For the first issue, you can shift textures using X / Y offset fields in texture choice panel.

For the second issue, I meant that you can use two parallel walls with different thicknesses which touch each other, as in the file attached to this post. Using two different wall patterns could even help you to distinguish insulation from the main wall part.

when you say that these issues will not be improved soon, would the fix so difficult or do you have so many other things with higher priority?

The fixes aren't always so difficult to program, but as soon as there is an easy way to circumvent an apparently missing feature, I'm very often reluctant to overload the user interface with new fields. The furniture and wall dialog boxes are already quite large!