One of my neighbors, Linda, asked me if I could possibly find 3 property markers on her daughter’s property in a different neighborhood development. She said she wanted to install a small shed next to the house but wanted to ensure she was within her property boundaries. I agreed to go out the next day and see what I could do. Luckily, Linda gave me a property plat map showing the distance between the markers. She said one of the rear markers was sticking up above the ground and I should be able to find it. Shortly after I arrived, I found the rear marker which was no more than 2 ft from the rear corner of the house. I measured off the 47 ft to the front marker. There was nothing else to go by on the map plat, like the location of the house. So, I had the distance from the back marker but didn’t know the direction of the property line. I tried using my Fisher’s Gold Bug but there were 2 water meters, within 6 inches of each other and each one was installed inside a metal box buried in the ground. Needless to say, both my detector and pin pointer were absolutely useless. So after a good hour and a half of using my digging knife to probe under the grass I finally found the marker. The county had put the water meter boxes on each side of the marker with one box less than 2 inches from the marker rod. When I first hit the rod with the knife, I thought I was hitting the metal box. One marker down, 2 to go. I went back to the back marker and measured off the 73.9 ft across the back of the house. Again, I didn’t know where the property line went, but at no point was it more than a foot off the back of the house. So this measurement ended up right in the middle of the power and the cable boxes and the wires that went with them on both sides of where the marker should be. I still couldn’t use the detector or the pin pointer and had to use the knife to probe. I had to be a lot more careful because I didn’t want to stab or cut a wire, especially the power wire. I made a joke asking Linda if she knew CPR just in case, she replied “No.” After about another hour, I called it a day and told Linda I’d be back.
A couple of days later I went back determined to find the 3rd marker without cutting Linda’s electricity or cable off and me getting electrocuted. I remeasured the distance and after about 30 minutes I found the marker rod within an inch from the power box. The 4th marker is somewhere under a huge bush about 8 ft in diameter. Linda has wanted to cut the bush down for a while so now she has a reason and will call me when it’s gone.
While I was there on the second trip, a neighbor, Delores came over and asked me if I’d mind finding one of her property markers. A different neighbor was having an issue with her about an area that needed to be cleaned in which he insisted was on her property. She said he was so adamant about it that he was going to the HOA. It took me about 5 minutes, after measuring, to find her marker. Needless to say, her neighbor will be very disappointed. While I was talking with Delores, she said that she was one of the first homeowners in the development 31 years ago. She said when the builders built the houses, they built 7 houses per acre, which explains why no one had a back or side yards.
