It was to be Robert and Lynne Siebert's dream home, but it has turned into the house of doom. 

In the six years since the couple from Skennars Head, near Ballina, watched the foundations being laid, the closest they have come to the house they designed themselves is a duplex 500 metres away which they have been renting since 2003, and now share with their two children Madelane and Grace. 

"It's like having chronic dental disease," said Mr Siebert, a public servant. "You're in constant pain and there doesn't seem to be anything you can do about it." 

When the Sieberts engaged a local builder in October 2002, they were told they would be in their new home by May 2003. By October that year, the house was still unfinished and escalating disputes over workmanship resulted in the NSW Office of Trading ordering a rectification notice to the builder. 

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