J.C. Ziccardi Builders Inc

My wife and I purchased a home from JC Ziccardi Builders in early May 2015. The home was advertised and portrayed by Joe Z[redacted] (owner) as being fully remodeled and “like new.” Within a few hours of taking ownership of the property we realized that none of the newly installed doors on the second floor would close, garbage (including a sweaty old t-shirt) was left in the kitchen cabinets, a vent cover that was to be installed on the crawlspace had not been installed, the refrigerator consistently leaked on the floor, there was a hole in the wall from where JC Ziccardi Builders lowered the microwave and didn’t patch the previous location, the entryway grout and floor strip were not repaired as agreed upon, and the screen door was missing.

We contacted the owner and he sent a staff member to fix the doors that would not close immediately. The vent cover, wall repair, and screen door were completed in June after additional requests had to be sent to the owner. No resolution was offered for the refrigerator. We are still waiting on the grout and floor strip repair, 10 months later.

After one week of ownership we emailed the owner concerned with some gurgling sounds the plumbing had been making. The owner never responded to that email. After 2 more days raw sewage began to back up into the home. We then called the owner and he sent over a plumber to inspect the problem and run a sewer eel. The staff members implied the issue was a clog caused by a feminine product. In the one week of ownership there was not a single female in the home that required the use of such a product.

3 weeks into ownership the area experienced a heavy rainfall. The master bathroom and bedroom ceiling began to leak water. The owner was again contacted and he sent a staff member the next day to assess and fix the issue. The staff member told us that the wrong sealant had been used on the new metal roof. They used bathroom caulk and the extreme conditions on a roof caused it to dry rot quickly. The staff member replaced the caulk with what he stated was the correct material. We asked if it would be necessary to access the attic to remediate anything that was damaged in there or replace the wet drywall. He said that was not necessary and left the property. Suspecting that was not true we consulted two friends in the building trades. They informed us that it was absolutely necessary to access the attic, remove anything that was wet, and dry/clean the area. We contacted the owner to inform him that we were not happy with how the situation was handled and he agreed to send over more staff the following day. The staff that came removed a full garbage bag of soaking wet insulation, sprayed anti-microbial spray, ran a fan for 24 hours, reinsulated the space, and performed a minor drywall repair. Additionally, these new staff members went on the roof and removed the sealant that the staff member from 2 days prior installed, stating to us that he also used the incorrect sealant. They replaced it with what they claimed to be correct.

Within the first month, due to all of the issues we had experienced with our “like new” home, our father/father-in-law came to inspect the work that was done on the home. He previously owned a construction business. This lead to the discovery of significant undisclosed foundation and structural issues. At the urging of our attorney, we sought repair bids before contacting the owner of JC Ziccardi Builders. Once those bids were acquired, we emailed the owner of JC Ziccardi Builders directly requesting to open up a dialogue regarding the issues. The email detailed and provided photographs of all the issues that were identified structurally and additional issues like: the front door not being attached and falling out of place, the newly installed siding being detached in 2 locations, the original repair to the entryway never being completed, hot electrical wires laying on the ground in the damp crawlspace, cracking and chipping grout in the bathrooms, and ventilation ducts that were detached or never properly secured.

We never received any reply from the owner of JC Ziccardi Builders in response to this email. After ample time, our attorney contacted the attorney of JC Ziccardi Builders for a response. No resolution was offered. The owner of JC Ziccardi Builders has refused to meet with us in a formal or informal manner. Additionally, the owner of JC Ziccardi Builders lives within 1,000 feet of the property in question, literally driving by every day. We have seen him countless times since these issues have come to light. He has refused to speak with us or look at the issues we identified.