Dave Olnes was our soils engineer and one of the first professionals that we hired for our home build team back in 2013. We moved into our completed home in 2017. Looking back, he was among the best choices that we made. He conducted himself as a consistent professional. We've recommended him to several other Lafayette families over the years and we're now taking the time to post this review. Thank you Dave! Grateful Lafayette family who survived construction because of professionals like you. read more

What a wet winter! I had to wait a long time for Dave Olnes to take a look at my foundation a second time (2018 was the first time) but I trust this man's expertise and that of his crew. They were excellent and worth the wait. read more

I have had Dave do inspections several time for me over the years and then used his full services in 2017 for plans for a retaining wall at my Grandpas house. He worked well with our contractor and came out to the site twice himself and for the day of the pour, sent one of his associates. My only complaint is that he is very, very busy and hard to book. I'm finding now that what he does as the norm: make site visits and provide plans as part of his proposal/contract is not normal. The engineers I'm talking with now since Dave isn't available want to charge for plans to be printed... Thank you for your professionalism over the years Dave but please get some help so I can use you again! read more

One year ago there was a landslide of the hill in our backyard. Dave Olnes was recommended to me and I am grateful for that! Dave and his son were professional, courteous, thorough and informative. This was a very complicated situation involving several neighbors, code violations, insurance and legal issues. The work of the Olnes company made everything simpler and I recommend them without hesitation. read more

We received a very detailed report. Dave was super friendly and good value. Happy with our choice.

After receiving several very expensive bids to install a drainage system to eliminate water from entering my basement I contacted Dave to design a system. I then used his design to get permits from Berkeley and then hired manual lalorers to instal his very clear plans. 4 years later the system is working great and it cost about 10% of what others wanted. read more

What a disappointment! Based on the Yelp reviews, I called Dave to conduct soil tests on an empty lot a few blocks from his home/office. I recently purchased the lot to build a small home on for an aging mother. "Highly professional", you must be joking James S! Dave had to be the rudest service provider I've had the displeasure to encounter. Turns out he's too busy for a "problem" project -- that would be soil testing in the Oakland hills near a fault line. Uh, yes, last I checked this is the earthquake prone Bay Area. read more

Dave Olnes has been our geotech for construction of a brand new residence in Mill Valley. I have dealt with many subs at this point, managing my own project, and he is one of the best. He is always responsive when we ask him a question. He is sensitive to the drainage needs on our challenging site (steep hillside both above and below our building pad) and always considers the financial implications as well as functionality and complying with Mill Valley's strict codes. Not only is he very good at what he does, but his bills are right on target with what we expect to be paying. He is honest with his time and doesn't overcharge- a very difficult combination in this 'contractors market' building environment. He is the best geotech around and that is why he is so highly recommended. Thank you Dave- we appreciate it! read more

Very happy with Dave. His initial report was detailed enough to get solid bids for the foundation and shear wall work and he worked closely with the contractor to resolve any loose ends leading up to and during construction. His fees were very reasonable in comparison to the going industry rates. read more

We hired Dave to come look at the drainage situation at our home, since we were seeing water damage on one of our downstairs walls. After his initial inspection, we hired him to draw up a drainage design to resolve what amounted to poor drainage in front of the house. He was knowledgeable and professional and his design helped us greatly in hiring a contractor to bid on the work. I would definitely recommend for any drainage evaluation/design/planning. read more

I got Dave's number from a good friend who specializes at home inspections. I had him come out and do an evaluation of my sagging foundation and come up with a plan for leveling/stabilizing. He came out with an assistant and spent hours mapping and measuring (I have a huge house) the whole place and put together a working plan that had allowed me to get estimates for the work. The report was very detailed and I felt like it was money very well spent. I plan on hiring him to draw up the construction drawing and do the initial sample drilling to determine the actual depth of the bedrock. I would recommend him to anyone. read more

Nice, reliable and knowledgeable. Dave did a basement engineering plan and also an earthquake retrofit plan for my house. I was happy with his services, he is very good, flexible, always on time. I will call him again should I need a civil engineer. read more

Dave conducted a foundation inspection in one of my jobs recently. I am absolutely happy with the way he works. He is very detailed oriented and very reliable! I will definitely recommend him to all my friends and customers! read more

I am an architect with about 25 years in the residential construction industry. I have worked with Dave on several projects and find him to be quick, thoughtful, cost effective, and intelligent. He is a good resource to have except that he is usually very busy. I have used him on steep sloping lots with settlment issues. I am impressed with his thorough evaluations and scientific approach to understanding the cause of the problems and also impressed with his thoughtful, cost effective, and practical solutions. He is easy to work with and I have a high level of trust with his solutions. read more

It was great to find a reliable soils engineer who returns your calls, shows up on time and does exactly what he said he would do. Dave came out to look at our hillside and retaining structures. He was professional, knowledgable and easy to work with. We would definitely use him again and recommend him highly to anyone in the bay area who needs a soils or geotech engineer. read more

We are extremely pleased with Dave's work. A corner of our house had been slowly sinking for some years and causing cracking in the ceiling. Dave came out and diagnosed the problem and recommended a solution with underpinnings. We had him draw up plans, and he helped us get in touch with a very good contractor. We also had Dave draw up plans for voluntary seismic upgrades to the house, since it is old. He monitored the construction process to the end to be sure it got done right, and now the problem is resolved. Dave was the key to solving the problem, and we would definitely use him again. read more

Dave was highly professional and his report was well written and very useful. Highly recommended.

Really nice guy, very knowledgeable. We miscommunicated about cancelling a site survey, but he was very friendly about it and didn't mind at all. We ended up having him write a report about a separate issue and he did a great job. Reasonably priced. read more

I had received good reviews about Dave, but my experience has been very negative. I am with the other review that also had received good reviews and had a bad experience. I paid him thousands of dollars (granted it was about 10 years ago) to do plans for my carport. At the time I didn't have the money to do the work. I can now afford to have the work done, and still had his plans, but which were incomplete. I contacted him to see if he still had the report. He sent me the report which was again incomplete. He said that I hadn't paid the last payment. Neither of us remembered what the issue was, so I agreed to pay if he would give me the completed report (which was probably why I didn't make the last payment before). We discussed a time to meet when I would give him the payment and he would give me the report and I was to pay him to do an update of the plans. He ranted for one email stating that he would take the money but reserved the right to not do the update. I responded that I was concerned about his willingness to take the payment, but not complete the process, leaving me with a useless report. He then blew me off saying he was going to "trust his intuition" and that I should get a new contractor, leaving me with having paid him thousands of dollars for me to have to start over again. read more