Dirty Deeds Dead Bodies, Blazed Trees & Boundary Lines: The Real World of Land Surveying
May 3, 2026
Kort Breaux, owner of West Star Alamo Land Surveyors and a licensed South‑Central Texas surveyor, shares wild real‑world surveying tales. He explains what boundary surveys actually include. Short stories cover hidden cemeteries, century‑old deed language, platted vs metes‑and‑bounds headaches, fence line surprises, and why Zillow or CAD acreage can mislead investors.
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A Survey Is Research Plus Fieldwork Not Just Measurements
- A proper boundary survey is research plus fieldwork, not just measuring acreage.
- Kort Breaux drafts deeds, searches records and often surveys neighboring tracts to reconstruct intent and establish corners.
Woman Paid Taxes On Land TxDOT Took 40 Years Ago
- TxDOT took a right-of-way decades ago but the homeowner's deed never recorded the change and she paid taxes on a larger parcel for 40–50 years.
- Kort Breaux found TxDOT monuments and the surveyed area was 0.38 acres versus recorded one acre.
Protest Clerical Tax Errors For Up To Five Years Back
- If a survey reveals a clerical tax error, file a protest under Texas Tax Code section 25[25] to recover up to five years.
- Kort says the owner can often get ~25% of taxes refunded for several prior years via a one-page form.