Lauer

Dear Bepgof, Thank you for the leads. Wonderful background stuffs to read, on one hand fascinating but on the other, confusing also. Cheers!

Dear Bepgof, I think that most probably there is a relationship between the invention of XKFX's grids and the ancient Chinese architecture of "Siheyuan", typically of a courtyard surrounded by four buildings. If we take this assumption as valid, then the question is whether the XKFX theory developed for this kind of architecture could apply to our pigeon-hole type of architecture. For example, the main door in "Siheyuan" refers to its main gate. Did the ancient FSM actually apply XKFX to those four building within a "Siheyuan" as well? Actually, regarding "Siheyuan" I could at least "see" a continuity between the external & internal FS analysis. Your thoughts? Cheers!

Dear Tidakboleh, I believe that most people could relate to Qi in TCM/acupuncture, or Qi in Kung Fu/Qi Cong. But what is Qi in feng shui? I could agar agar "see" what is Qi in external landform, but not at internal of a house. What is the principle behind Flying Star regarding Qi in the various sectors, let alone why the formation shifts after every 20 years, started from 1683? Thank you in advance to share with us your views. Cheers!

Dear Bepgof, Don't despair. One has to understand that the history of China, what had gone through, was somewhat inevitable. To put simply, it had been a very long period (at least 2,500 years) of evolution in the Executive & Administrative structure governing the country. In 1911, the Executive power of Imperial China ended. To me, the more interesting part of the thousands of years of history of China is that it had been governed mostly by the non-Han. Cheers!

Dear Bepgof, But isn't the Gua (Kua) number the basis for Eight Mansion analysis? Cheers!

Dear Bepgof, This calculation couldn't be right...China adopted the ang moh calendar only in 1911? Cheers!

Photos please. Cheers!

Dear Bepgof, Wah, devil also uses email arh... No wonder they called it Cloud Computing; dark cloud that is. Oops!

Dear Jialuck, What kind of bad effects? How bad could it become? TIA!

Dear Warlock, It is notoriously difficult to find handyman to fix this kind of problem. Try to catch an ID or glass installer when you see one around your area. Whatever you do, please don't attempt to fix it yourself. I have seen an installer taking almost an hour to fix the hinge of a new shower screen door that came loose, so it is not easy. More importantly, the glass could be heavy and becomes dangerous when cracked. Hope these help.

Dear Butoot, Just my two-cents worth of thought. I think that the people who do marble polishing or solid tops would be able to help. I don't know where you could buy the grinding machine, but it is more than having a machine. Skill is important as well. Perhaps you could contact your ID, or look out for IDs who are doing renovations in the vicinity, and see if one is willing to help you by engaging his/her marble or solid top people. Cheers!

Dear Bepgof, No la. The whole system of zodiac signs should eliminate the month's reference. The problem is that one has to find the exact star constellation one is borned under. Tio bo? Cheers!

Dear Kalimantan, Western. Have fun.

Dear Bepgof, I say it should be Pisces, according to the star's influence. Cheers!

Dear Bepgof, Aiyoh, sorry for causing more grey hair... I thought that it was a harmless question leh; just input your (or others that you know) birthday data and see if the bazi interpretation is chun bo? I am speaking of the very basic decoding; character etc. I found it accurate for the basis decoding but the rest not at all (at least for the past cycles). Cheers!

Dear Soyabean, I am not sure what do you mean by one-stop shop? The market norm is that, if you engage an architect then he/she is the accountable person to get the building done. The alternative is by engaging a builder, who then becomes the accountable person. It is just a difference in business arrangement; one with the architect fronting, the other with the builder fronting. Of course, along the designing & construction phases, you would surely have to deal with the architect and builder. It is just a question of how much, and depending on how hands on you are. Regarding the experience described by you, I suspect that you have laid down the budget? Cheers!

Dear Sg, Just to share my two-cents worth of thought. If you are planning extensive renovation of the flat, especially involving wet works like re-tiling of bathrooms etc, then my advice is to move out temporarily to allow the renovation to take place. You could look at the renovation process captured in t-blogs here; the renovation would be noisy, dirty etc, not conducive to live in for most people. These get on your nerve, your presence would hinder the workers... In short, it could result in an unpleasant experience for your family. In renovation, while creating a particular look is important to the owner, the material used should be sustainable. And do you intend to have a timber-flooring look for the living & dining areas in the first place? I leave it to others who have installed laminated or engineered wood to share their thoughts. Chees!

Dear Bepgof, To you, this one chun bo? http://www.horo.idv.tw/FreeHoro/ Cheers!

I could only say that, find an opportunity to speak to the upstair neighbor about the problem, without the presence of his contractor. Try to get him to understand that it is to his interest to get his contractor to fix it, after all his renovation is new. But please make sure that he understands the process you are taking to confirm if it is indeed a leak, and why. (Rich or not, no one likes a shoddy piece of work from his contractor). I would have to leave it for others to comment on how to deal with HDB.

Let me try to illustrate the layers based on my understanding, with the caveat that I am not an expert at all. We have: 1. Granite tiles layer 2. Grouting cement layer used to affix the tiles 3. Water-proofing layer 4. Cement screed for leveling of floor, if required 5. RC layer for slab 6. Cement plaster layer (your ceiling) So, you could see that for water/moisture to penetrate to your ceiling, it has gone through the 6 layers. It would continue to penetrate even after re-plastering the 6th layer. Now, each time the upstair neighbor changed his tiles, the floor should be re-hacked to the 4th layer. Otherwise, the floor wouldn't be leveled with other areas such as dining area etc. The question is if the water-proofing had been re-applied properly (this thing is expensive). Hope these help.

My two-cents worth of thought. I think that re-plastering etc without finding out the cause is delaying the inevitable - more repairs down the road. The water-proofing is basically a membrane to allow time for the dampness of a flooring (granite in this case) to dry in due course. Water should not be ponding below a properly laid granite flooring. Looking at the symptom, the water-proofing is most probably damaged during the second tiling attempt, plus gaps in between the granite tiles in some areas. When re-plastering, I would suggest leaving it without sealer for a few days so see if the stains recur. Use oil-based sealer before painting only after ascertaining that there is no more recurrence, because the oil-based sealer could hide the problem for a while. Cheers!

Dear MsChong, It could be done BUT most carpenters would turn down the job. (I have had one side of a shelf re-laminated because it was tarnished by the timber-flooring lacquer, and the carpenter rectified it as he was there doing other areas). The reasons: - The built-in structure (be it a wardrobe, book-shelf etc) would have to dismantle carefully from the wall(s) where it is attached, - The old laminate or veneer removed, the surface prepared for re-lamination, - The whole structure re-mounted. There you could see that the difficulty is not the re-lamination but the time & effort in dismantling, preparing and re-mounting. Also, the laminate for the door panels are machine-pressed, so the carpenter would have to send them to the factory. In short, it would normally not cost effective to re-laminate, and don't forget that the finished structure would be less than ideal in term of workmanship. Hope these help. Cheers!

Dear KittyJems, I am no expert in glass, but you should know the following when comparing: - Normally, the glass provider would recommend a certain thickness based on the dimension of the glass required. A bigger piece of glass, the minimum thickness increases. This is more because of the glass production, stability in order to transport the glass to a place to install etc. Of course, you may ask for a thicker piece (than recommended) for some reasons. - There are different types of glass; ordinary clear (but you would see a green shade, greener when the glass is thicker), low-iron (no or lesser green shade), tinted, crystal etc. All of different prices. - If the glass is laminated, spray-painted etc Hope these help. Cheers!

Dear Bepgof, How do you apply these knowledge? Can share how to read the sky? TIA!

Dear Renoseeker, In the proposed business model, what is the responsibility of the "Us" (as per your diagram) after a successful engagement, in terms of the entire renovation cycle? Cheers!