After the morning's work in 1871, the afternoon was spent at a driveway that had been recently constructed for access across a tract to settle a lawsuit. Last April, we'd marked out the centerline of the proposed easement and had set 48 in. "laths" consisting of lengths of 1/2 in. PVC irrigation pipe along both sides of the easement so that all of the parties could look at the lines on the ground and verify that the ran clear of various site improvements.
So now it's seven months later and the PVC pipe laths have served their purpose. They are still in perfect shape, straight and unweathered insofar as the eye can tell. We collected them and will use them again on some other job. Cheap, weather-resistant, and durable enough to recycle. Thin-wall 1/2 in. PVC irrigation pipe. Ask for it by name.
So it begs the question..."After a survey is complete then who actually owns the stakes?"
I would be surprised that the owners would want something like that up along their driveway and wouldn't mind Kent collecting them. If the corner was out of the way or in the woods, I would leave them.
> I would be surprised that the owners would want something like that up along their driveway and wouldn't mind Kent collecting them. If the corner was out of the way or in the woods, I would leave them.
Yes, in this case, the PVC laths were just temporary markers showing where a proposed easement ran across a site. We set rod and cap monuments that determine the actual location of the easement. The laths were just a visual aid that had served its purpose now that the parties had executed the easement agreement. I don't know whether I'll send one of the parties a bill for removing the white stakes or not. :>
Funny you should post this. Just today, I had several lengths of 1" pvc that I cut to "lath" length and used. I've got to say, they do work quite well. They certainly are bright when painted and very visible. A 10-foot length of 1" pvc can be purchased for $1.30. I could see using them in dense wooded areas, swamps, etc.
Not to be used all the time, but hey, another tool in the toolbox.
Around here we would paint them flo. orange and they would be called
"snow poles". They are used to show the snow plow operators where the edge of the road is.
Scott
For safety purposes, the county commissioners paint pvc flo-orange and place them at the oncoming side by the ends of drainage culverts and bridge abutments along county roads.
> Not to be used all the time, but hey, another tool in the toolbox.
Actually, we do use 48" lengths of 1/2" PVC irrigation pipe for laths all the time. It's been years since I last bought any wood lath or guard stakes. I carry 48" lengths and just lop off shorter lengths as needed.
The thin-wall irrigation pipe actually has an i.d. slightly over 5/8" so it slips right over a #5 rebar as well as over the head of a 3/8" spike, which is a handy way to stand up a pipe lath in rocky ground. For setting line stakes for fencing, the PVC over a plain rebar is highly effective and very cheap.
I have used pvc in the marsh. It goes down a long way in the muck and the client can see it better than cane poles which are getting harder and harder to find when you need them
I also use it to hold landscape timbers together in the garden. I make a drill hole with the rotary drill through the timbers and then join them with the pvc as pegs and drive them into the soil instead of nailing spikes.
I am about to build some more raised beds using reclaimed 4x4s from a fence tear down. I can stack 3 atop each other and peg them with the pvc
Old style here on Kauai was to use bamboo cut to length. It was cheap, durable and available.
> We collected them and will use them again on some other job.
Careful here... the more weather PVC sees, the more brittle it gets. Watch out when re-using them after they've been out in the weather. I've been hit by speedy little 'zingers' that come off them! Ouch!
> Careful here... the more weather PVC sees, the more brittle it gets.
In Wisconsin, might one assume that "weather" means sub-zero temperatures? Weather in Texas means heat and sunlight. The heat and sunlight for the last seven months didn't seem to bother the lath that we collected the other day that much. I used a few of them today, in fact, and wouldn't have guessed that they'd been outdoors in the weather for that length of time. :>
