Measuring Your Property Properly

1. Make a general sketch of your property lines. Take out your compass and mark North with an arrow. Place Roman Numerals in each corner of the property. Measure property lines corner to corner by the direct method.

2. Sketch the house configuration within the lot. This is your first general sketch so do not include details such as windows and doors. Mark each corner of every major wall with a Capital Letter.

3. Triangulate from your property lines to accurately locate your house on your site. This is done by the following method:


IA=45’0"
IIA=92’0"

By locating point A of your house using triangulation (in other words by measuring point A from two locations, you get a fairly accurate placement of that corner relative to your lot lines. Continue triangulating to get measurements for all the major house corners.

1. Take a New Sheet and sketch the configuration of your house but much larger than the previous drawing. Do not put property lines on the plan this time.

2. Identify all doors and windows. Doors are noted as D1, D2, etc. Windows are noted as W1, W2, etc.

3. Locate 2 jambs for each door and window. Each jamb receives a specific notation along each wall. This is done as follows:

4. Lay out your measuring tape beginning at one end of a wall (B) and ending at the next corner (C, see above diagram). Take your measurements along this tape as follows: B4C=6’3"; B3C=9’3"; B2C=18’4"; B1C=21’4"; BC=25’4". Do this for each wall, marking door and window jambs.

5. Note sill heights as follows: W5: +3’—6’

6. Locate on this house map the following important items:

a. Gas Meter (GM)
b. Electric Meter (EM)
c. Water faucets (WF)
d. All downspouts, noting if they are dumping into drains (DS)
e. Electrical outlets (EO)
f. Dryer Vents (DV)

7. Note water pressure at street meter. This is done by calling MMWD (Marin Municipal Water District) and telling them your address. They will give you the psi at the meter. Note this on your drawing.

8. Look at your water meter at the street. It will say the size of the meter. Note this on your drawing. MMWD may be able to give you this information as well.

9. Note the service line size. This is the size of the pipe that feeds your house from your meter. If you have an older house, this line will probably be galvanized pipe. Newer houses may use copper lines. Identify the pipe material and size the pipe. If you can’t find the service line size, use the "Estimated Service Line Sizes" chart. Wrap a string around the pipe and measure the length of the string; then compare with the below chart.

10. Locate by triangulation all existing trees including the diameter of their girth and the width of their canopy. Also triangulate all structures which you wish to keep on the property i.e. walls, fences, patios, etc.

11. Make sure your measurements are neat, organized and readable as they will need to be translated into a plot plan by the designer. Congratulations! You have just saved yourself about $200!