Zuccala Homes

Do your research before selecting Zuccala Homes – We entered a contract to build a new home with Zuccala October 6th, 2020, with a completion date of March 30, 2022, being 350 days construction time as calculated and defined in the contract. The completion time was extended by 5 weeks because of an owner requested variation (3weeks) and a Victorian government Covid 19 shutdown (2 weeks)… Read more

both of which were fully documented by the builder as required by the contract as was their notice of a new completion date of May 4th, 2022. The May 4th completion date has elapsed by almost 8 weeks and despite numerous requests to Zuccala Homes to provide a formal reason for the delay and a new completion date, as required by the contract, all such requests were ignored. As a result of the lack of response we issued a notice of intention to terminate the contract which did trigger an immediate response from Zuccalas Solicitors who informed us of their position as follows.

1. Whilst the contract does require the builder to notify and justify delays and provide an estimate of the duration of the delay this is not an essential term of the contract therefore the builder can ignore and doesn’t constitute a breach of contract. 2. The builder can take as long as they like on condition, they are liable for penalty payments. (and don’t exceed 1.5 times the contractual construction time, which is a regulatory maximum). 3. The builder refuses and will not provide a new completion date and they are not required to.

The building contract, as do all contracts, contain clauses which can be regarded as essential or not. If a clause is regarded as essential then any breach is actionable, if not essential then a breach is bad luck and the party suffering the breach has to live with it and suffer the consequences. In our case the completion date, together with the required notice of delays and delay duration is considered by Zuccala and their solicitor to be non-essential. This is the attitude of Zuccala Homes, in the meantime they hold both our home and our lives hostage as we could not make any plans and had to remain in our temporary accommodation indefinitely. Whilst they acknowledge responsibility for delay payments these don’t come close to the true cost of the delays, not to mention the aggravation and anxiety the uncertainty is causes. If any readers are contemplating entering a new home contract be aware that completion date potentially means very little to the builder even though it’s the foundation of the owners’ future planning which can turn to crap very quickly. The whole building experience turned into a nightmare with no end in sight and the anticipation of moving into a new home had been completely eroded by the experience. We did not get handover until September 2022. Besides the issue of not knowing when the house would be completed there were a huge number (+30) mistakes or instances of poor workmanship throughout the build, some minor and some very major including the required gutting and rebuilding of a fully completed bathroom. Whilst the builder has acknowledged and attended to all items they did not do so voluntarily in all cases.

We engaged consultants to undertake the final inspection and a defects report was provided to Zuccala Homes as per the contract requirements, additional defects were then discovered and reported to Zuccala Homes within the defect liability period. We have now been in the home for 12 months and whilst some defects have been rectified the majority have not even though the contract deadline for defect rectification has well and truly elapsed. Whilst Zuccala have accepted responsibility for the defects they continue to either ignore requests for completion dates or makeup excuses why a particular item is delayed. In some cases the excuses are an outright lie and contradict what has been documented by official governing bodies such as the municipal council. One of the items of unfinished and/or defects is the footpath and crossover rectification. Zuccala damaged the footpath to install plumbing and told us they contacted the council who would make repairs at Zuccala’s expense. This was not true as we had council inspectors knock on our door, a few weeks after handover because of another resident's complaint. They not only informed us they had not been contacted by the builder they also informed us they do not pursue the builders as they hold property owners responsible and a building permit was required for the rectification works. We relayed this information and a copy of the council follow up email to Zuccala who agreed to submit the building permit application. We have been following up almost weekly with Zuccala as to the status of the permit and rectification work for the last few months with their response always being they are still waiting for the permit. Their most recent response was June 30 2023 however we know the permit was issued June 8 2023, as the home owner council sent us a copy. Zuccala either do not have This is an absolutely critical item to attend to as there is a safety risk to pedestrians and potential liability for the property owner not Zuccala as informed by council inspectors. If I accept Zuccala were unaware they had received the permit this indicates their management of building works is substandard and lacking accountability otherwise it’s just an outright lie with no other purpose but to deceive the home owner.

Had we anticipated the amount of aggravation and how little protection the owner has under the contract we would not have signed and will never put ourselves through this again as it’s not worth the impact to physical and mental health. I have no experience with other builders and this review is not a comparison only a brief description of some of our experiences with Zuccala Homes.

Our first home!!! Dream come true!!! – We are really happy with our beautiful house built by Zuccala Homes. The journey from start to end was great. This beautiful journey started at the moment we met Steven at their display home in Diggers Rest. He explained us each and every thing in detail and knowing that it is our first build, guided us all together about the building process with… Read more

his excellent knowledge. He also helped us making the right decision and building our confidence. This was it when we decided to built with them. From office side Mendo, Natasha was really helpful and kept us informed about each and every phase from the start of the project. They were amazing with excellent customer service. Our amazing site supervisor Ross was always ready to support us and answer to our very basic questions. He always kept us updated with the work going on and also asked us if we are happy with it. In spite of the few delays due to COVID lockdowns, the communication was seamless and we were kept updated all the time. Hats off to the team. Can't name everyone, but we would like to thank each and everyone in team Zuccala Homes from bottom of our heart for getting us through this journey seamlessly and supporting us always. Thank you once again for building our beautiful house. We highly recommend Zuccala Homes and we will definitely build with you again.

Thank you – We had a positive building experience with Zuccala Homes. Zuccala Homes truly customised their design to suit our sloping corner block and the end result exceeded our expectations. The Zuccala Team were reliable, professional and proficient throughout the build. The Zuccala Name is synonymous with building integrity and quality. Thanks Zuccala Homes for making our home building journey rewarding and seamless. Show details

Disappointing – We signed with Zuccala in 2017. We decided to go with them after they made false promises that they would accomodate concrete flooring. The day we went to do the colours they were rushed and made us chose the whole house fixture and fittings within 4 hours. The quality of the fixtures were extremely basic and ugly like something from the 80's,… Read more

you would find better in Kmart. The trick was they give you cheap fixtures and then when you don't like them they refer you to their supplier to give you a bunch of over priced upgrades at your cost. There was no mid range options offered. We sat in a room that was extremely hot with no windows or natural daylight. It was hard to see what you were choosing. This was obviously deliberate just to get the job done as quickly and conveniently for them. I nearly passed out a few times as it was so hot and stressful. I had to go outside to get fresh air. I didn't even get offered a drink and had to go next door to purchase a bottle of water. They then back flipped on the concrete flooring. I had two of their seniors enter the room and was extremely rude and argumentative. I was in tears and traumatised when I left and knew that I could not go forward with them. I lost $3000 deposit but in hindsight it was probably the best money ever spent avoiding this company, especially reading reviews from others. Please avoid these builders. Go elsewhere you won't regret it. The only regret I have is I didn't write this sooner to warn others, I guess that's the good thing about lockdowns. Stay safe everyone even more so by not dealing with this awful company.

Amazing experience – We couldn’t be happier with our beautiful home built by Zuccala Homes. From the beginning to the end of our build, the whole process was seamless and outstanding. From the moment we met Steve at their display homes in Point Cook, we knew then that we found the right company to build with. Steve was excellent and very knowledgeable, he wasn’t pushy… Read more

at all instead he made sure we made the right decision on a home we wanted to build. Mendo from the office was superb who kept us informed in every step of our build, considering we built during the first lockdown in Victoria. She was amazing with excellent customer service. Our site supervisor Graig was always ready to answer any questions we had and communicated with us during our build. We highly recommend Zuccala Homes to anyone looking to build for their workmanship,professionalism and excellent customer service. Thank you Zuccala Homes for our beautiful home and we will definitely build with you again in future.

Thank you – Unfortunately, I did not get to build my dream house due to family illness resulting in financial issues. However, I did get to see that Zuccala Homes were not just out to make a buck off us during our difficult times. They were very understanding of our situation and were happy to return our deposit without any hesitation. We were very… Read more

grateful for this. My overall experience with Zuccala Homes was all positive. During our initial planning stage Zuccala Homes were always more than happy to accommodate my ideas in designing my home even if some may have seemed a little strange. I would highly recommend them to any one looking to build a home. Thank you.

Good servie and good quality – I bought the zuccala display. There were some issues but builder attended to them in timely manner. They never ignored my emails or calls. After sales service very good. Good people Show details ·  1

Poor service – We built a house with Zuccala Homes completed April 2016. The service was great until after we signed the building contract. We used a private building inspector which you should use when any builder is constructing your home. The building inspector employed by the builder is working for the builder not you. The private building inspector picked… Read more

up some minor faults but because Zuccala is a small volume builder there were delays as we had to wait forntrades to finished there next job before they could rectify faults. It took an extra 3 months in delays as we had faults fixed. The quality of the construction was good because we had the faults pointed out by our private building inspector fixed. Zuccala are no worse than any other builder and they are good value for money as they provide turn key prices. We may have just had a bad site supervisor and the faults were fixed even if it took a long time to do so. We were considering building with Zuccala again and recommended Zuccala to a number of people. We are no longer going to build with Zuccala again or never recommending Zuccala. We had a minor issue with the cornice fall off the ceiling of the alfresco area which the maintenance person has denied is the fault of Zuccala. The maintenance person quoted an irrelevant section saying it was a maintenance issue. The representative of Zuccala said the cornice was installed incorrect and that they would recommend Zuccala fix the issue. Unfortunately the only option we are left with is going to VCAT which is what we are going to do. The cornice started falling off seven months after the house was handed over.

My home build - A dream come true – I am extremely happy that I chose Zuccala Homes as my builder. Zuccala homes has demonstrated exceptional customer service throughout my journey right from design phase to completion. The staff at Zuccala is fantastic and very prompt in keeping their promises. The complaints I hear from lot of other owners during the build with other builders are… Read more

enormous and I am glad that I didn’t have to go through any of those. They provided me a very personalised service with the custom build I was after and considered all our religious beliefs at the time of design. Transparency is another plus of Zuccala as they would show you what you get and in the end what you see is what you get, there is no disappointment at all. The quality of work is A+ and the supervisor I had Richard was fantastic and looked after my property very well. A very organised and clean site they have given me at the time of hand over. I think I have praised them enough. Yes guys I would recommend them without any hesitation they are one of the best in the market.

Our dream home come true – We have found building our new home with Zuccala Homes exceptional, from our first meeting with the sales team to seeing our home being built by highly qualified tradesmen. Our supervisor has made the project run smoothly and well ahead of expected completion date. The customer service we have received since day one has been nothing but… Read more

outstanding and way beyond our expectations. We highly recommend Zuccala Homes as they are professional in every aspect of building. We are grateful to all involved in building our new home and can't wait to move in!

Love my new house/home, its all and more Thanks Zuccala Homes – Thanks Zuccala Homes. My research on my new build came down to two choices. After meeting with the team at Zuccala Homes and their ability to understand what I wanted and their idea's as well on other things I just did not think of, the choice was made "Zuccala Homes". When we sat with the people at Zuccala Homes to pick our colours, fittings,… Read more

textures, etc. it was made so easy because of their knowledge and on trend ideas. I received sms texts and photos all the way through the build so far. It made it feel like they were excited about showing me their workmanship and they did not disappoint. So happy, can't wait to see my castle finished. Thanks to the team at Zuccala Homes.

Enough is ENOUGH! – We have now been living in our home for 3 months (13/05/2018) and would you believe we still do not have a rangehood. YEP this is true and we wish that was the only issue. I am about to add a list of issues we have had and are still currently having with Zuccala so I hope you have some time to read this because its going to be a long one. The… Read more

reason why we have decided to not only write about our experience on product review but to all social platforms is so that potential customers are not blind sided by the positive comments that everyone wrote on product review where by we were all offered a $100 gift card for a positive comment by Zuccala!

OK so I will start by listing in dot points the issues we currently have with Zuccala 3 months since we have MOVED IN.

1. We still do not have a rangehood in our kitchen. The reason being is because Zucalla have obviously never worked with a client that has had a window as a splashback or installing an island rangehood. We understood that this might be the case so we found someone who is a specialist at installing island rangehoods. We let Zucalla know that due to our rangehood being not only an island range hood but it had a silent motor ( which we paid a lot of money for) it might be something Zuccala have never installed before. So went out of our way to make sure that we sent them the specs of the Rangehood, the number of Jason who was the specialist we found that installed these rangehoods and we sent all of this information to Zuccala (which we have copies of) over A YEAR before we moved in so we were very well prepared. Come the day that we got handed the keys surprise surprise rangehood was not installed why because there was a joice in the middle of where the rangehood was meant to sit and you cannot cut through the joice as it is a support beam! How unprepared were they that they did not account for a rangehood to sit over a stovetop!! They installed the motor right on top of the window, which we have been advised by a specialist that even if there had not been a joice in the way that when we would turn on our 'SILENT RANGEHOOD' it would be like a jet taking of because the motor is so close to the window when it is suppose to be min 3 meters away so that its silent. We have had to find a solution which is like looking for a needle in a haystack but we found a rangehood company that custom make rangehoods so that we could have a rangehood that had a big flute to cover the fact that there is a joice in the way and work around the joice but again zuccala refuse to pay for the rangehood even though this is their mistake!

2. We were suppose to have polished dark internal doors (which we paid addtional $8000 to get as upgrade to match the front door and stairs stain colour) but when we questioned why they were WHITE they said that's what was ordered which is not true. When we spoke to Joe our salesman again to reconfirm, he said yes I remember we spoke about them being polished the same colour as your front door and as your stairs. When we spoke to headoffice and said that this is a mistake on your behalf they blamed us and said that it was not written on the paperwork therefore we had to pay $8000 to order new doors as they couldn't be stained! We already forked out $8000 to begin with to get that stain and they wanted more money of us for THEIR mistake. My husband argued why would we originally pay $8000 to get white doors when we can just get the standard white doors at no extra cost anyway it doesn't make sense so clearly you guys missed to putting the stain colour in the paperwork! They denied all responsibility so we ended up having to paint the doors black ourselves with an out of pocket as they would not return the doors.

3. The very first day we moved in was a very wet day (our luck). By the end of the night we all noticed that the carpet in our first living room at the front of the house was flooded with water. The carpet was drenched half way up the room. We immediately contacted our supervisor and sent videos and photos. He eventually sent out someone to take a look at it for literally 2 mins and said they could not see a problem. Well a couple of weeks after that there was some more rain and again the front flooded. The carpet until now yes 3 months on and still it has not been replaced. The carpet there is now mouldy and squishy. They only found out the problem 2 weeks ago and fixed it a week ago so will see how it goes in the future but still waiting for them to replace our carpet!

4.Our study door is a sliding door and since day 1 it has been an issue trying to open it. it scraps every time and now there are paint and scratch marks all over the doors. They cannot find a solution besides the metal inside needs to be bent so it does not scrap anymore when you open and close it. So the solution they came up with was to put pieces of wood in the doors so that it would bend open the wall.

5. we waited a week after we moved in for our stair case to be stained. Why? well the painter told us why! he said that he told Zuccala months before we moved in that the stairs in our house and in all the other double storey houses Zuccala builds that the stairs need to stained with a gripping stain so that children and adults dont slip on the stairs which would cost Zuccala $400. Zuccala tries to avoid getting this gripping stain which is required by law for safety. The painter refused to stain the stairs as he said if someone slips on these stairs by law you can sue me for it being a slip hazard as it doesnt have the gripping stain. He said Zucalla pressured him not only for our house but for other double storey homes to stain without it. This is revolting to hear that a company does not care about anyones safety and cutting corners to save $400! Thank goodness the painter refused until they paid him for the gripping stain hence why it was done a week after we moved in.

6. we had camera and alarm installed a couple of weeks after we moved in. The camera guy was outside on the alfresco roof when he noticed that there were roof tiles missing from our alfresco which would then lead to leaks in the alfresco which we have downlights and fans installed. can you imagine what could have happened if he did not pick up on this?

ok im going to try and wrap this up as i do not want my review to be cut of by the limit of words. so i will say the rest in small points.

Cracks upstairs in the walls, silicon that has stained our carpet in the master due to negligence by the installers, silicone on the splacshback tiles and benchtops, holes in concrete alfresco floor, loose tap in kitchen, paint stains on carpets and floorboards, paint touchups, paint peeling near linen and garage, right alfresco door needed to be replaced as it was severly dinted, gaps under garage door due to concrete not being cut properly, right oven is not sitting flush with left oven therefore the door closing on you and many many more issues we have and have had fixed.

We currently have a case open against Zuccala with the DBDRV (Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria)

which we are on a waiting list for which takes between 60-70 days for your case to be seen ( its been 60 days now). I have all evidence for all the points I have talked about but unfortunately ProductReview does not have a option to add them. If you would like to see any images please message me and I will send them all. otherwise I will be going on google review Facebook and other social networks I can find to post my review and images.

The staff at head office is constantly changing and when I mean constantly I mean all the time. They are not able to retain the staff and it impacts us as customers as we have constantly been given different information, different attitudes by different staff we deal with and the communication is not relayed as its always a ' he said she said' scenario.That is why with Zuccala it is very important you have everything emailed and keep copies of all conversation as that is how they get you.

We have been dealing directly with the manager of Zuccala who's name is [name removed] from when we moved in and he has been nothing but rude and constant excuses and attitude.He has been using the excuse of "im new to the company" "Obviously the information has not been relayed properly" "someone else did this not me" and has never taken accountablity for the company he works for to help resolve all these issues as quick and fairly for us.

We have learnt to never build with Zuccala again and due to this negative experince will probably never build again so thank you Zuccala.

Very proud of my new home! – After many hours finalising the floor plan and custom details, Zucalla has built us a beautiful home which is exactly as I envisaged. The build may have taken longer than others in our estate, however the workmanship is very good. Customer service has been excellent, especially during the planning stage. A very big thank you to all involved, I love my new home!

Really happy! – Zuccala has been really good so far! I'm just about to start building and the team at Zuccala have been wonderful, very attentive of want I want in my home and the process had been really quick and smooth. I can call them anytime about anything and I don't get passed from person to person, any questions I have they are more than happy and… Read more

available to take the time to answer and keep in communication with me. Our block slopes from front to back so we can't have a standard floor plan so Zuccala have custom designed me a beautiful home to fit the block at a really good price and I'm so excited. Big thank you to the sales team Luke and Lucie and construction manager Steve who have been a pleasure to work with on something that is so important to me and my family! :-)

Impeccable Service – From the moment we walked through the doors at the display home in Woodlea Rockbank, we have felt at home!! From first contact with our sales consultant, through to our colour selection, through to signing off our contracts, the people, the processes, the quality and features we are receiving in our home have been nothing short of impeccable!!! We… Read more

cant wait to see our house when it's complete, and cant wait to continue dealing with the team at Zuccala.

Happy Customers - Fantastic experience! – We wanted to find a custom home builder for our wide frontage lot. It was important for us to find a company that had experience, but was not so big that we would just become another number. We were recommended by a friend to inquire at Zuccala Homes, and we had an amazing experience with them. This family business was exactly what we were looking… Read more

for.

We visited the site with our supervisor, who was very helpful, during construction, and were very impressed not only with the workers on site but with the quality of the materials and the willingness of everyone involved to help and accommodate our needs and wishes for the house.

Our house has turned out amazingly and we could not be happier with the result.

Terrible – I would not recomend this builder to anybody. During construction the supervisor would not communicate with the customer, the only way i knew they had made any progress was when i received a bill!After construction the maintenance department is very good at conducting inspections of defects however i am yet to have any defects fixed after making… Read more

several follow up calls and waiting several weeks

Poor quality construction, cheap materials, lousy customer service

Problem with leaking from first floor bathroom and from falt roof over garage – Wew ught one of the early display home in Craigieburn.. the Studio, double story with a flat rover the garage & master bedroom. As we moved in, one of the glass cover of the light fell doen to the living room. Lucky that there was no one there. Zucca said they would replaced the glass but far, after almost 3 years, nothing is done. Last… Read more

year, we had water leaking from the top floor. It was discovered that Zuccalla built t house without using any waterproof cover in the top floor bathroom. That was the reason that water was leaking down. The entire bathroom floor had to be redone by Zuccala.

Then we had some water leaking from the flat roof, down to the master bed room downstairs. Zuccalla maintenance took 2 months before coming to investigate. They said that it was due to blocked gutter not being cleaned (the house was built 5 years ago as a display home & we bought it 3 years ago). The maintenance man said he had no complain from any other Studio home owner before.

Two weeks ago, we have some heavy rain, and suddenly, the light went off. Then we heard water dropping to the garage door. When we found our torch, the water was pouring down from the garage ceiling - thru the gaps in the walls and thru the power points and lights! The floor of the garage was flooded with water... We had to manually open the garage door so the water could run out. We also collected two full large buckets of water just from the water pouring down from one wall.

Never see that much water pouring down the ceiling before!!!

We notified Zuccalla an next day, one maintenance man came to check He said that it was due to a blocked gutter (the other side gutter from the one that the same man came to check just 2 weeks previously at the water leaking to our bedroom).

The next day i told my neighbour who also bought a Studio home next to our... with similar design AND HE ALSO HAS HAVING WATER LEAKAGE DOWN THE CEILING OF HIS GARAGE TOO! What a co-cidence..

I went up to the roof to check. The gutter is not is quite larger but it was lying over the end of the ceiling, inside the outer brick wall. The gutter run off thru a smaller opening in one end to a small drain. That small whole was not completely blocked..only about 10% covered with some leave. After careful check the gutter, it was obvious that the run off whole may be too small and if water build up in the gutter then the over flow water will flow over to the ceiling of the house (as the gutter was lying over the ceiling).

I believe that there may be a problem with the technical design of that gutter as it is obvious that any water over flow has no where to go but overflow down the ceiling of the house ONLY.

Just wonder if any one who has build a Studio Home by Zuccalla Homes has any water leaking problem from their flat rooftop.

I am waiting to have a structural engineer to come over to check the gutter design.

If any one has any similar problem, please let me know by sending a email to: drpaosykao@gmail.com

Pao Saykao

Coniston Place

Craigieburn

Tel: 0418346242

Water leakage from bathroom in topfloor & from fat roof top

Excellent – After looking around many display homes, and getting many prices from many different builders, we decided to go with Zuccala homes because of the flexibility with there designs. Our home was custom designed by Zuccala homes' design & estimating team to our specifications and we are extremely happy with what they have done. We had a few ideas on… Read more

design which they helped us through and suggested some other things that has made our house one of a kind. The office staff are extremely professional, and always able to help us with any query we have had. Our site supervisor is fantastic and has kept constant contact with us through the build. Quality is over and above what we expected. we couldn't be happier with our choice and would recomend to anyone. Flexibility with plans, competitive pricing, quality, customer service Not many if any at all.