Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Silkwood Dream Homes 2Aug 21, 2015 3:10 pm Hi Intella We are currently building with Silkwood dream, almost at handover. We started our build on 29th January 2015. We had never heard of Silkwood dream prior, to us building with them. We came across them as we're going to buy an established house which Silkwood dream had built a few years back, (KDRB) sale fell through on that house and DH and l thought let's do a KDRB on our land, so we signed up with them last year, after many months of altering the Columba design to suit us. We actually have a facade which is no longer offered, but we loved that particular facade as it was the same facade from the house sale that fell through, so we chose different bricks and different front render. My one advice to you, if you do go with them or not, please hire a private building inspector to check every stage (if your budget allows) that's regardless of which ever builder you decide to go with! We had a good run with our build, starting in summer, just abit of a pain finishing in winter. But we are not too far off spring which is ideal for us as we need to lay concrete for our driveway and an apron pathway around our house, so it will make it easier for access for the other trades after handover. Silkwood don't do a total turn key package, no driveway or external concreting. We decided to do our own floors and install our own appliances and they have been good to co-ordinate things like our appliance cut outs and lightly tacking our skirting boards so we can lay our bamboo floors and after floor installations their painter will return to finish painting our skirting boards once they have been permantly fixed on the wall, by our floor covering installers. We were also extremely lucky to be renting the house next door so I could see all the trades doing their work and I was able to keep a track on when things happened? Also you need to be pro active and keep an eye on things, like make sure you know all your upgrades and keep a check list as things are getting done. I found majority of their tradesmen have been working for Silkwood for several years (10 years or more) and they take pride in their work. I always was pleasant to them, and introduced myself to them prior to entering on site, and silkwood's Administration Manager, she is very competent and very helpful when selecting colours. So overall they are not a volume builder they will know you by name not just a number. But just keep in mind nothing is perfect as we are all humans but if there is a issue you need to email in writing straight away to office administrator and follow up with a phone call. I kept a diary and took heaps of photos for my own personal journey, as this was our first time building. Seriously I have learnt heaps by reading topics on homeone. Anyway if you want to ask more questions please, Feel free! Re: Silkwood Dream Homes 3Aug 22, 2015 2:04 pm Thanks Mezmaz71 Must be wrapped nearly handover best wishes. We weren't too sure about them ,did not hear much about them. Is there upgrades expenses and selection centre is there variety.Did u get the slab checked out before pour, how did u go with the frame inspection, was brickwork done correctly. When there were errors do they fix it without fuss, do they care about customer and ur house. Do u have photos of ur design,facade and construction photos to post to see. Re: Silkwood Dream Homes 4Aug 23, 2015 12:41 am Hi Intella, We are generally happy with Silkwood's customer care, they do seem to take longer to build than other builders, but this really didn't bother us too much, as we were after quality vs speed. Their HIA contract states they have up to 310 days to build your house, but they will finish your house sooner than stated. We'll be around 7 months at handover according to my estimate, closer to 210 days rather than the stated 310. But keeping in mind we are doing our own flooring and installation of our own appliances as well as we need to lay down a driveway. We have engaged B.E. (Building Expert) on this forum to complete all of our inspections, starting with first inspection 1. Review of building contract prior to signing. 2.pre-pour slab, 3.frame, 4.pre-plaster, 5. PCI (pre completion inspection). Each inspection in $600 inspection goes for an hour and report was emailed to us 24-48 hours, depending on what faults were found? So for us we spent around 1% of the total building price on the cost of our inspections. For us we wanted piece of mind we were getting a quality job, as we have never built and didn't have family or friend to advice us on quality of build. Yes, Silkwood will fix all issues that were highlighted in our inspector's report, but you need to check as well. And follow up. You need to check out Silkwood Dreams website for house designs to see if you like any of their designs, also on their website they list their inclusions look under Gensis range and we built a variation to the Columba design and the facade was called Victorian facade. (No longer offered) I will try to post pics soon. Are you thinking of single or double storey, as they have recently built a new display house that's double storey at Merrifields estate, address on their website. Don't rush into any decision take your time, building your dream home is something you do once in a lifetime. I don't know if I would repeat the experience, as you need to be extremely organised and keep on top of things as the building stages progress. As I said in my previous reply we were very lucky that we are living next door to our new house, so I could check daily on the progress. The only thing that can make it abit frustrating is sometimes the SS doesn't communicate with us as often as we would like especially when certain things were getting done. But for us it wasn't a huge issue as I saw the progress literally at our door step. Good luck! Re: Silkwood Dream Homes 5Aug 25, 2015 11:49 am Hi Intella, Have you made a decision? I think if you are still interested in Silkwood Dreams, choose a house design to suit your lifestyle, have you gone to see any of their display homes? Or gone on their website? We only went to the Mintbush estate in mernda, we haven't seen the double storey in the Merrifields estate, (as that has only recently being finished). Also, with Silkwood, they are happy for you to make as many changes to their existing house plans, they encourage you in fact, to change their plans to suit you, in the end we felt we customised their plans to suit us. Silkwood will of course charge if you increase the std room size or ceiling height. (Which we did to both). But to make it economical for both sides I would try to make as many changes at the one time prior to house plans being submitted to draughtmen. I think you get a quicker turn around, but in saying that, you may be happy with house plans as standard, depending on your budget I guess? Re: Silkwood Dream Homes 7Sep 03, 2015 2:31 pm Well good Luck with your decision, as it's a life changer and you don't want to choose, a House Design/builder then regret it later! We were lucky as I had seen a house that had already been built by my builder and I pretty much liked the house design, so I found my builder by default. But in saying that I still found it scary when it came to committing myself as I had never heard of Silkwood Dreams before. I did look at their reviews on line, and I dealt with a nice & straight forward sales personnel who gave us some very helpful tips. But overall you have to trust your gut instinct and I cannot stress this anymore, you still need to have an independent private building inspector working for you to check every stage. I think knowing I had a private building inspector looking after our interests gave us peace of mind. Cheer Mary Re: Silkwood Dream Homes 8Oct 04, 2015 6:23 pm Hi MezMaz71 We are considering Silkwood Dream Homes but need some feedback. Have you move into your new home as yet? What was your experience with them like? How do they compare price wise? Is your foundation a Concrete Slab or Waffle Pod? Re: Silkwood Dream Homes 9Oct 04, 2015 8:39 pm Hi TrillHome, we had handover with siilkwood, but we are still doing a couple of things post handover, not long before we move in thou. I generally had a good experience with them, but we were lucky to be renting house next door so I literally saw what was happening. So I wasn't stressed when I didn't get regular updates from SS. I already knew what was happening. I did like that I could pop over most days to have a quick look and take some pics. I was just asked not to instruct their tradies directly, they prefer you to ring and speak to their admin manager first and then she sorts it out with SS. Also SS doesn't give you his mobile number but you can email him anytime, and he does read them, he doesn't always respond, but things got done which is the main thing! Our foundation was waffle pod, as our land was very flat it was ideal for our block. We did a knock down & rebuild in an established area. We were fortunate our site costs were just under $9000. I would strongly recommend getting a private building inspector for every stage, which is what we did or if you know someone with a good knowledge on the building industry, then use them. Just let silkwood know prior to signing contract you have a private building inspector as they need to know he is properly insured to enter building sites, basic OHS. If there's any issues they were resolved, but I think having a private building inspector in your corner is nice to have. The good thing with silkwood is they are not a volume builder and I was always dealing with admin manager or SS, so they get to know you as a person not a number. I know the sales person we dealt with has left so I can't comment on their current sales person. Price wise they aren't the cheapest but they provide good quality products, we did our own appliances and floors and silkwood were good in working with us to achieve them. All our cuts outs for our own appliances fit beautifully and silkwood agreed to lightly tack on our skirting boards so we could install our bamboo floors post handover without quads and they even got painters to came back after handover to paint our skirting boards and no dramas at all. Just keep in mind they are not the fastest when it comes to build time. But they did finish our house well ahead of schedule. It took them 224 days to finish our house and they state 310 days in their HIA contract. So keep that in mind. If you keep on top of everything, I kept a diary and wrote down notes for my own experience, you do enjoy the whole building experience. Just remember things can go wrong, we are all human beings, but they do get sorted out. Good luck with your decision. P.S. Are you building single story? In a new estate? Also remember Silkwood don't offer todo any driveways so not a complete turn key package. Ask for references and speak to them. If they are defensive or try to avoid the request, walk. 1 74688 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 105491 Hi there! Putting the feelers out there for those who have (or almost) built with Arli homes! Interested in your experiences who've built from their stock home designs… 0 23465 |