Finding and Setting Corners
A corner you cannot see is not necessarily gone. We use pin finders and metal detectors to recover buried corner monuments. Where the original corners are missing entirely, we set and stamp new ones. We use stamped iron rods and aluminum caps carrying the surveyor’s license number, then flag them so they are highly visible on the property.
Drafting the Plat and Pricing
The field markers are only one part of the job. Once the physical corners are established, we draft and seal the boundary plat under the licensed surveyor. This gives you a permanent, legal document of your property lines. For a boundary survey on acreage or a metes-and-bounds parcel, expect pricing between $1,200 and $4,000. The final cost depends on the parcel size, terrain, and how many original monuments we can recover.
Flooding and Freeze-Thaw Factors in Melrose
Ell Pond’s watershed frequently causes flooding in nearby yards, streets, and buildings. If your parcel is near the pond or its drainage route, you need a careful flood-map check. Melrose recently revised its flood maps, so you must use the city's newly annotated map panels for floodplain management and insurance decisions. Additionally, our hard winter freezes drive freeze-thaw cycles that stress foundations, slabs, and buried pipes. Knowing exactly where your property lines sit helps you manage these seasonal ground shifts and drainage issues without encroaching on a neighbor's lot.
A Look at the Work
Examples of the work involved, start to finish.
What to Expect
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Tell Us What You Need
A two-minute call is enough for us to understand the job and what it'll take.
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We Take a Look
We come out, look at the space, and confirm exactly what the job involves.
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Know the Price First
We put the work, the timeline, and the number on paper — take your time with it.
In practice, on a job like this:
- Recovering the original corner monuments of record
- Measuring the parcel with GNSS and total station against the deed calls
What It Typically Costs
These are planning ranges. Nothing is final until it is in writing.
$150–$400
Questions Melrose Customers Ask
A boundary survey locates and marks your property lines. An ALTA/NSPS survey is a detailed standard used for commercial real-estate deals — it adds easements, improvements, and specific 'Table A' items that lenders and title insurers require. An ALTA is more thorough and costs more because it shows far more detail.
A survey establishes where the line legally sits based on the deeds and the monuments of record, and the sealed plat is the professional opinion a court relies on. It won't force your neighbor to agree, but it replaces guesswork with a defensible, licensed determination — which is usually what resolves the dispute or supports it if it goes further.
It's a form a licensed surveyor completes documenting your building's elevation relative to the base flood elevation. You'll need one to buy or reduce flood insurance in a mapped flood zone, or to support a Letter of Map Amendment if you believe your structure was mapped into a floodplain by mistake.
Yes. Where corners are missing we set stamped iron rods or caps carrying the surveyor's license number, and we flag them so you can find them. The markers are part of the record — moving or destroying them is both a practical problem and, in most states, against the law.
No. A phone's GPS is accurate to several feet at best and isn't tied to your deed or the corner monuments, so the lines those apps draw are approximate and carry no legal weight. Survey-grade GNSS fixes a point to the centimeter against a reference network — a different instrument for a different job.
The property address and, if you have them, a copy of your deed, any prior survey, and your title commitment. Access to walk the property helps, and if there's a specific reason for the survey — a fence, a sale, a building permit — telling us up front lets us scope it right the first time.
A Few More Questions
Price tracks the work, not the lot size alone. A clean platted lot with good corners is quick; a parcel with missing monuments, conflicting deeds, heavy tree cover, or a metes-and-bounds description takes far more research and field time. We quote after we see the deed and the record, so the number is real.
Usually yes, and often the permit requires it. Building to an assumed line is how encroachment problems start — a fence a foot over the line can cloud a future sale. A current boundary survey shows exactly where you can build and keeps the improvement on your own ground.
It's marking the site so the contractor builds in the right place — offset stakes for the foundation, grade stakes for elevations, and layout for utilities, all set from the engineered plans. It's done in stages as the job progresses, which is why it's usually quoted per visit rather than as one flat fee.
Where We Work
We work across Melrose, MA. Call (781) 590-6899 to confirm coverage for your address.