Nearly 90% of homes in the civilised world have electricity. It is something that we take for granted every day of our live and yet it is one of most influential components of our home. It powers our cooking equipment, our heating and lighting, and our entertainment. Read More →
Toxic Building Material Contaminates Homes, Spawns New Business Carroll Trosclair Oct 16, 2009 Chinese drywall boards imported a few years ago are ruining American houses and lives, costing families millions of dollars and loss of insurance. Help may be coming Several lawyers along the American Gulf coast have put together class action lawsuits to find relief for the growing number of families whose homes have been ruined by contaminated Chinese drywall. Many of the families are hurricane victims who had recently built new homes or made major repairs to their storm-wrecked houses. Thousands of the Chinese-manufactured boards were imported into the United States starting in 2004. The toxic...
Learn the Basics of the Chinese Art of Placement Alla Kondrat Oct 14, 2009 Getting started with Feng Shui, a Chinese art of placement, is not as difficult as people might think. Its basics are easy to understand and use on practice. Feng Shui is a Chinese art of locating objects in space with the purpose of creating a harmonious and well-balanced environment that benefits the people who work and live in it. Though from the first sight Feng Shui may seem to be a complex and sophisticated science, its basics can be learned by anyone. How to Get Started with Feng Shui? Feng Shui starts with cleanness and order. Just like an individual has the power to influence his or her direct environment...
Eight Mansions, Water & Mountain Dragons, Environmental Feng Shui Alla Kondrat Oct 5, 2009 San He or Three Combinations System of Feng Shui includes Eight Mansions or East/West, Water Dragons, Mountain Dragons, and Environmental Feng Shui teachings. The Three Combinations, also called San He, system is considered to be the oldest school of Feng Shui. Among the major practices used in San He Feng Shui is observing landforms and applying the qualities of the 4 celestial animals to the site being analyzed. One of the most important landforms is mountains: both real mountains and structures associated with mountains, such as high buildings. Another is bodies of water: actual rivers, lakes,...
Flying Stars and Time & Space Systems of the Three Cycles Teaching Alla Kondrat Sep 28, 2009 San Yan school of Feng Shui is one of the two major traditional Feng Shui schools, and includes Flying Stars and Time & Space systems. The two major schools of traditional Feng Shui are San He School, also called Three Harmonies School, and San Yan, or Three Cycles School. The major difference between San Yan and San He systems is that time is not considered in a Feng Shui analysis conducted by a San He school practitioner. San Yan, or Three Cycles School of Feng Shui The major concept of San Yan Feng Shui is studying the energy, or Chi, of the dwelling, with the purpose of determining...
What comes to mind when you hear the word “plumbing”? For most people, plumbing means their toilet, primarily, and maybe also their shower, sinks and dishwasher. In fact, however, there are many different types of plumbing systems, each responsible for a different kind of water and/or a gas inflow or outflow. If you are a homeowner, or even if you live in a rental and don’t want to have to deal with the landlord too often, it pays to educate yourself about the basics of plumbing systems. Having a base of knowledge allows you make simple fixes to plumbing problems that are easy to manage and to know when you need to call in a professional. Likewise, understanding plumbing systems...
by Murray Anderson Virtually everyone has at least one smoke detector in their home, but do you know what to do if the unthinkable happens and that smoke detector goes off? Is there a way for your family to get out the burning building? Just think about it, there are about a half million residential fires reported in the US every year and fire can spread so quickly escape from a home can be blocked in 60 seconds. That’s why the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) recommends there be escape ladders in every occupied room above the ground floor of all homes. There are essential two types of home escape ladders Fixed escape ladders are installed permanently against an outside wall....
by Murray Anderson Pocket doors have been around for centuries. They were a standard feature of upscale homes in the early part of the 20th century but gradually went out of style and were replaced by the swinging doors we’re all familiar with. However, there are a lot of positive benefits to a pocket door and modern pocket doors are easy to operate, as well as quiet and strong so you may want to think about pocket doors in your home. Why install a pocket door A pocket door will save you about 10 square feet of floor space in a room (over a swinging door) so they’re a great feature in a small room. Just think about a situation of a small powder room or half bath where there really...
by Murray Anderson Centuries ago people recognized the importance of having a supply of fresh water close to their homes so they built their homes close to rivers and streams. Over the years our human need for fresh water hasn’t diminished, but now our homes are seldom built beside a river. As a result, we’ve had to develop water supply systems to bring water into and take it away from our homes. However, many people have little knowledge of how water systems work and how the water magically gets into their homes, so here’s an overview of your home’s water system. It all starts with the water supply Most of us get our water from a municipal water supplier who get the...
Lucky Charms for Decorating the Center of the Bagua Alla Kondrat Sep 15, 2009 Feng Shui health area is located in the center of the Bagua map. Learn how to decorate it in order to be healthy, wealthy, lucky, and happy. The center of a house or a room is, probably, the most important Feng Shui area, since it is devoted to health. Therefore, this Feng Shui sector should be paid special attention to. The Chi flows from all the corners of the house gather in Feng Shui health area. So, the importance of the center of the house can be compared to that of the human heart – it provides all the other organs with life. Importance of Feng Shui Health Area Feng Shui health sector of the house...