A leveling rod and a method of surveying utilizing the disclosed leveling rod are disclosed. The leveling rod comprises an elongated shaft and at least one tape with measurement graduations affixed longitudinally to the elongated shaft. The leveling rod also comprises an elongated side member slidably coupled with the elongated shaft, the elongated side member being extendable downwards. A stencil and an indicator are also included in the leveling rod. The stencil is attached to the bottom end of the elongated side member and is used to mark a surface. The indicator is attachable to the elongated side member and includes a pointer that points to the measurement graduations on the at least one tape. The indicator can slide longitudinally along the elongated side member until a predetermined position of the indicator is reached. The leveling rod further comprises a two threaded fasteners. The first threaded fastener fixes the indicator to the elongated side member and slides together with the indicator before the indicator is fastened to the elongated side member. The second threaded fastener allows to fix the elongated side member to the elongated shaft thus preventing the elongated side member from sliding off the elongated shaft.