The backyard fence

This is my backyard and its fencing. The pebble wash floor at the backyard (as seen on the lower left part of the photo) is non-slip in nature, and maintenance free.



Then fence comprises bricks and mortars portion at the bottom, and Chengai wooden stripes on top, arranged in the order such that one stripe is inside the iron horizontal bars, another is outside the bars, then inside, and outside, ... They are fasten to the bars using stainless steel bolts and nuts.

This kind of wooden stripes arrangement makes the fence able to see through when viewed from its side, and blocked when viewed from right angle in front. It allows breeze to freely flow through the gaps, forming harmonic Qi as told by the Feng Shui master.

The door chime system

There are 2 types of door chime system, ie. the wired and wireless. I found that the bell of wired door chime system comes with pretty standard sound of "ding-dong", and the wireless door chime system has more variety of musical sound.

I use a wired door chime system, which the wiring had already been done by the developer. I installed a door bell switch with big button and water resistance circuitry, next to my letterbox, on the pillar which holds the main gate of my house.




Mounting a good and durable door bell switch is essential to ensure the door chime system continues to work for a long period of time.

The 2x2 floor tiles

Most new houses are installed with 2" x 2" floor tiles nowadays. These large surface tiles make your floor having less lines, and bring the visual effect to make the room looks more spacious.

Workmanship is very important for 2x2 tiles flooring. The tiles should not have any hollowness, the lines between tiles should be very slim and straight, and all tiles must be evenly laid flat and smooth.

Here are a few considerations for choosing and laying the 2x2 tiles:

• Feel the edges and corners of the tiles with bare hand or foot. The edges of good quality tiles won't give you much "cutting feeling".
• Good quality 2x2 tiles are normally thick and firm. The thicker the tile, the less likely it is to crack or break. However, the actual robustness is determined by their modulus of rupture measurement.
• The tiles should have satisfactory level of resistance to stain, abrasion and chemical.
• Avoid too slippery tiles. Use only non-slip tiles in kitchen, washroom, etc.
• Use light colour tiles for living room.
• Use dark colour filling for the gap lines between the tiles. If you use the white colour filling, it will eventually turn black when dirts are collected in it, and that would make your floor looks ugly.
• Most building materials contain minimal radioactive elements in them. Some poor quality tiles made in China have higher level of radioactive elements, which is bad to your health.
• Insist to use contractor with good workmanship to install the tiles.