Detecting Survey Pegs potentially under concrete.

[mikebourgeois]

G'day all,

A local gentleman asked if I could find his covered survey pegs. This is residential property and he's explained that one or two of the pegs have been yanked by a neighbour who is expanding and the other has been covered by a recently installed driveway. The pegs he says are about a foot long, with about a two centimeter flat head on the top. He was unclear as to whether the pegs are iron or steel but he suggested one or the other. I agreed to see if I can find the peg under the driveway and also look in the other areas where they should be but may have been yanked out.

Ok my questions...

a) how much does concrete block the depth if at all? I've detected in my driveway and I'm getting hits but there ain't no way my strata is going to let me pick and shovel a little hole in the driveway to satisfy my curiousity.

b) is anyone familiar with the survey pegs? I talked to my dad back home... the ones on our property are 3 feet long, orange plastic with head and foot of some light metal... my dad figures aluminum but he's not sure. We're rural there so I guess orange is a good idea in the woods but it doesn't sound right for urban.

If you can offer thought... I'm in Canada... BC. I'm researching online but I haven't dug up anything regarding the makeup of our local pegs.

thanks all.

 

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[Herbie1955]

The markets I've seen are usually 1\2 inch rebar driven into the ground. The one under the concrete drive will be real hard to locate if the used rebar in the concrete . Good luck

 

[mikebourgeois]

The markets I've seen are usually 1\2 inch rebar driven into the ground. The one under the concrete drive will be real hard to locate if the used rebar in the concrete . Good luck

Yeah I found a video regarding a US how to find your stakes with the fella going through and pulling the sod back from some rebar. I agree it'd be hard to find if sprinkled in with other rebar but I guess I'll have to take my chances.

 

[against the wind]

As has been said,, rebar, with a pink tape attached is usually what is hammered into the ground to just below the grass, to avoid a tripping hazard. I would recommend that you get a piece a rebar and take a few readings with the detector you're going to use.

 

[Carolina Tom]

I do it for a condo complex in town. When they build a privacy fence, they call me to locate the rebar stakes.

I have done it no less than (20) times, sometimes it's easy, sometimes not. When you cut the discrimination off, as to see the stake, you will get all sorts of iron targets that have to be removed.

Under the concrete will be an issue, because you can't cut a hole in it to verify that you have the stake.

They give me $20 for my troubles, whether I locate all of the stakes or not.

Good luck brother!

 

[cudamark]

If you're trying to find more than one stake, get a plat map for the property. Once you have one stake, you can take measurements to help find the others. In rural areas most of the ones I've found have been the rebar version. In urban areas with sidewalks, I've found most markers out in front of the house are stamped brass washers embedded in the curb or sidewalk concrete.

 

[vpierceiii]

I’ve been in construction management and inspection for a long time. If you can’t visually verify what you’re detecting especially when your references are gone (the other yanked stakes) you’re potentially opening yourself up to future problems ie litigation over property line disputes. And if there is any grade to your land you have to account for that when measuring. Also in a concrete driveway they typically use a 6x6 inch wire mesh that will really throw your detector off. Your best bet by far is to get a surveyor out in your situation.

 

[signal_line]

You would think a piece of rebar would be easy to detect, but when on end it is less than you might think. Maybe even tilt the coil to try to hit more surface area.

 

[mikebourgeois]

I’ve been in construction management and inspection for a long time. If you can’t visually verify what you’re detecting especially when your references are gone (the other yanked stakes) you’re potentially opening yourself up to future problems ie litigation over property line disputes. And if there is any grade to your land you have to account for that when measuring. Also in a concrete driveway they typically use a 6x6 inch wire mesh that will really throw your detector off. Your best bet by far is to get a surveyor out in your situation.

It's not my property... I was asked to try to find the markers. I'm just the entry level solution... if I can't definitely find the markers then he'll get survey work done... he already has a map of the original marker points... it's just they're underground and as it's been said... if you can't prove it with hands on proof then you're in for trouble down the road.

I've picked up a foot long rebar stake and I've buried it down about 5 inches... lengthwise... finding it was not problem. Then I dug a deeper hole and hammered it down until I'm guessing it would be about 3 or 4 inches down under... the ground was getting a bit reluctant at that point so I'm taking what I can get. Finding a signal was easy... finding the rebar was not. I checked the area prior to burying the rebar and it's peppered with a ton of small iron signals. Even in earth that I'd inspected... there are small shards that probably match the foot print of what I buried. I'm looking forward to detecting just for the challenge... I'll warn the gentleman that this won't be definitive unless I can hand him the rebar stakes that we'll uncover hopefully. As far as the driveway goes... I can only hope that the neighbours who poured their own were sloppy cause I checked out mine and there are regular hits for iron all over the place.

Oh well... it'll be fun getting out and hopefully helping this fella out. I'll make a note after the fact here if I'm successful. (or not)

 

[cudamark]

You might try a variety of sensitivity settings to help find just big iron and not the tiny annoying stuff.

 

[TrashFinder]

I worked as an assistant in a real estate company (not a Realtor myself). They bought a detector that was designed just to locate property stakes, and the directions indicated it would be next to useless for looking for coins and such. I learned to use it by trial and error and soon became quite good at it. However, the first thing was to get a parcel map with the distances across each parcel (it isn't a survey map but good enough). Find a visible stake somewhere fairly close (several lots along the street would be fine). Measure from a known stake down the street using a timber nail as a temporary holder for the tape as it is realed down the street (don't use a rolling wheel - they are just for coarse estimation). I have found stakes get moved by the greedy, and fences built using the moved stakes. Working my way back, when the folks aren't home, I do a little plug as if digging for a coin, and sometimes the hole where the stake was is still there! That is when it gets interesting. Somebody who thought they bought a 100 foot front of a parcel, ends up with a 90 foot as the fences show. I explained to them what I had done, leave a copy of the parcel map with them, collected the fee and left it up to them to either approach the neighbor with evidence or to take it to a surveyor or attorney. On that particular one, about a week later, the fence was missing. A couple weeks later yet, the fence was back up and I am guessing the survey marker was back in the hole because the buyer knew where I cut the plug and I showed him with it removed. Case closed. Being an assistant I found more fun than being a Realtor. So there you go - they do make detectors just for what you are wanting to accomplish. I am guessing you can do it with what you have at hand but swing very slow and dig everything in the vicinity of the expected pin. If in cement, measure from both ends, being sure they both end up at the same spot. With mutual agreement of the neighbors, a cement nail driven in the cement driveway will prove useful in the future.

 

[mikebourgeois]

Well job over... two markers potentially found... I identified signals in the requisite areas that matched the survey map. I offered to dig them up but the fella who asked me wanted to dig them himself... I kinda get the feeling he wanted to dig the holes with his neighbour watching and then find the markers and thumb his nose. Not my business so I took my leave. Didn't take me more than 15 min to find both spots using the map and the ground was clean enough that I didn't have much in the way of other signals that might have been what I needed.

Went to a park with the family after and just wandered the track detecting the surface. Found a maybe dime signal and a few other trashy ones... but this was a park with lovely ground so I just enjoyed swinging the coil and being with the wife who was carrying my shovel. She admitted it was hard for her to resist not digging everytime I found a good tone. We were each other's support bases.

 

[luvsdux]

I've searched for re-bar markers, but not under concrete. I found it worked best to run in all metal and move slowly as the re-bar is vertical and the top at or near ground level is a pretty small target and probably rusted, so hard to see. Move slowly and be patient. Once you've found one or more you may be able to determine pretty much where the line they mark is. Good luck
luvdux