On Thu, 24 Apr 2014 05:40:21 -0700 (PDT), Pavel314
wrote:

I need to replace four very old basement windows and was considering either regular windows or glass block. The windows haven't been opened in 30 or 40 years so glass block might be more secure.

Hey, if your windows haven't been opened in 30 or 40 years, how could
they be more secure than that?

But seriously, the first summer I owned my townhouse, someone kicked the
front door in. Didn't take anything, however. (Maybe the next
door dog whose barking every night at 11:15 and every morning at 6:45;
kept me from getting 8 hours sleep, scared him away.) The next day, I
reinforced the door frame as much as I could and installed the burglar
alarm.

Prior to my buying the house, when they were new or almost new, there
had been a string of burglaries by someone who went in through the
basement window. Somone thin. The owner put bars on the windows.
Pre-fab bars, in two sections, which pull open or push shut, depending
on how wide the opening is. Screwed to the 2x4's in the window frame
(or maybe the ones that hold the "wood" paneling in place) using hex
head lag screws. Actually they were too close to the window and it
only opened a little. I moved them in another 1/2 or 1 inch so the
moving half of the window would open all the way.

Come to think of it, the glass in half the window is plastic. Maybe
the guy broke into my house before I owned it, but he's certainly not
getting in now.

I had an estimate from one window company; he said they don't do glass block windows anymore as they've changed a few years back and aren't as secure as real windows against break ins.

Is anyone aware of major recent changes in glass block design or is this just a sales pitch?

Paul