When you’re ready to form a foundation, how many times do you remeasure the pins for proper location?
Backstory…a building in Arkansas. I located the house within the prop boundaries properly. Excavator/GC decided to dig in another place on the property, just be/c that’s what he felt like doing. <Shrug> Woulda been too expensive to revert to the original spot with the work already done and gravel delivered, so stuck with the changed spot. Only problem was they read the survey wrong and located it about 20′ (iirc) into the right-of-way. Surveyor and I got together to read them the riot act. I relocated the proper spot based on surveys with CLEAR directions that the surveyor was to set the pin for the center of the dome and that’s the only thing that anyone should go by. All in agreement. The shell builder (a subcontractor) additionally asked the surveyor to triangulate that point to property boundary pins. Surveyor set the pin properly but did not triangulate. Over next two/three days excavator placed gravel for footers, etc.
Shell builder comes into town, sees pin, lays out and pours footer. Surveyor returns to do foundation survey for bank and finds……….they’re 9′ off! In the two/three days between pin placement and footer forming, someone actually moved the damn pin 9′!!!! (Surveyor found a pin he had set below ground.) There are suspicions, but no proof. Shell builder took his forms and left the cluster-f.
A few months later, he gets the call that the owner hired an atty and they succeeded in getting a variance on setback and could the shell builder return please. So, he’s on site and now has the air form inflated and is ready to foam it. All’s well that ends well, I guess, but damn, someone needs a butt kicking for moving that pin!
Story aside–this site is in the middle of the woods with no obvious elements like sidewalks to measure from–how do you make sure that no one has played with the pins? If a prankster snuck on site at night and moved a stake, would you know?
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unbeknownst to others, i would place two sets of offset pins hidden from view, but referenced by trees spotted with paint.
carpenter in transition
I've done the nail in the trees thing many times.
I would think that nowadays you should be able to relocate a pin with original lat and long and GPS?
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No answer for you but I built a 48' wide house in a 50' allowable area (after setbacks). Owner got a surveyor to set staves. Fine, but with excavation they were gone. As I was unwilling to locate the corners on the footings, the client had devised his own method based on nearby trees.
Hard to say if the house is out of the setbacks, but nobody's complained so far. Somewhere along the line, it would seem prudent to use fixed features to determine location. At least as a backup.
I have known of boundary pins being moved, upsetting construction plans. Apparently to create a much larger setback.
OT, you're gonna get/got an email asking for HVAC help from a friend. Seems few radiant houses are built here and the contractors aren't generally knowedgeable. Hope you don't mind pointing him in the right direction, if you can. Not something within my experience.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Happy to try to help.