Before You Build: Knowing Where Your Line Actually Is

Fences get built on assumptions more often than anyone admits, and moving one afterwards is not a small job.

The existing fence is not evidence

A fence that has been there thirty years may or may not sit on the line. It was built by somebody working from the same assumptions you are.

That is worth knowing before you replace it in the same position and make the assumption permanent.

Where the information is

Your plat or property survey shows the boundary. On older San Marino properties there are often survey pins at the corners, sometimes buried a few inches down.

A metal detector and a spade will find them more often than people expect.

When to have it surveyed properly

If the line is genuinely unclear, if there is any disagreement, or if the fence is expensive enough that being wrong would be painful.

A survey costs a fraction of moving a block wall.

Build inside your line

A fence set just inside your boundary is entirely yours. Yours to maintain, yours to replace, and nobody else gets a say in it.

A few inches over and it becomes a conversation you do not control.

Talk first

Most boundary disputes we hear about started with a fence appearing without warning. Ten minutes of conversation beforehand prevents nearly all of them.

It also opens the possibility of sharing the cost, which neighbours agree to more often than people assume.