thank you.
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@paul-in-pa Sorry, I thought it might have been obvious that I knew nothing about surveying, along with being able to read and write and have internet access. From the concerned folks here, I realized a more detailed description of the situation might be helpful, which I did post. I do have extensive experience with compasses. I have a U.S. Merchant Marine Officer 100 ton Captain's License which I used daily for 20 years on the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe you don't mean it because the written word can be misunderstood, but you sound to me more than vaguely insulting. I'm a simple guy who simply wanted a simple answer to what I thought was a simple question.
@ricaltman Judging from that photo, it appears to be part of a legit subdivision plan. Not sure if your local gov't offices are still in lockdown, but the Recorder of Deeds dept. should have a full copy of this on file somewhere. Talk to them first.
Thank you very much for the help. I appreciate the time taken by strangers to help me.
Avoid doing anything more to try to survey it yourself.?ÿ Pick a couple or three of those survey companies you found that focus on boundary surveys and show up at their office and do not leave until they either agree to do your job or give you the names of surveyors that you do not know exist today.?ÿ When most of us are up to our necks in alligators we will be very content providing you with contact information for surveyors they trust to do a good job.
Good ideas, thanks.
But look at all the money he saves by not having to pay someone competent! 😉
Could you provide a top down, pic of that plat, and especially the area in question?
Also, have you succeeded in finding the 2 pins, at the 2 ends of the line in question? A hand full of tomato stakes and a 100' tape could be a useful thing. Set one stake over one pin. Guess your direction, and go 100', and stick another. Now, push this line of tomato stakes, until you are near the next pin. Now, you have a direct proportion. Ie, 750' down the line, and miss by 75' now go and move each pin 10' for every 100' down the line. 1st stake moves 10', second stake 20' etc.
Of course, if you got a wrong pin, you could be all wrong. But, hey, this is grade school math, and a pinch of common sense, with an additional reasonable load of common sense! 😉
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@jamesf1I tried my best to hire someone, even offered to pay a premium.
Background makes all the difference in asking and answering a question. Your experience explains you can read a compass plus understanding Lats and Lons, which many surveyors have troubles with. Background would have made the difference in the first replies to the bearing question. N52.0.0 is less confusing than other answers. The choices would be N 52°E, N 52° Azimuth or possibly N 52° W. N 152.0.0 could be N 152° Azimuth, S 28° E because we have no idea if this was a final map drawing or surveyors notes.
For instance the typical data collector handles Degrees, Minutes, Seconds in an unfamiliar way to normally educated people. My instrument may display 52°17'32" typically giving an Azimuth (Angle Right) from my backsight set as 0°. My written notes would be 52-17-32, but I would enter it in my data collector as 52.1732. Before my data collector used that input it would divide 32/60 add the decimal answer to 17 and divide again 17.533/60 and add that to 52 to convert DDMMSS to decimal degrees 52.29222° which most calculators work in. Then many people do not know to enter 52° into text on a computer the keystrokes are 52 (Alt0176) but 52d in a CAD program. Then there are the European calculators were a decimal becomes a comma and a comma a decimal.
I apologize for being obtuse. BTW, what type of compass did you use? My preference for teaching orienteering was the clear plastic see thru Boy Scout azimuth style where direction can be set at angles to the compass circle.
Paul in PA
@ricaltman I'm not following you if lot 19 is the one in question. Your OP mentioned a bearing of N 52.0.0 Everything here is cut and dry as to metes and bounds. Haven't tried to see if it closes
Not seeing the offending notation. Lot looks fine to me. There will be a surveyor's name on the plat, many places will allow you do download it for a small fee.?ÿ
Ricaltman, the survey is Magnetic north.?ÿ You are using a iPhone GPS. Neither of those are better than a few degrees. You will get an extension on the closing date until you can get a new survey or you will close without knowing for sure what you are buying. ?ÿ
If Lot 19 is the one in question, your earlier description as "a simple 4-corner lot survey" is a bit oversimplified, as I count 6 corner stakes, and 2 right-of-way stakes, giving 6 sides including two curves.
I, too, fail to see the questionable notation. I suspect the line in question is the one noted as N 51?ø 56' 01" W.?ÿ The N 52.0.0 notation must have come from somewhere else.
Magnetic declination for Blue Ridge, Georgia is currently about 5 1/2?ø West.?ÿ Thirty five years ago, it would have been about 2?ø west.?ÿ If your latitude and longitude were perfect, their north is 0?ø, so the calculated azimuth would need to be adjusted accordingly.?ÿ But with consumer grade GPS your lat/lon won't be better than a few feet, even after some averaging, resulting in likely errors of a few degrees.
If you are confident of the corner monuments, Nate's tomato stake approach would seem to be the best do-it-yourself method.
I have taken a look at the map you posted. Is the railroad still in operation? You have frontage on the RR along a curve. Your road frontage includes a curve. I doubt the roads any longer represent the geometry of that map.
The longest straight reference line nearest you is the N 25?ø26'47" E line of the railroad, use that to establish your local compass deflection, then lay out your S 51?ø56'01" E line. However do not access an active RR ROW. It may be monumented and/or it may have been fenced. Many good geodetic reference monuments were established along RR lines. The last time I used one I was threatened with arrest and left in a big hurry. RR Police have always been a pain, but now anything within a RR ROW can become a Homeland Security issue.
I surmise that map and subdivision is considered a problem by the majority of your local surveyors. It may in no way reflect reality but only a wish. Or it may be dead on and the pins have no value. Find out who surveyed anything for any of the neighbors.
If it were in Pennsylvania and you owned it you could happily survey it yourself.
Paul in PA
@paul-in-pa The RR is long since abandoned. Here is a pic of the rear of property.
Would you like some railroad ties?
