They make glass blocks in various sizes/shapes, but I've never seen one that is the size of an entire window (unless it is a very small window). It would be kind of counter-intuitive of the concept anyway, don't you think? You wouldn't have a stone facade on your home as one giant boulder. Just my $.02.

I've never seen a large glass block. To me, glass block is so industrial and unattractive-looking. Don't know if you're planning on reselling anytime soon, but it would seem to me to be a huge detraction from your home.

If you're looking for something that comes in one piece, that will give you more privacy, what about replacing the window glass in the frame with textured or stained glass?

We have small casement windows in our living room--the windows open out, there are screens on them that open IN--so curtains are a bit tricky in summer. Also, in our neighborhood, houses are only 12 feet apart. So we were looking for a solution that would give us a little privacy, would look nice, would eliminate the need for curtains or shades. We went to a stained glass studio and got textured glass to replace the regular clear glass. Since the windows are '9-patch'--we got straw gold for the corner piecess, pale green for the longer outside pieces and frosted/bubbled glass for the large center section. It's a lovely look, that's not only solved our privacy issues, BUT has really upgraded the look of our house, and we get a lot of nice complements on them.

You could easily do just the textured glass, though--my sister has done that for her ground-level apt, to provide a bit of privacy for her tennants.

azzalea, that would be some pretty fancy stuff (ie: big$$$) for some basement windows!? ... I'm sure that it would look nice though.

Glass block typcially needs to be made of smaller blocks( 4x6, 6x6,8x8) so they can be reasonably close to the hole in size.The vents are typically made for these sizes only and not the bigger block. In MN it is code to have a vent in the window. I would recomend having a professional install these, if not make sure you order your windows prefabbed. I do not like the look of the wavy coke bottle patterns and much prefer the diamond patterns such as the Endura by owens corning especially in older houses.

If glass block basement windows are the norm in your area, having them done would actually be a bonus to buyers. I'm in the city, the security of glass block windows is more attractive than people being able to freely see in to my fine collection of cat litter boxes (I have three cats) and dirty laundry.

All of the homes in my area are 1920's era and most of them have glass block and honestly, it does not detract. You could get custom made wrought iron security bars, but even when they are really pretty they send the message that you felt the need for security bars and that? Would put off potential buyers more than block windows.

I don't have them here, but I also have had 18 months to figure out how to even open my basement windows and can't. So if anyone is going to try and get in through them then it will take some time. We have some weird window/storm window configuration here.

Hi all,

I appreciate the ideas & perspectives that have been brought up. Mainly, my thoughts were... you can have a window with one pane (or 2 or 4 or 9) why not with a glass block window? Also, would that make them look better.

Yeah, I know not every window is the same size, but that applies to regular windows too.

Either way, you've all given me some good ideas.

Thanks

Looks would come down to personal opinion. Windows made from other materials use materials that can be cut down to size making custom sizes alot easier.Glass block would need custom size molds for each window . If you sre looking for a solid window maybe use a vinyl window with whatever glass turns you on