Good news. The insurance company organised another building consultant to come out and reassess the situation. He has said that the claim for the tiles in the kitchen is justified. Yippee! He has also said that there is damage to the kitchen cupboards, so we should at least get something from the insurance for that as well! Thank you jbantick for your encouragement to pursue this.

Your home is lovely, my thoughts are if you are hesitating about the dado rails, maybe consider turning them into an elegant and timeless feature, by converting them to wainscoting? (I sense from your question that you are not a devotee of the Victorian style :-) I also agree with what the others have mentioned about changing the colours to something more neatural like a shade of grey that you like or a dusty blue, and leaving the lower half white. For a more updated look, you could look at updating the pendant lights to something a little more classic, (to your taste of course) and if budget permits, changing to carpets to perhaps a hardwood floor. All the best, I hope this helped. Ive attached a picture and link to an example. http://www.charmingzebra.com/2011/07/wainscoting-success-sort-of.html

Hi How2Girl, I appreciate your follow up! The Reece document is good - thanks - I wish there was something concrete in the Standards though. Worth notiing is that a shower over the bath needs the same wall-sheeting details as if it was a shower base. Also wall framing in the bathroom needs to be done to AS 1684.2-2010 Residential timber-framed construction - Non-cyclonic areas (Which the James Hardie 'wet area design book' is based on) Very frustrating that the Australian Standards are not readily available - ie FREE- or at least, latest copies at local libraries. How are we meant to build to standards when they are inaccessible. Another factor in determining the overall quality of the Australian construction industry Also what I've found frustrating in this instance is that other trades in my small town are unwilling to agree that the work is of very poor quality - there is an unstated 'brotherhood' at work. So Im going to have to engage an independent Building Certifier, probably from out of town. Of course,the cost for this will come off the builder's fees on a pro-rata basis for below-par work

"Why do renovations take so much longer than promised?" It's actually unrealistic to "promise" a timeframe on a renovation, simply due to the nature of them. Any timeframe contracted practically is a guide only for these projects. The good/experienced builders will manage expectations well by building in a significant amount of contingency in their scheduling. If all goes well they'll bring the project in sooner. If it goes bad then there is capacity to still bring it in on time. There are so many unknowns and unlimited options of how to go about resolving issues that crop up in the course of a renovation. Anyone going into a renovation needs to understand they are a completely different type of project to say a volume build, which is a tried and tested product that can be delivered for a fixed priced in a relatively fixed timeframe. Renovation are customised in nature and hence involve a different dynamic and a different set of expectations. Sorry to hear bout your frustrating experience. Best of luck with the project completion Cheers PD