This is a shot of one of the mounting brackets for the plexi. It's a simple solution, but it works. In fact, when I examined the interior of the gau I was really impressed. First of all, there were NO bugs, and no moisture!

The way the plexi was set into the face rather than on top of the face of the gau seems to be one of the keys (hence the need for brackets such as this). You can see a small lip carved out of the gau opening to rest the plexi against, and the brackets hold it in place. With a good bead of caulk, no moisture gets in.

In our set up at the Enlightenment Stupa the face plate fits over the opening entirely, causing all water running down the face to get behind it. Not ideal, as we've seen.

A second essential component out here is they seem to have sealed the interior of the gau with some sort of rubber like coating, to prevent moisture from entering via the concrete.

Thus, my mind has already begun turning trying to figure out how to create a similar set up at the Enlightenment Stupa. It will be a lot of work (routing out the concrete, sealing the interior, and having the acrylic face plate cut down to the new size), however, it will have the best possible result.

This set up is much more durable over time, not only because it prevents that horrendous water infiltration from the outside (we'll continue to combat it until we are able to renovate the set up), but because these brackets could be easily replaced if (or should we say "when") they wear out. The bolt situation on the Enlightenment Stupa is already showing signs of difficulty (the bolts stick out from the concrete, hence, cannot be replaced). One is already stripped, and that's just an indication of our future out there. Of course, renovating the opening to this format will also then require cutting down the bolts sticking out from the concrete and finding a way to grind them down so we can cover them with repair material. Welcome to the world of Stupa work! One simple question leads to a whole series of time consuming steps!