saltfisher1

I'm looking for a way fo find out how high above sea level a property is...I can guess at it all day long but theres nothing like being sure.

JoeZ

Where do you live?

Or do you have a handheld GPs? Mine tells me the elevation.

John Werner

I agree, a GPS is the best way; however, you might try this site to get a fairly close idea:

http://www.topozone.com/states/Flori...ounty=Escambia

I grew up in Navy Point, which the above site says is 33' above sea level. The house I lived in was (and still is) on Baublits Dr., which is on the water and which when surveyed came out to be 9' 6" above sea level.

If you have a friend who is a surveyor, maybe he or she could help. Any surveyors out there ???

John

Ultralite

there's only about 20 members on here that are pls...and for a flood plane cert. depending on location, look at $100/hr...otherwise go to this site and navigate through gis maps, find the area and turn the topo layer on...

http://www.escpa.org/

Telum Pisces

The only true way to know exactly is to do an elevation certificate survey. It's going to cost about $300-$400 depending usually. At least that is what mine cost when I bought my last house. I am in the last flood zone that requires insuranceand I am 14.7 feet above sea level.

TWINKIE6816

Yes Jon, you are correct but, it is kinda funny you can usually get pretty close using Google Earth and then zoom in on your property and it usually pretty accurate. I know our boss kinda uses it as a check for us! If you want a pro to come do it you can call us at 850-476-4768. It is Butler and Associates.

saltfisher1

Thanks everyone....I'm looking at some property in the Gulf Shores area...I definitely need to know if I'm on dry ground and how much tidal surge I can avoid.

Ultralite

smart buyer!...you could talk to the neighbors as well as visit the site during or right after a heavy rainfall...see if there are any drainage easements or holding ponds close by as well...good luck...

saltfisher1

I'll be around the lagoon so I will be more concerned with hurricane storm surge....I'm thinking this area is 14 to 20 ft above sea level...not sure.....Some of the websites listed are not very easily navigated....This area made it through Ivan with the water 35 ft from the house...Close but still needed about a6 ft rise to get into the home.

fred

If you don't have a plat, the nextthing I would do is look at a topo and look for a USGS benchmark. If there is one nearby you can get the elevation there. If you're lucky and it is close enough to you you can get a pretty good idea just by eyeballing or with a hand level.

A local surveyor who's been in business for a while is going to have all kinds of data handy for marks that he has run and has confidence in without re-inventing the wheel and going back to the BM. That's what he's going to use if you hire him to do a complete survey and expose his insurance-which is a <U>major</U> consideration in cost these days. If you shop a bit you may find one that will give you a cheap price as he knows he already has the data.

If you tell me the area I can zoom in and senda piece of the topoto you. I'm not telling you to trust the topo contours, but it will show you what readily availablebenchmark there is near you. The contour interval on that sheet is 2 meters and they say their data marks (not benchmarks) are to within 0.1 meter.