Dear Uncle Dixer: We are buying a house and my mother-in-law thinks that there is a Y-Junction that hits the back or side of the house. There is a sliding patio door (not main entrance) in that area and also some windows that lead to the living room. There is a second floor with windows to the master bedroom and other bedrooms. There is a fence around that area with planted trees and shrubs.

Is it a Y-junction problem if it hits these areas? I’m not even sure if it is a Y Junction. It doesn’t look like a “true” Y Junction.

Answer: The easiest way to check out your mother-in-law’s concern is to stand at the patio door and look out to see if a Y-junction is hitting at the house or not. If all you can see are trees and shrubs, then it is not a concern. You can do the same with windows and also upstairs in that direction, although upstairs is of less of a concern since you will be looking down at a Y-junction instead of looking at it rushing at the house (“chong sha” in Chinese).


If you are not sure if there is a Y-junction or not, then look up the house in Google Earth and you can see, from an aerial view, whether there is a relationship between a Y-junction and the house.