Surveying the neighbor's improvements

I locate as many additional monuments that are convenient and easy to do and the neighbors house and buildings and fences and water well or water meters and other utitlity and other stuff along with fireplugs down the street and poles and telephone pedestals all the time just because they are there.
Most of that is with prismless methods so they never know it was done.
On one occasion, a neighbor came outside accused us on spying on them.
Sorry dude, don't have time to spy, only work going on here..........
Many types of surveys require everything within 50ft of boundaries on neighboring properties.

Not a problem. Get 'er done!!!

Perfect job for your laser. To be precise you would want to take all building corner shots from at least two traverse points.

I have even done offsite topo with the laser, judging rod height by windows, and siding observations.

Paul in PA

This is an opportunity to keep the owners out of the lawyers offices. It is also an opportunity to solve a problem and charge a Professional fee. Why pass it up?

Knew of a case a couple of decades back where a property owner felt he was being singled out by his city's bureaucracy. He hired a firm to survey over 20 other properties around the city (that he did not own) to show how commonly they chose to ignore the identical issue elsewhere, including the Mayor's house, garage and fence.

He had enough money to be more concerned with proving his point and getting to do what he had already done. He won.

I don't have reflectorless capability.
I think this is some sort of feud between the neighbors.
My hesitancy is inserting myself into a neighborhood dispute and following it through whatever action comes in the future. I just don't have the temperament for that anymore. Especially if it requires me to enter on to someone else's property.
I'm not interested in being anyone's cudgel.

JB, post: 401541, member: 346 wrote: I don't have reflectorless capability.
I think this is some sort of feud between the neighbors.
My hesitancy is inserting myself into a neighborhood dispute and following it through whatever action comes in the future. I just don't have the temperament for that anymore. Especially if it requires me to enter on to someone else's property.
I'm not interested in being anyone's cudgel.

Before I had prismless, I would triangulate to objects across the boundary.

One important thought of being the boss is choosing what jobs you want to take on or leave behind.

:clink:

JB, post: 401528, member: 346 wrote: I am about to hit "send" on an email back to the caller to decline the job. I don't have much interest in crossing a lot line to investigate the neighbor's doings.

Do it, hit send! You will lose money and sleep over dealing with disputing neighbors. It is a financial disaster with respect to any anticipated profit on your behalf. Especially if attorneys become involved. 😎

This brings up another subject that deserves a thread of its own.
Does anybody have software that lets you shoot the left side of a tree and the right side of a tree and the distance to the face and it computes based on the two angles the diameter of the tree puts the diameter of the tree into the point description and correct the distance for half the diameter of the tree that would be handy.

Nate The Surveyor, post: 401546, member: 291 wrote: This brings up another subject that deserves a thread of its own.
Does anybody have software that lets you shoot the left side of a tree and the right side of a tree and the distance to the face and it computes based on the two angles the diameter of the tree puts the diameter of the tree into the point description and correct the distance for half the diameter of the tree that would be handy.

Survey Pro, and, I believe Trimble Access, and isn't there a specific "TREE" function in Carlson?

Those are the kind of jobs I'd refer to my competition.

bobwesterman, post: 401548, member: 7106 wrote: Survey Pro, and, I believe Trimble Access, and isn't there a specific "TREE" function in Carlson?

Yes, yes, and I believe so but I don't have Carlson.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

I haven't used TDS in over a year and haven't used Carlson in maybe 5 years.

Nate The Surveyor, post: 401553, member: 291 wrote: I haven't used TDS in over a year and haven't used Carlson in maybe 5 years.

Nate

I believe John Evers' program has that also.

Ed

A few years ago I had a surgeon tell me he wouldn't attempt to fix my shoulder. The third one I saw laid out a plan and executed it well.
I respect those first two for admitting they were unable to help me, but that 3rd guy has my respect and my business.
Just sayin...

There is nothing wrong with saying no.
Around here, a setback for improvements is a zoning issue that is administered by a government authority. Have your "client" contact them with their concerns first, if they haven't done so already. The burden should be on the developer or the Government to ensure compliance and if that means providing a survey to verify the line by which the setback is measured then they should do so. You could end up working for both neighbors.
That approach likely will fail. But it will involve the "client" with more people that ultimately will need to weigh in on the situation. Have them contact a land use attorney in order for them to understand the options (and costs) either way. I bet that you will never have to set foot on the property and in the process you may gain respect from your client for educating them.
Alternatively, you could set a point on line by which they could measure the setback themselves.

Nate The Surveyor, post: 401546, member: 291 wrote: This brings up another subject that deserves a thread of its own.
Does anybody have software that lets you shoot the left side of a tree and the right side of a tree and the distance to the face and it computes based on the two angles the diameter of the tree puts the diameter of the tree into the point description and correct the distance for half the diameter of the tree that would be handy.

I've used that technique (in particular to locate trees that had a bee's nest with hundreds of bees in them) and done the calcs in AutoCAD, and I could write you a LISP program to do that, but I don't know any way to do it in the field.

Also, JB, I've used a Leica Disto (handheld laser distance meter) to locate the next-door neighbor's house relative to a prism rod a few times when, for example, I didn't want to jump a fence and mix it up with the neighbor's dogs. Distos are as excellent as you'd expect a Leica instrument to be, and they aren't all that expensive, but if your budget is tight you can get a Disto clone off ebay for under $50. I bought a Disto clone recently and it seems to work well; I did check it by shooting a distance and then measuring the same distance with a genuine Disto and also a tape, and it was accurate.

wkiernan, post: 401855, member: 9902 wrote:
if your budget is tight you can get a Disto clone off ebay for under $50. I bought a Disto clone recently and it seems to work well.

Any particular models you can recommend?

astrodanco, post: 401861, member: 7558 wrote: Any particular models you can recommend?

Well, I only have the one, the brand name is "Etekcity" and it has worked well for a few weeks thus far. There are lots of them on ebay, though, search for "laser distance meter". Mine's a carbon copy Disto clone, and I suppose Leica might have something to say about their intellectual property, but as Lawrence Walsh says to Jake Gittes at the end of the movie, "Forget it, Jake, it's China (town)."