J D Cesare Construction

M W.

The most responsive, price competitive, and competent sewer lateral inspection AND replacement company ever! Goes above and beyond the job itself: see below!

We first came across J.D. Cesare from purchasing a home in Belmont, CA. They had done the pre-sale sewer lateral video inspection, quoted the trenchless replacement cost for approximately 30 ft of old 4"" cast iron directly to the city sewer. Mike Soss, the general manager, was amazingly responsive over email and phone with all our questions before we proceeded to replace the line.

We were not under a time crunch and our job was small, so asked Mike to schedule when it fit their schedule the best. They handled all the permits, traffic diversion, and pre-work beautifully. The job was clean, the two backyard areas they dug 5 ft deep into were restored immaculately, and they handled the city inspections for asphalt replacement with class despite the city's insistence on re-asphalting twice. They showed me where the old cast iron line had rusted, got tree roots inside, and blocked the line. The new plastic 4"" line went in wonderfully, making our sewer lateral completely plastic in an area where there are multiple oak trees.

Along the way, the moment Mike and the crew saw there was a need to punch another hole to avoid bursting gas and water mains, they immediately advised me and gave me the cost to approve without a day. This was HIGHLY appreciated, since no job goes to plan but knowing the cost changes immediately helps me to make the decision and keep the crew going. GREAT communication from Mike Soss and the JD Cesare crew for this!

Here's where JD Cesare went above and beyond: the city's building department requested a video inspection, despite the first already filed with the city's public works dept nearly 5 months ago. Mike and the folks at JD Cesare worked that through, getting two CITY departments to talk to each other, and got the city's request cleared without us having to get another video inspection. They worked between the city's two departments, they got them talking, and they got the city's building dept to approve plans without another video inspection.

Another month later, the public works department AGAIN came back requesting the same thing. Mike again worked with them to get the name of the person to verify that the video inspection was ALREADY on record.

All in all, I would, no hesitation, ask Mike Soss and JD Cesare to do any Sewer and trenchless replacement again. No questions. 5 stars for communication, responsiveness, quality of job, final results, and going above and beyond.

Egan L.

In Millbrae, it's a requirement to do a sewer lateral inspection. I called the first company that was recommended to me. We were in escrow already at this point and was necessary to get the inspections and review done quickly. The first company, Smelly Mel's did the inspection that took over 2 weeks to get a response and quoted over $9k in work.

Feeling suspicious, I gave JD Cesare a call, who was recommended all across the board by a few associates. After I spoke to Mike of J.D. Cesare, he conducted the inspection and review within a couple days. J.D. Cesare's inspection concluded that the previous company did an incorrect video assessment. The final review showed no work was needed, saving my client's $9k. Getting a second opinion proved to be a savings.

I highly recommend J.D. Cesare Construction due to their communication and honesty. It was a pleasure working with Mike and the team.

M B.

Dave took care of the problem we had with the sewer line and we are so happy with the outcome. The price was reasonable and the work was done on time. If we need a plumber again, we will call J D Cesare Construction.

BG M.

We have been shopping around for a company to do our sewer line. Found four-five companies and interviewed, said they would follow up with an estimate. Three did.

Then as luck would have it... I was driving up a street in San Mateo. I found J. D. Cesare Construction. Their company working, and simply asked. Sewer right? I promptly asked for a card, and said I need a new line. We promptly called, met with Dave.

Dave gave us a bid. We accepted. He put our property on a high priority (I totally appreciated that!!!!). I knew that we picked the right company from the time I met them in San Mateo on the job. The house I met his workers at, after their sewer replace, you could not even tell there was a sewer done. No mess, the grass looked perfect. For the job at my house, there was no mess. Comfort level with Dave and company was very high! Dave called and we were going to set up a time. He said his guys were already out digging!! We appreciated it because we felt so comfortable with them and the sewer line was priority.

This company was trustworthy, respectful of everything in our yard, and replaced every plant back where it came from. You can not even tell that they were here!

You need a sewer line replaced. THIS IS YOUR COMPANY!! They were last to the table, and the only company and bid, I felt comfortable with. I was so blessed to find them on that street. Thanks for a job well done Dave!!

Five STAR!

Lillian S.

I had to deal with local plumbers 4 times in the past two and half months and Dave Cesare is the best and most reasonable person among them. I thought the sewer line was cracked and needed repairs. In previous times, all plumbers did was to run the machine through the pipe and told me no clog was found in the pipe line to the street. And the cost of the same job varied from $200 to $900. My friend gave me Dave's name who helped my friend to repair his pipe line a couple of years ago. When Dave came in, he had his team to work on the clog first and then ran a video camera. He showed me what's in there and told me the problem was probably caused by the loose flapper clogging the pipe line. The snake did not even go down much before the clog was cleared completely. He did not even charge me for that. He only had me pay the camera fees which were still much less than what other plumbers would have charged me. I will definitely use him in the future in case there is any sewer line problems again.

Phil K.

We had a great experience with JD Cesare earlier this year when we needed to have our main sewer lateral line replaced. We had about 60' of new pipe run from the street to our clean out and Dave handled it like a totally routine job. No fuss, no hassle at all they did a great job installing the new clean out and patching a 3'x3' spot in our concrete driveway. They used pipe bursting equipment to run the new pipe up through the old pipe, so they only had to dig at either end. The patch in the road was don't perfectly as well. The best part is that their estimate was actually lower than the other 3 quotes I got - and these guys aren't discount / cheap. They just know what they're doing and know that they can do a job without hassle. Highly recommended.

B G.

I had a blockage in our sewer lateral that resulted raw sewage backflowing onto our property. Dave Cesare was one of four sewer plumbers I called to get an estimate and opinion. Dave is a tremendously personal guy whose knowledge is impressive. Each step of the way, he explained to me what he was seeing. Our blockage was complex but Dave hung in there over a period of 2 days to help me resolve the problem. In the end, it required Public Works to clear their main sewer line, Dave Cesare and Dave from Sewer Rat to repair the blockage. Dave provided me with a video and narrative notes he took on our lateral pipe. Dave Cesare's rates were very reasonable and I wouldn't hesitate to use him again. Highly recommend.

Steve A.

We've used Dave for a number of Sewer Lateral inspections in Burlingame and his team has been easy to work with. We initially ended up calling him for a quote after a very well known local competitor gave us a quote 40% higher for the same job.

When the work was completed (and passed inspection) without the price changing mid way through we were extremely pleased and have called him since when listing a home in Burlingame as all homes in Burlingame are required to pass the Sewer Lateral Inspection before closing.

eugene k.

Great work ethic. I was in process of buying a house and needed to do several property condition inspections. I hired Dave to perform a sewer lateral inspection. We met at the property in the morning, unfortunately the seller was out of town and we only had an approximate description of where the clean out was. After fruitlessly trying to find it for an hour, the real estate agent said she will arrange with someone to dig for it. It turned out to be completely buried 1ft underground and not marked in any other way. Dave took the time out of his busy day to come back the same day to perform a thorough inspection, found some unusual issues and gave excellent advice on how to contact the city for clarifications. He charged the same fee that we agreed on before hand even though the work took much more time than expected. JD Cesare Construction will be the 1st company I call in the future.

JJ B.

J.D. Cesare did a full lateral sewer line replacement, installed a clean out, and wye connection per the city of San Mateo's requirements. I highly recommend them. 1) I had over 4 estimates, Dave's was the lowest and most complete. 2) Dave was the only company who told me that they did not need to dig out my concrete porch and could do the replacement without damaging the porch. This saved me a lot of money as I would have had to repair the porch and the tile with each of the other estimates. 3) Dave explained everything to me in detail so I knew what to expect. I had a lot of questions, and he was very patient with me and answered everything. 4) Dave left the work site better than he found it. 5) Dave sent all the necessary paper work on a timely basis to allow me to submit to the city for partial reimbursement through the city cost sharing program. Since he's been in this business for many decades, he knows all of the requirements and the inspectors and the process.

The only thing I advise is that Dave is very popular with the real estate agents and with the city. Burlingame and San Carlos require the sewer line inspection and replacement prior to close of escrow, and he's the go to person in the area. It took me a long time to get on his schedule (I had initially contacted him in early October and the work started in December and was performed in a few stages). I am glad he fit me in, but I would make sure you work with him ahead of time to ensure you can get onto his schedule.

Finally -- and I think this is standard -- my fear about getting the line replaced was that I'd be without plumbing for a week. This is not he case! They only turn it off for a bit of time and usually when you're at work so there is minimal disruption. Finally, he uses a technology where he pulls a line through the existing sewer line to ensure he doesn't have to dig the entire yard up. This method is used by almost all of the companies, but I liked Dave's approach and his confidence. He clearly is an expert at his business!