Learning how to weigh evidence and fairly re-establish a boundary can be as much an art as a science.

There's a popular misconception that property boundaries are based on coordinates that surveyors can simply "walk to" with our instruments. The reality is that, while physical coordination of monuments is easier than it's ever been, property boundaries often need to be determined based on evidence and plans that are old, decrepit, and done with different technology and expectations than we have today.

Sometimes I imagine a surveyor 100 years from now reading my plan, retracing my boundaries, and finding the monuments that I set. It's an honor to make a mark in history like that.

People sometimes are under the impression that finding their property corners should cost as much as changing their oil or blowing out their sprinklers. What they don't realize is that land surveyors are required to stand behind their work for the rest of their lives.

Legal land surveyors are few and far between and can find themselves in demand.

It's easy to be hard on ourselves, but the important thing is to turn a mistake into a learning experience.

I've met very few professional land surveyors who regret their career path, and even fewer, who are out of work, even during economic slowdowns.