Do I Need a Property Survey? More on Property Surveys & Measurements

Measurements are an important part of any home improvement project, especially one with as many elements as a yard. Read on for why your designer needs good measurements and how best to provide them.

  1. Locate Your Property Survey, If Possible: Many homeowners haven’t heard of a property survey, nor do they know where to find it. If you’re lucky, it was included in the closing documents when you purchased your home. And if you’re really lucky, you know where to find them. If after scouring emails from your realtor, file cabinets and your safe you still can’t find one, try calling your local municipality. They may have one on record from previous building requests.
  2. Look For Alternative Documents: While few documents are as thorough as a recent property survey, there are alternatives that can help paint a partial, if not complete picture of your existing conditions. What your designer is really looking for are property lines and a footprint of the home, plus the location of any other built structures (garage, ADU, etc.) and any major site features (trees, ponds, walkways, patio, etc.). Other helpful documents may include:
    • Architectural drawings or building plans
    • Old landscape plans
    • Plot plan
    • Grading plan
  3. Get Out The Measuring Tape: If all else fails and you’re unable to locate the above documents, your designer will likely require a few DIY measurements to develop your basemap. They will start with an aerial satellite image of your property and confirm the scale by specifying a few key measurements for you to take on the ground. To move forward with this option, simply return to your dashboard and click “I Don’t Have One” and you may move forward through the process.

Your designer will use the information provided to create your basemap, which is essentially a drawing of the existing conditions. This is what they will build your design upon, using the measurements to determine scale, size of key elements, quantity of plants, etc. While even the best property survey won’t promise perfect accuracy, the closer we can get, the better!