Thurber Engineering and Land Surveying

Responded to request for quote during the weekend, scheduled a Monday afternoon appointment. Didn't require me to be home. A team of two, including Mr. Thurber, showed up on-time and performed the work within an hour, locating all property boundaries and taking all needed measurements. By Wednesday I had the updated PLAT for my county permitting.

Survey was completed, and although I am in a flood zone the house elevation puts it at a lower risk. Survey submitted to insurers and insurance cost was reduced. Well worth the cost.

Mr. Thurber promptly responded to my email inquiry. He provided a quote 2 days later which we accepted. The work was scheduled to be done the following Tuesday. He arrived promptly and explained exactly what he was doing. There were some issues with the boundaries that required him to do some research. He said he would be back the following Monday. He returned on Monday and completed the survey. The markers that he placed will make it very easy for the fence company to complete their work accurately on our property line. I highly recommend this company for responsiveness and thoroughness.

Mr. Thurber was punctual and professional. He had me go over the work I needed before he started and then reviewed work done when finished making sure he had provided what I wanted.

If you don't have existing pipes or stakes on your property corners, you should hesitate to hire Jim Thurber. I didn't tell him that I am a manager in commercial construction because I wanted to see how he did. Jim does appear to have a long experience in surveying and provided lots of stories and theories but his product, providing accurate corners based on the lots and neighborhoods around you, is somewhat terrible. When I dug just a little bit below the surface on his statements and actions, there were many more questions than answers. Here is a condensed list of my issues with Jim: upon finding no corners he said he would use the position of my house to establish property corners (trust a house builder to be extremely accurate?!) he then said he could do no more unless I provided the 4 year old survey done by others. He disparaged said surveyor, although that person is now regional surveying director for a very large engineering firm. After I notified Jim that my neighbors surveyor had found a pertinent iron pipe, and I could provide another neighbors existing iron pipes, Jim laid out my corners based on the position of my house instead. I then met with my neighbors surveyor to point out that my back corners differed by 6 inches from the old pipe he had found. Jim stated that based on this, Jim would adjust my corners. Jim later said this was done. I told Jim I didn't see him on my property and he admitted that he asked my neighbors surveyor to finish the job for him. Because of this odd relationship, to this day the survey remains undone. 4 property corners are not established, even offset points are off 3 inches. And I did not receive a plat of the work. I feel uncomfortable to build the fence I wanted to build. There are many more oddities to this story but bottom line, you have to understand what Jim is telling you and analyze whether you think it is right or wrong. Don't make assumptions and question everything.

I highly recommend Jim Thurber and his associate, he performed a property survey for me in Montross Virginia. Jim was very thorough in all aspects of the survey; excellent communication, punctual, answering all question, competing the survey and a reasonable price.

Our times were mixed up. He thought noon n I thought 1. We never met but job was done.

Weather was uncooperative and we needed to reschedule several times but I was kept informed of reschedules. Work was performed as agreed.

Jim was very responsive and addressed all of my questions. I pointed out some specific areas of concern and he took the time to walk me through some of the measurement processes so I would fully understand the information. I had some follow-up questions and Jim answered them right away. This was the second time we hired Thurber Engineering and Land Surveying. They previously provided the same service at a property we were selling. I would definitely hire them again.

Arrived on time and was very thorough. I was very pleased with his work ethic and the amount I paid.

Even though I did not use the service due to a unexpected change of plan, I would hire this company if and when I need the service based on the responsiveness and professionalism of the company.

Outstanding - very professional, punctual and exceeded my expectations in every respect. Jim Thurber is the 'best' if you want your property surveyed.

Outstanding work. Mr. Thurber came a early, started quickly and proceeded to identify all corners of my property, and provided additional stakes along along both neighbors' property lines to ensure proper fence placement.The most important part of his service was somewhat more intangible; He explained how the various parts of Virginia land surveying law worked, which went greatly to explain how a previous surveyor performed a property survey as part of our 2014 home purchase but wouldn't tell us where the borders of our property were, without an enormous additional fee. Mr. Thurber was truly a professional. I would have written this rating sooner but I was busy telling the neighbors how outstanding Mr. Thurber was, and of course, explaining to them why the common property borders are different than the running fence line. If there were an A++ rating he would have earned it.

Really professional and budget friendly price.

Very smoothly. Jim is very honest, thorough and professional in his work. Best of all, his price is the most competitive. I felt extremely satisfied with his efficiency & work quality and felt great to support a small business.

Mr. Thurber and his assistant showed up when they promised and provided exactly what I needed. It was a pleasure doing business with him and I would not hesitate to hire him again.

Excellent service. Provided advice and a very good output.

We couldn't have been luckier to find Jim. He came to our house and started surveying, only to realize that the entire area was poorly mapped. So, he went back and performed research over a week including finding paperwork dating back to the 60's required to locate the boundaries of our property. Unfortunately for us, he found multiple encroachments that were not originally noted on the survey from when we purchased our house. He gave us great advice to go back to our settlement company and utilize title insurance, and also about what our options were with regard to dealing with our neighbors and if needed, potentially lawyers. After all the additional research and drafting the plat, his fee did not even change. We'd use him again in a heartbeat.

We were very happy with Thurber Engineering and their excellent customer service. Other places we had contacted were more expensive and would not have the plat ready for at least 10 business days. We needed a quick turn-around and could not be more pleased with the efficiency and quality of the work.

Mr. Thurber was professional, courteous and efficient.

I needed to have my property surveyed to establish property lines before I had my back fence replaced and a deck built. I chose Jim because of the good reviews I saw on Angie?s List. I emailed him and got a prompt response. We set up an appointment. Jim arrived at our agreed upon appointment time. He surveyed my property (a townhouse), but couldn?t stake the back yard because my property line is behind my back fence. He said he would deduct $50 from my bill because he couldn?t stake it. I paid him $275 via PayPal and he emailed me a PDF plat of my property. My fence builder then removed my old fence so that Jim could access the property and stake it before the new fence was built. After I emailed him, Jim returned another day and staked the back yard, which included steel rods for easy future location. I paid $50 via PayPal, a very easy process. I was very pleased with his service and would highly recommend him. His fees are lower than other surveyors and I think I got the same good service.

Very, very good. Very responsive. Would use him again!

Mr. Thurber was prompt with his responses to my inquiries on Angie's list. We communicated through the Angie's list email center which I really like and whenever I wrote a follow up question he answered within the same day. He requested a down payment, which was a little more than half his fee, which I think is fair and I liked because it allowed me to pay in smaller increments. He gave me a scheduled date not too far in advance ( within a week of my down payment) and he showed up pretty early to perform the work (it may have been 7:30 which was great for me because I was able to talk to him before I left for work). Although I had sent him a plat he also performed independent research and had gained that understanding in preparation for the job. I think he was here quite a long time performing the survey (several hours?). He had an assistant with him. A few days after the survey he sent me a plat with his markings and other landmarks noted. He also physically marked the key points of our property line with physical markers. I am very happy with his professionalism, kind manner and prompt service from beginning to end.

I needed this survey done quickly because another company who was supposed to do the work was unable to at the last minute and Jim was willing and able to step in and get the the job done within the time period needed. His price was excellent and the quality of the work was high. I would definitely use him again. Additionally, when I contacted him again because I needed another copy of the plat, which I had misplaced, he responded within minutes with the document.

I am a first time homebuyer. Jim talked to me on the phone for half an hour to answer all of my questions, and this was before I had even placed an order with him. As a result of our conversation, I understood that I need a house location survey rather than the more expensive boundary survey. He offered to match the price of some no-name firm that was recommended by my title company. He performed the work on schedule on May 28th and emailed me the result on the 29th. He was immediately responsive to my follow up questions via email. I could not be happier with the job. Thanks Jim!