We were very pleased with Terra's Nova service! We thought we had a complete sewer lateral replacement back in 2009 when another company did some work, but when we requested a copy of our compliance we discovered they had only replaced part of the sewer line up to our retaining wall. Terra Nova was meticulous about getting the records what had been done, and figuring out how to do the remaining work carefully, but quickly and within our budget. They had to tear up a brick patio, but I couldn't tell they had been there when the project was complete! I highly recommend them and would work with them again! read more

Terra Nova Engineering did a good job on replacing my sewer line, but their communication during the whole process was poor at best. First of all, they did not confirm the actual start date on the work with me, and went ahead to file all the city paper works without my knowledge. They are now stuck with this job, and had to lower their cost significantly so I would keep working with them. Secondly, when complications on the job arises, they did not confirm the actual amount of the additional cost. They promised to call and disclose this cost to me, but failed to do so. Instead, an e-mail was sent to me the next day with the bill 30% more then the original quoted cost. I tried calling and e-mailing them to call me back, and all I got was more e-mails and with quite a bit of frustrating, angry overtones. Fortunately all was settled after a very long-exhausting e-mail chain. I don't think they ripped me off, but I would appreciate better, less chaotic communication. 30% on top of the original bill is not a small amount, and any customer would deserve some sort of cost disclosure before the work is finished. read more

Awesome company, awesome service! Terra Nova communicated well with me, and replaced the sewer lateral beautifully and the asphalt on the street (a steep grade) looks superior to my neighbor across the street who went with a cheaper company and had to have the work done twice! I recommend them highly! read more

Sheila Conn and Terra Nova Engineering are awesome! Sheila explained as much as she could ahead of the work being done. Employees were professional and thorough and were able to complete the work in one day. Terra Nova took care of all permits, parking postings, meeting with City Inspector and obtaining certificate of compliance. On top of that Sheila went over requirement by requirement on how to apply for the City of Richmond Sewer Lateral Grant Program. Thank you Sheila and Terra Nova for helping this new home owner have one less worry. read more

Terra Nova Engineering replaced my Sewer Lateral and they provided very professional service at a very fair price. They also helped me with the city grant application. Sheila was most competent and organized, and I really enjoyed listening to her calm voice over the phone! She made this a great experience! read more

Terra Nova Engineering just finished replacing our Sewer Lateral and they did a fantastic job. The quote was provided very quickly and despite the weather not cooperating, the job was finished much sooner than I expected. Sheila came over the night before and worked with our neighbors to clear the street around our house of cars to make room for the equipment. The crew showed up the next day right on time and worked efficiently to completion with attention to detail. I'm very happy with how this project turned out. read more

They did a great job on my trenchless sewer lateral replacement. Very low price excellent service. I am leaving this review because I stumbled on this when I was looking for the phone number to give it to a coworker who needs his lateral replaced. Sheila and Mirko do great work and are a pleasure to work with. read more

I highly recommend Terra Nova Engineering. They just fixed some bad work done earlier this year by another company, in addition to extending my sewer line to the street. Sheila is amazing, knows everyone at the Water District, EBMUD and the county, and quickly coordinated all parties. They did a great job and left my yard and the street all cleaned up. They are easy to communicate with and were very professional. read more

I Highly Recommend Terra Nova Engineering! Superb Service - Shelia was very helpful with excellent knowledge and a Great Attitude. read more

With many people now looking to do sewer lateral repair, we would like to put in a strong plug for Terra Nova. We had them repair/replace our sewer about five years ago when we bought our house in El Cerrito. They are a small family owned operation. They had the most competitive bid. Work was performed in two days in a very professional manner. If we had to do this again, (thankfully not another $4,000), we use Terra Nova and recommend them to others. read more

All the good reviews here are earned. I found this place through yelp and was very happy with the process. It was quick and simple. Sheila was very helpful! read more

If the ratings offered went above five stars, I'd be going there. We replaced all the sewer lines for a property with a backyard in-law unit, lots of peripheral drains from the main house, and multiple trees and walkways above the lines. There were three different kinds of pipes, even going back to the original Victorian stuff, with gradient issues, offset pipes, tree roots, crushed pipes - pretty much a smorgasbord of problems. Their bid was the middle of the three I got (the lowest one seemed a bit careless in describing the work). They were available about a week sooner than expected, so that we even beat the rains! And the work was speedy, less than two days total, despite a lot of fussy bits involving walkways and protecting trees. By the time they were done, the most you'd think happened was an energetic (needed) weeding above the point where five pipes came together. They reassembled the brick walk above this section so perfectly that you literally could not tell that there had briefly been a pit there! Communication was great at all times. I could not be more pleased. read more

We had a great experience with Terra Nova and Sheila in particular. The sewer passed inspection with no issues and our yard as well as the neighbors looked better than expected after the work was complete. read more

Terra Nova Engineering was swift and professional. Don't settle for cut-rate when it comes to your sewer lateral. I was afraid of scope creep or being overcharged. They came out, performed the job in 1 day, and there were no "Gotcha!'s" or any up-charging. They performed the job at the bid price which was very reassuring. There may be other competitors that offer lower rates initially, but then they charge you extras like "Camera fees", or whatever. Also sometimes you get what you pay for. I will definitely be using their services again when I purchase another home in the east bay. I would also recommend them to anyone that needed a sewer lateral replacement performed. read more

I needed a major sewer line replacement in a hurry.Sheila from Terra Nova came out the morning I called and moved her schedule around to get the job done two days later. The crew was efficient and friendly, the work was completed by mid afternoon, the inspector signed it off and I was 100% happy with the job. I highly recommend Terra Nova Engineering read more

Tera Nova was very professional and helpful. They were very patient and they willingly explained everything they were doing to our sewer lateral. They also went the extra mile by showing up a day early (as a courtesy) and mark the areas they would have to dig up. (Which they put back nicely at the end of the job). They were far more thorough than any of the other competitors. They found issues that needed to be addressed that others had missed in their bids (NOT to be mixed up with unnecessary added expenses) . Also, they fixed the botched up job of a now closed competitor at a reasonable and competitive price. Value for your money. read more

My wife and I just purchased our first home and we needed the sewer lateral to be replaced due to root penetration and the fact that the line was just some 50 years old and outdated. Sheila, from Terra Nova Engineering was amazing to deal with from the start in understanding what needed to be done and providing me the information I needed. She even offered a very competitive bid (below some of the other local companies) and was extremely helpful throughout the whole process. Another great thing was they had an opening in their schedule and actually completed the work well before I expected it to be done. On the day of I was unable to be there due to work but they kept me updated throughout the process with photos, text and email. Most importantly, they kept true to their estimate price and even did additional work that was slightly more in depth than they had originally thought due to the proximity of my water main to my sewer lateral at no added cost. After the work was finished the work area looked clean and was repaved extremely well. I would recommend to anyone in the area to use Terra Nova and I would certainly use them again if I needed any sewer repair work. read more

I would give 6 stars if I could. Sheila was easy to work with on the phone, I got a quote right away because Terra Nova understood I needed help fast (sewer line leaking-yikes!) They fit my job into the schedule quickly, finished early, and stuck with the original quote. Thank you Terra Nova! read more

nice folks, gave a lot of good information. I had already had my sewer done but they helped me with an extension of my sewer line in the back that I needed. Mirk was very helpful and really seems to know his stuff. I had used another company for my Front sewer replacement but wished I had used Nova (I gave the other company a not so great review) Their contractor, Mirk, was very knowlegable and helpful. read more

Sheila and Mirko were super helpful, providing good advice and were fair and reasonable in their estimate. Sheila also went the extra mile to talk directly with the inspector as we tried to figure out how we would go about replacing our sewer lateral. read more

I'd recommend Terra Nova Engineering to others for sewer lateral work. Sheila and her team were courteous, prompt, and professional from the time of the estimate till completion. What was projected to be one day actually ended up taking 2+ days due to the thick layer of concrete and digging that the crew had to performed. At the end of the day, the work was done well but ended up costing more than the initial quote due to the additional labor and materials, which Sheila took the time to explain and show me. I do not blame Terra Nova since they can only provide a quote based on what they can see and anticipate to the best of their knowledge. What I really appreciated about Terra Nova is that Sheila absorbed some of the additional costs, which she was under no obligation to do. She knew that I have a pregnant wife and a house full of newly discovered issues (the joy of home ownership!), which has caused significant stress for us. I appreciate the customer service and human kindness which can sometimes be removed from dealing with contractors/vendors. Thanks Sheila and team - keep up the great work and customer service! read more

Terra Nova Engineering just completed a sewer lateral replacement at my home in Oakland. We knew the lateral wasn't compliant when we purchased the home back in December. We had 5 different contractors/plumbing companies come out and give us bids. We were referred to Terra Nova by a neighbor who had them perform sewer lateral work a few years ago and were very satisfied with their work. Together with a competitive bid and our neighbor's referral we chose to go ahead with Terra Nova. Great communication before, during, and after the job as Sheila confirmed start date and provided updates via email and phone during the work. Our job was far from a normal scope of work as our main line connection was 13 ft deep in our backyard. Mirko and his crew worked for 16 hours the first day to ensure that we would have our sewer hooked back up that same day. They finished the job about halfway through the second day. Very polite non-smoking crew who also did a great job restoring our backyard to it's pre-construction state. Would definitely recommend using Mirko, Sheila and the team at Terra Nova Engineering for your sewer lateral compliance needs. read more

Sheila was very responsive and came out to discuss our project. She was very informative, and quickly provided a competitive estimate. She accommodated my request to get the work done before we left for vacation. Her crew was friendly, respectful of our neighbors' property (our lateral is right on the property line), efficient, and did a great clean-up job. We strongly recommend Terra Nova for sewer lateral repair/replacement. read more

We had a wonderful experience (or as wonderful as sewer lateral replacement gets!) with Terra Nova. Sheila and Mirko were professional and knowledgeable and guided us through the process, answering all our questions. They were able to schedule us on an urgent basis at a very fair price. They took care of an unexpected problem at no extra expense for us. The crew arrived on time, performed the work, finished the work, and left a clean driveway in just a few hours. The next day I had the certificate for the sewer lateral replacement in hand. I can't wait to recommend them to friends! read more

I met the owners of Terra Nova Engineering, Sheila and Mirko, in May of 2007 at my open house. The sellers of this Richmond Annex duplex had already hired them to do their sewer lateral work. My sellers researched all the geographically desirable companies and were very happy with their work and the price. I had to try them myself. They exceeded my expectations!! I had been using several other companies for the previous 20 years and had no idea what customer service was all about until I worked with Sheila and Mirko. They are very professional. They are also very connected with the officials of the local municipalities which cuts through all the red tape, respectful, competitive with their pricing, punctual, organized, hold my clients hands through the process of getting their bond money and offer a senior citizen discount. Their crew is friendly and approachable. I recommend them to all my clients. What can I say? They are the BEST OF THE BEST! read more

These guys are on the ball. I just had them do a trenchless lateral replacement on a duplex, and they came through in a big way. The cost was fair, and best of all they were in and out in a day. Which was especially amazing, because the work itself involved digging up a ton of rock and concrete. read more

Terra Nova Engineering is a 5-Star Business!!!! Sheila replaced and certified our sewer lateral in Richmond without a hitch. We live out of state and were overwhelmingly impressed with Terra Nova's quick response, competitive price(including City fees) and professionalism. Bonus: locally owned business. Highly recommend!!! read more

Bought a house and needed the sewer lateral replaced. Seached on Berkeley Parents Network and saw Terra Nova recommended, so I went with them. Same experience as the others, except communication was perfectly fine, unlike the below reviewers experience. I'm glad I used them and will use them again if the opportunity come up. read more

They replaced our later last month and did an excellent job. Sheila was very professional in handling the quote and the inspections and the crew was also professional. read more

I hired Terra Nova to replace my sewer lateral. They were not the cheapest bid, but Sheila was certainly the most knowledgeable. Mirko and his crew did a great job. They were on time, good communicators and cleaned up after themselves properly - and I'm picky! They tore out my jade plant which I was bummed about, but when they finished the work, they replanted it and it's even blooming now, so no harm done there! There's a grant program where I was able to get 1500 back from the county. I knew nothing about this, but Sheila did. She walked me thru the whole process and was very helpful even after they had been paid in full for their work. Solid work. Excellent service. read more

Despite indicating that I would probably go with a cheaper bid Sheila gave me great information that allowed me to evaluate a lower bid in an informed manner. She even sent me an example insurance certificate. In the end I went with a lower bid but really appreciated the advice. I felt I would get a better, more professional contractor with Terra Nova but sometimes a used car is all you can afford. read more

I received bids from three other companies before contacting Terra Nova. Not only did they do the complete replacement of my sewer line in one day (others had said it would take several days) but their bid was literally half the price of the highest bid. Sheila was competent and pleasant. Who could ask for more? read more

Sheila and the crew at terra Nova Engineering were incredibly courteous, responsive, proactive in scheduling, and competent. Sheila made it dead easy to get the estimate, schedule and complete the work repairing the sewer lateral at our recently purchased Berkeley home. An extremely positive experience. read more

My mother, who lives in Berkeley, just had her old clay pipes replaced by Terra Nova Engineering. From the beginning to the end of the operation, Terra Nova (Sheila in particular) was efficient, helpful, fair, and informative. I have nothing but glowing things to say about Terra Nova. They're everything one would hope for in a small business--fair, reliable, personable, professional, and efficient. While the job was more difficult than they expected, they honored their original estimate. And they also seem to have good relations with the City of Berkeley. Lastly, Terra Nova is quick and hard-working! They completed the project in a single day after arriving at my mother's early in the morning and finishing at night. Rather than leaving after a 13-hour workday, however, they stuck around to make sure that everything worked, followed-up, and even responded over the weekend. I have to say that Sheila and her husband (the owners of this small business) are a terrific team, and I see why their honest, hard-work, efficiency, and overall gentility is so appreciated in the East Bay. read more