Here is how to get your free survey from Knox County online.

I want to put up a fence in the backyard. Where are my property lines? The neighbor says it is by the tree line over here. Another says it’s where the grass is cut. Another might say it’s 15′ further over. Who is right?

The ONLY WAY to find your property lines is to locate Your property pins and then to run a straight line (string) from pin to pin.

Knox County Tennessee provides a free online service KGIS.org (Knoxville Graphical Interface Service) to provide birds eye view of Knox County along with property lines marked in footages. These property lines are fairly accurate however the location of the houses are approximate. This being said, don’t panic if it shows your house on the property line. What your objective here is to locate the property pins and verify those are your pins by verifying the distance between them.

Another option is to go to the court house and get a copy of the recorded survey (usually $1- $5). Almost every piece of property in Knox County will have a survey recorded in the Knox County records department. This will be a copy of the actual recorded survey for legal purposes.

For a zoomed out view you can get the subdivision plat, a survey of the entire subdivision. I like this because you can see the location of the properties on your sides and behind you. This helps a lot if you have trouble finding your pins. For example if the back property pins are on a straight line, you can extrapolate (extend) the line to locate your pin within a foot, then dig to verify an actual pin.

In most subdivisions (since 1970’s) the front property pins are located about 12′ in from the curb. So even though you maintain the grass and landscaping  the county actually owns it. Most underground utilities will run thru this area so be cafeful digging here.

Knoxville fence company Most Popular Subdivision Fences

So looking at the Knox County TN gis images you may see that the property lines cross over your house. These are going to be close approximation to the actual locations. They should be close enough for you to find the actual property pins, which is what you need.

in the front about 12′ off curb between water meters, follow existing fence lines extended out and look for pins. Look at outside corners of existing fences next to you.

What can property pins look like? Older pins (1900’s to 1960’s) could be marked on the survey as Original Iron Pin (heavy round pipe driven into the ground, or sometimes a concrete marker (round post, pyramid shape, others). More recently they are marked with a piece of rebar and plastic cap (yellow or orange common). The plastic cap is for safety in case fallen on.

Why are your pines not showing? You should never remove a property pin. Most times if the pin is a problem people simply use a heavy hammer and drive it below ground. It is still there, you just have to dig a little to find it.

When in doubt as to the property line, you can use a licensed surveyor to locate or establish your property lines. We can assist you to help find your property pins, ultimately the location of the installed fence is up to you.