What Do I Need To Know About Maintaining My Property Lines?

I sold a tract of land in Meriwether County this week and the buyer asked me about a survey. We had a very old survey and the boundary lines had once been painted by a timber company. I worked out a fee for service arrangement and painted the property lines. I decided this might be a good topic to blog. Maintaining property lines and boundaries is one of the most often overlooked forms of protection from timber theft, trespass, and encroachment.  I recommend having the property lines painted every 5 – 8 years. You might also consider putting up ‘posted’ signs as well. Survey work can be very expensive so a good boundary line program can actually save you money and other problems as well. We’ll discuss these as well. 

Farmers and ranchers generally use barbed wire (also referenced to as devil wire) fences. If you own a wooded tract or a large number of acres, this is not practical. Maintaining your property lines  is imperative when undertaking a timber harvest.  It also can be helpful if there are any trespass issues.  Knowing where your property is located on the face of the earth can go a long way for a landowner’s peace of mind. Frequent maintain can help ward off an adverse possession claim.  Adverse possession A method of gaining legal title to real property by the actual, open, hostile, and continuous possession of it to the exclusion of its true owner for the period prescribed by state law.

 If your property has been previously marked out, simply go out and “refresh” the lines.  The most common practice is to blaze the tree bark. I generally use a machete to blaze the tree and shave the bark creating a smooth surface to paint.  With all the effort involved make sure you use a quality paint. Companies like Forestry Suppliers and Ben Meadows sell this type of paint. Flagging simply won’t work and the flagging  deteriorates  after a year or two. Fall, winter and early spring seem to work best. The foliage is gone and the nice weather is conducive to more work.

For Information on Buying or Selling Land contact  G. Kent Morris,  ALC,  RF  at         (706) 457-0090