Frequently Asked Questions

A historical map showing a detailed area with rivers, roads, bridges, and various land features in a vintage style.

  • While local Property Valuation Administrator (PVA) and county tax maps are fantastic, user-friendly tools for estimating property shapes and assessing taxes, they are not designed to show legal boundaries. These digital mapping systems compile large amounts of public data onto an aerial image, which naturally creates shifts, stretches, and scaling errors on individual lots—sometimes by dozens of feet. To legally protect an investment, map out a new fence, or build a structure, you need a physical, certified boundary survey on the ground.

  • Not necessarily. Fences are very often built off the true property line for convenience, to avoid trees, or simply by mistake. Just because a fence has been standing for years does not automatically mean it represents the legal boundary. The only way to know for certain is to have a licensed surveyor locate the original property corners using deed research and precise field measurements.

  • A standard boundary survey involves three major steps:

    1. Deed Research: We research historical property records, deeds, and plats at the county courthouse.

    2. Fieldwork: We visit your property to locate physical evidence, historical markers, and original iron pins using high-precision surveying equipment.

    3. Monumentation & Map: We clear up any discrepancies, set high-visibility markers or iron pins at your true property corners, and provide you with a legally certified survey plat (map) for your records.

  • Because every piece of land is entirely unique, there is no flat rate for a survey. The cost depends on several factors, including the size of the acreage, how thick the brush and trees are, the roughness of the terrain, and how clear or confusing the historical deed records are. Contact us for a free consultation—a professional survey costs a small fraction of a boundary lawsuit or the nightmare of tearing down a misplaced building.

  • Under Kentucky law (201 KAR 18:150) and Tennessee regulations, professional land surveyors must follow strict legal minimum standards to protect the consumer [1]. To accurately locate even just one property line, a surveyor must still perform the necessary deed research and establish the surrounding property corners to ensure the line is legally correct. We perform full, compliant surveys so that your results are legally binding and court-admissible.

  • Cantrell Survey is based out of Lebanon, Kentucky. We proudly serve Marion County and all surrounding Central Kentucky counties (including Green, Hardin, Hart, LaRue, Taylor, Washington, Nelson, and Boyle). Because our founder holds active licenses in both states, we also serve Middle Tennessee.

  • You can verify any surveyor's active license status directly through state government portals. For our company, credentials can be looked up via the Kentucky State Board of Licensure (KYBOELS) or the Tennessee Board of Examiners for Land Surveyors. Our founder has been surveying in the field since 1984 and has held his independent professional licenses since 1996.