Warning: My boss told me to skip the drone survey on a 5-acre site

He said it would save time and money, but we ended up with a 3-inch grade error that cost us a week to fix. Has anyone else had a client or boss push back on tech that ended up being essential?

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3 Comments

the_drew6mo ago

Wait, isn't a drone survey the standard for something that big? I've seen guys try to eyeball smaller plots and still get burned. That three inch mistake sounds like a nightmare to fix after the fact, totally eats up any "savings.

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xena_west436mo ago

Ugh, my buddy learned that the hard way, @the_drew.

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palmer.jana5mo ago

Totally eats up any 'savings'" is exactly right. I've seen guys think they're saving a few hundred bucks skipping a drone survey on a commercial lot, then they're off by four inches on a corner marker. That means the fence line is inside the setback, or the driveway encroaches on the easement. After you've poured concrete or set posts, fixing that three inch mistake means jackhammering or digging out a whole section, and that's not a "slight fix," that's a whole new day (or two) of labor and materials. It's way cheaper to just do the drone survey upfront, honestly.

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