When and Why Your Home's Remodel May Need a Construction Survey

Construction & Contractors Blog

A construction survey is typically done before any type of new construction, but you may need to consider a construction survey before remodeling. If you're planning any type of work to your home that is more than just cosmetics on the inside, meaning you're not just tearing down an interior wall to open up a space, you want to consider a construction survey first. This can protect your remodel project and ensure you don't face any unexpected obstacles along the way. Note when and why your home's remodel may need a construction survey.

When you're remodeling near a property line

You may think you can use your home's fence to determine how big you can plan your construction project, but this can be a mistake. There may be regulations in your area as to how close you can come to your home's property line with construction projects, so as to keep an unobstructed view for the neighbors, and your plans may bring you too close to that boundary. 

Also, if you haven't had a land survey done in many years, it might be that the fence is not a proper indication of your home's boundary line; you could then be encroaching on your neighbor's property with your remodel. You might also have more property than you realize, if the fence is actually installed over your own property line. Rather than relying on a fence as your boundary, have a survey done to tell you the actual boundaries of your property and how close you can come to that line with your remodel.

Easements on the property

An easement is the right that someone has to cross your property in order to access their own. There may be a small dirt path or gravel driveway that runs over your property and into someone else's, and without that easement, they would be cut off from the road. This easement is a legal right they have and you cannot do anything to obstruct it; if your home's remodel project is going to even be close to that easement, you would do well to have a survey done first. This will ensure you aren't encroaching and don't face penalties or even need to move your new construction.

Outbuildings 

Never construct a new garage, pool, or even a sunroom without a land survey. This will ensure the land is properly graded and sloped for that new renovation project and you won't find that something starts to settle and sink along one side because of not being constructed on level and even ground.

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5 July 2016