09/03/2026
DON’T LET AN EXPENSIVE SURVEY DISAPPEAR
I see this fairly often. A landowner pays a surveyor a substantial amount of money to survey a piece of property. The surveyor locates and sets the corners and may flag the boundary lines while doing the work.
A few years go by. The flagging deteriorates, the paint fades, brush grows up, and before long most of the visible evidence of that survey is gone.
The corner pins may still be there, but finding the corners is only part of the job. On rural property, those corners may be hundreds or even thousands of feet apart. The boundary is the line between those corners, and that line needs to be identifiable. When it comes time to sell timber, do management work, sell the property, or simply show a neighbor where the property line is, you need to be able to find and follow it.
If you’ve recently had your property surveyed, don’t stop with the survey. Survey flagging is temporary. Take advantage of it while it’s there and use it to establish boundary markings that will last. Good-quality boundary paint can last for years, and T-posts or other durable markers can be especially helpful at corners and other important locations.
Then maintain them. Boundary lines are much easier and less expensive to refresh every few years than they are to relocate after all evidence of them has disappeared.
Clearly marked property lines can help prevent accidental timber cutting and trespass, and they make timber sales, prescribed burning, site preparation, and other management activities much easier.
You paid good money for the survey. Take a little extra time to preserve it.
