Satellitehead, check Atlanta Craigslist for the burglar bars - I've seen them offered many times. Might not be available today, but you can keep checking using the Search. You could weld the baskets once you get them bolted one. Good luck, great idea.

Rosie, in Sugar Hill

Surely somebody has this? I know I must've seen them a million times on HGTV when they show someone's brownstone in the city and you see the bars with the baskets on the lower windows.

I agree with Rosie...it IS a great idea and I'll bet they are out there.

SH, I don't know of any such bars (although welding a flower basket onto installed bars would probably be cheaper than buying a ready-made thing).

But, I wondered, if you have not already got a window there, maybe you could install a patio door instead? That way you can have your regular glass patio door, and then put on the outside one of the Security storm doors. These have extra locking bolt things that lock near the top and bottom of the door (not just the middle), and also have a shatterproof laminate sheet in between the 2 panes of glass, so that they are supposed to resist impact. The glass is full-view so it doesnt get in the way of your patio door.

We just bought 3 of these doors (we got the Larson security door) from Lowes and my husband has installed them all, they seem pretty solid (although we have not tested with a hammer!).

You can also get a similar shatterproof laminate "film" installed over windows, there are a couple of companies doing this, but its $$. Maybe if you install a new window, you can puchase one that has this already built-in, though.

We are having a wave of house break-ins round here (both in the daytime and at night while the homeowners are asleep!), so we've been trying to increase our security level.

Aren't there also the kind of security bars that have a "belly" at the bottom? (Where they sort of bow out to create a rounded look.) And, the "belly" area is supposed to hold just a regular window box. I know it's not exactly what you are looking for, but it would negate the part about having to weld anything.

Have you considered making one out of rot resistant plywood or cedar, painting it and bolting it to the bars? There are plenty of simple window box patterns on the web and once planted one would never know the difference.

Oh, there is am metal smith in Grant Park who will make you anything you want!! She made GORGEOUS bars for a client of mine, and that client is looking for a window box/burglar bar combo to be made next. Crap I don't know where I put that info. Satellitehead are you a Buzzer? If you are, you'll know what this means!!

GGG

Just found this on Craigslist, West GA location, all sorts. Respond to the address below:

sale-1041137518@craigslist.org

As the victim of several burglaries while living in Athens, I would not recommend installing glass patio doors, reinforced or not. Patio doors are one of the easiest points of entry for burglars. In one of the burglaries I experienced, the burglars smashed the patio door, leaving an awful mess to be cleaned up. Through time, I installed burglar bars, deadbolt locks on all doors, a security system, and replaced the patio doors with heavy, deadbolted French doors, which still provided light but with a greater amount of security. I think law enforcement authorities recommend that homeowners not install patio doors because of their extreme vulnerability to the criminal element. It seems that you should be able to find a local ironworks that would be able to add a planter to your burglar bars at a reasonable cost.

well, i guess i meant french door instead of (sliding) patio door. sorry to be confusing.

the point was more that one can now purchase security storm doors to go outside the inner french door, that do seem to resist quite some impact (hammer, brick, kick, etc). It is not the french door itself that is reinforced, but the outer storm door (with both a multi-point lock and an impact-proof laminate between the double glass).

SH, sorry to get this off-topic. I looked yesterday after i wrote the above to see if new construction windows can have an impact-resistant glass (mainly b/c I wish we had them, we bought new windows 18 months ago). I looked at Andersen and they do have...wonder how much it adds to the window cost versus having bars added.

Here is a link that might be useful: impact-resistant glass

GGG - I'm on EAVB, remember this post? ;)
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/gagarden/msg0418225319568.html
i go by my usual nickname of 'shifty' over there, but i'm not very active. do you still have my email address? if you do, can you send over that info? if not, i can shoot you an email, i'm pretty sure i still have yours.

mayland - opening is too small for anything bigger than a 40" wide double-hung window. so, something like you mentioned would be out of the question.

everyone else - i can give craigslist a shot, and i don't mind welding on the baskets...but then gotta find the baskets too!

lots of burglar bars online, but hardly i found any are wrought iron, except the decorative ones that are $$$$$