Did a boundary and topo on a vacant lot today (100' x 200'). Neighborhood runs 900K and up and they usually tear those down and build new since everyone needs a 14' deep basement for their golf simulator these days, lets just say 1% territory. Pull up on the site and its landscaper truck city, can't even park on the street so I hop the curb and park in the yard instead. East adjoiner is putting in trees and plantings and installing a low retaining wall on the property line or so he thinks. The landscapers have already cut down 3 (10-15 inch) trees and finishing up on the 4th a nice 18 inch cedar. Get out of the truck and grab the locator and shovel and start beeping up irons. Save the southeast corner of my lot for last since I have a hunch its not going to be pretty.
Find every corner on the block and head over to the southeast corner. The East adjoiner has put one of those 3 foot tall plastic reflectors people put out so they can see their driveways at night right at his "corner" Turn the sound knob all the way up and stick my head next to the locator since the landscaper is still cutting into the cedar stump about 20 feet away (I know, if I had the one with the digital read out that would't be a problem. Its on my wish list). Find the iron at the surface about 4 feet East of the reflector. Put the pink ribbon on it and stick a pink flag next to it and do the TA-DA "Looky at the big ol' poop-burger the nice surveyor just handed us". Guy on the chainsaw stops, crew leader heads over and says "That can't be the corner, the owner said it was over there" points to the reflector. I tell him it is even though I haven't even cracked the gun out of the case yet. Maybe not 0.04' sure about it but definitely 4 feet sure about it. So he says he needs to get his supervisor and I tell him that would be a good idea. Go back to finishing up the job and the manager/owner for the landscaping company pulls up. He sees the pink flag and the trees they planted on the wrong lot, stumps too and just shakes his head. I'm by the truck at this point calcing the boundary and everything fit reasonably and I'm holding the pipe at the SE corner I found. I'm kind of anticipating a discussion over the boundary but I also suspect he knows his goose is cooked. Sure enough he tells his crew to move everything back over the line. Call my client to give him a heads up. He's ambivalent about it since we are getting ready to build a house on the lot soon, but I have the demo and restoration plan from when they tore down the existing house and it shows those trees as being specifically protected. I know the city is going to ding my client for the in-kind tree replacement and since we like to put 1 acre houses on 1/2 acre lots around here that may be a problem.
The other thing is now the landscaper thinks I'm the bad guy "Shoot the messenger, don't you know" and I do occasional grading work for them since they can't seem to figure out a grading plan so I usually have to stake it twice and as-built it twice :pinch:
Day in the life I guess, do it all again tomorrow.
Love it!
Sounds like you had fun today.
Geez, you'd think they would wait to start cutting till after the survey. Even us hillbillies out here in the sticks know that.
No, they called the termite inspecter first 😉
But, but, but, that's where my realtor said it was.... surely she wouldn't lie????
