I’ve seen a lot of folks go the “good enough” route, especially for smaller projects. Honestly, I’ve done it myself for a backyard shed and it worked out fine—though I did have a moment of panic when the neighbor put in a new fence a year later. Ended up being just a few inches off, but no drama. Out of curiosity, have you ever tried using those county GIS maps or online plat tools? I find them super inconsistent—sometimes the lines are way off compared to what’s actually staked in the yard. Wondering if anyone’s had better luck with those, or if it’s just me...
DIGGING INTO PROPERTY EASEMENTS—ANYONE ELSE FIND ONLINE TOOLS CONFUSING?
I’ve messed around with county GIS maps too, and yeah, the accuracy is all over the place. I lined up my property lines using one of those online plat viewers, then double-checked with the survey the builder gave us. The online map was off by nearly a foot in one corner—kinda wild. Makes me wonder how folks doing bigger projects trust those tools. Has anyone actually compared their survey to the digital maps and seen them match up? Or is it just normal to expect a margin of error?
The online map was off by nearly a foot in one corner—kinda wild.
I had almost the exact same thing happen. The GIS map put my back fence inside my neighbor’s yard by about 8 inches. When I checked the survey, it was clear the digital map was just... off. I get that these tools are for reference, but honestly, I wouldn’t trust them for anything legal or permanent. It’s weird how much people rely on them for big decisions.
Honestly, I’ve run into this too. I was looking at buying a place last year and the online map showed the driveway cutting through what looked like the neighbor’s lot. Had me stressing for a minute. Ended up paying for a real survey just to be sure, which wasn’t cheap, but at least I knew where things actually were. It’s wild how much those free maps can be off—makes you wonder how many folks are making decisions based on them and getting burned.
- Totally get it—those free maps are like, “here’s a rough guess, good luck!”
- I tried to save cash by using them, but ended up more confused.
- Survey cost stings, but at least you’re not fighting with neighbors later.
- Wish there was a middle ground that didn’t break the bank...
