Los Angeles County · Land Surveying
West Covina grew from citrus land to more than 50,000 residents in a single postwar decade, and that legacy defines its survey work: mile after mile of mid-century ranch tracts, plus newer hillside homes in South Hills where slope enters the picture.
Wall, ADU, purchase, or hillside project — a sentence or two about it is enough for us to point you at the right scope. Call (213) 787-3342 to talk it through.
During 1955 West Covina was the fastest-growing city in the United States, and roughly half of its housing still dates to the 1940s–60s boom. Whole neighborhoods were subdivided, graded, and sold within a few seasons. The tract maps from that era are workable records, but sixty-plus years of pool decks, room additions, block walls, and street work mean the monuments on the ground do not always agree with what owners assume.
The owners who call us are usually mid-project: replacing a shared wall, converting a garage, adding a second unit under the state ADU laws, or buying a home where the fence line looks off. On the south side, the South Hills area adds larger hillside lots in the San Jose Hills where drainage and slope questions ride along with the boundary.
A sampling of the situations that prompt West Covina owners to pick up the phone:
A 1950s tract was typically monumented well when it was recorded — the trouble is everything that has happened since. Curb and gutter replacement, sewer laterals, driveway widening, and fence after fence have disturbed or buried much of the original evidence. Retracing a line here means finding the monuments that survive across the block and fitting the record geometry to them, not just measuring from the nearest fence post.
South Hills behaves differently: its lots are larger, its streets curve with the San Jose Hills, and its lines cross real grade. Improvements there — pools, terraced yards, sport courts — interact with slopes and drainage easements, so a boundary answer alone is sometimes only half the picture. Where the project calls for it, we map contours and existing features so the design starts from measured ground.
Most requests here draw on these six. Note the split between marking a line you already trust and resolving one you do not:
Yes. Rebuilding on the old footprint repeats any error the original builders made, and mid-century walls were routinely built off the line. Staking the line before demolition lets the new wall go up in the right place — or lets both owners knowingly agree to leave it where it stands.
Not every conversion does, but when the existing garage sits close to a rear or side line, plan review often turns on the exact distances. A setback survey documents them from located property lines rather than from fences, which is what makes the numbers defensible.
Terrain. Lots there are larger, lines cross real grade, and hardscape projects interact with slopes and drainage. Boundary work is frequently paired with contour mapping so the designer and the reviewer see the same measured ground.
Yes. Retracement does not depend on any single monument — we search the wider block for surviving evidence, compare it against the recorded tract geometry, and re-establish your corners from the best fit. Corners we reset can be documented with a county corner record so the next owner is not starting over.
It will locate the line and the driveway edge precisely and show the relationship on a map. Whether the answer is an encroachment agreement, a lot line adjustment, or nothing at all is a title and negotiation question — but every one of those paths starts with knowing the actual dimensions.
None of it is mandatory, but each item helps us scope the work accurately:
We review the tract map and surrounding records, agree on scope and deliverables with you, then field-locate, mark, or map as the project requires. Our how it works page walks through the sequence.
We serve property throughout West Covina and across Los Angeles County — request a survey quote for any parcel in the area.
Survey scope and deliverables depend on title records, site conditions, and what your project requires. Call (213) 787-3342 to discuss the property and the survey you need.
Call Southern California Land Surveyors at (213) 787-3342 or send the address and project through the contact form; we will match the survey to what you are building.