Los Angeles County · Land Surveying
Whittier splits its survey work between two worlds: the flat, historic grid around Uptown, platted when the Quaker colony founded the town in 1887, and the hillside neighborhoods climbing toward the Whittier Hills, where terrain drives every project.
Flat lot or hillside, tell us about the site and the project and we will recommend a scope. Call (213) 787-3342 to talk it through.
Whittier's oldest neighborhoods sit on subdivisions dating to the town's founding era, with housing stock that includes some of the region's better-preserved early-twentieth-century homes. Owners here remodel and add on frequently, and those projects raise the classic old-tract questions: where are the original lines, what happened to the monuments, and do the existing fences and garages match the record.
North and east, the city rises into hillside streets where lots step up slopes, retaining walls hold cut and fill, and views come with grading constraints. Hillside owners call us for topographic surveys before additions and slope work, boundary surveys where lines run through terrain, and elevation documentation their engineers and designers request.
On the flat grid, most work is boundary retracement and setback verification for additions, ADUs, and fence or wall replacement. The record here is old but generally well-layered — original townsite-era maps overlaid by decades of subsequent surveys — so careful research usually recovers the lines efficiently. Where corners have been lost to a century of street and utility work, we re-establish and document them with Los Angeles County as required.
In the hills, scope expands: topographic mapping detailed enough for grading and drainage design, slope-band exhibits where hillside review applies, and boundary work that must contend with steep, vegetated, or hard-to-access ground. Hillside development standards vary with the site and should be confirmed with the city; our mapping is the factual base those reviews use. Whittier's commercial corridors and industrial edges near Santa Fe Springs add ALTA/NSPS and as-built demand at transaction time.
Most Whittier requests draw on five services — the hillside pair differs from plain topographic mapping in scope, not just name:
Examples of the survey work Whittier properties call for:
Helpful materials, especially for hillside parcels:
We research the record — townsite-era maps and everything since — confirm scope with you and your designer, then measure and deliver the map, staking, or terrain model the project needs. More at how it works.
Usually. Terrain adds topographic mapping, sometimes slope-band exhibits for hillside review, and slower fieldwork on steep or vegetated ground. We scope hillside parcels individually after looking at the site and records.
Some survive; many do not. Whittier's record is deep enough that lost corners can be re-established from the townsite maps, later subdivisions, and neighboring surveys — and we file the required documentation when we reset them.
Contours tight enough to design grading, spot elevations at structures and walls, locations of trees and improvements, and the boundary tied to the terrain — delivered as a CAD file their software reads directly. We confirm the spec with your architect before fieldwork.
Yes. We locate walls, their tops and toes where relevant, and the line itself, producing an exhibit that shows exactly how the wall and boundary relate — useful for repairs, disputes, and permit questions alike.
The survey provides the measured facts — slopes, elevations, and dimensions — but whether a specific review applies is the city's determination. Confirm submittal requirements with Whittier's planning and building staff; we prepare the exhibits they ask for.
From Uptown to the hills — and anywhere else in Los Angeles County — request a survey quote for your parcel.
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 describe the site and project through the contact form and we will scope the work.