Resurvey

Resurveys – old lines, today’s accuracy

Older surveyors did not have computers, lasers, robotics or GPS, and many of the monuments they set are gone. A resurvey re-runs and re-marks the lines of a previous survey so you have an accurate, up-to-date record of your land.

Old corners recovered
Field notes & new plat
Evidence that holds up

Get a quote (205) 688-6656

Government survey disc stamped 1961 and 1980 on a section corner

What a resurvey is

Retracing the record on the ground

A resurvey reconstructs property boundaries and subdivisions by rerunning and remarking the lines represented in the field notes and the plat of a previous survey. It includes new field notes, all available information from earlier surveys, a description of the work and the monuments set, and a plat of the resurvey.

Dependent resurvey

Depends on the original survey: we retrace and re-establish the original property lines and corners. The property is indistinguishable from the original survey.

Independent resurvey

Independent of the original survey of public lands – it establishes new lines that supersede it, with tracts identified by metes and bounds from the original description.

Retracement

Identifies the monuments and confirms the direction and length of lines – for example to retrace a long line when a corner is lost, working from a known corner.

In the field

Pine knots, iron pipes and government discs

In Central Alabama, the evidence of an old survey may be a lighter (pine) knot set generations ago, an iron pipe, a blazed tree or a brass disc. On National Forest land in Perry County we followed a corner from a 1961 lighter knot to the disc the Government re-established in 1980; near Maplesville we recovered an old quarter corner on Bear Branch in a swampy creek bottom.

Disputes between neighbors are often settled with a resurvey: a licensed surveyor shows the actual lines versus what each owner “believes” the lines are – and a resurvey is an asset if a disagreement ever goes to court. The appropriate agency decides on the final approval of a resurvey where required.

A resurvey, like an original survey, must be accurate. Our team has the field experience and the knowledge of legal documents to do it right – at an affordable price.

Old quarter corner marked with blue paint on Bear Branch near Maplesville

Questions & answers

Resurvey questions

My land was surveyed decades ago. Do I need a new survey?

If you are selling, dividing, building near a line or disagree with a neighbor, probably yes. Old monuments may be gone, and modern GPS and robotic measurements are far more accurate than older methods.

Can you find corners that are missing?

Often yes – from surrounding corners, the records and physical evidence. Where a corner cannot be recovered, it is re-established following the rules for lost corners and a new monument is set.

Will a resurvey change my lines?

A dependent resurvey retraces the original lines – it should not move them, it finds them. Differences from what owners believed are common and are exactly what the resurvey clears up.

Our work