About The Window Box Mounting Kit

Like most good ideas, the Window Box Mounting kit was born of necessity. While fresh out of civil engineering school and in my first home, my wife was eager to fix up the place. I had already painted the exterior and built a cute, white picket fence around the front, but it needed more curb appeal.

My wife wanted window boxes filled with bright flowers. Without much thought, I built what I considered complementary window boxes to the rest of the house and property. They looked great for a little while, then, I noticed they were starting to lean out a little from the wall! The corners of the boxes were starting to open up under the weight of all that wet soil and plants.

I was a little embarrassed being a seasoned carpenter and now a registered civil engineer. It really hit home that stormy night when the box next to our bedroom window collapsed in a big crash to the ground!

This was not acceptable. I took it personal. I didn't want the look of big gussets below it, and none of the hardware stores had a product that would do the job right. Literally, I searched around the world (on the internet) for a specialty bracket to accomplish the task. I knew what I needed. I would just have to make them myself! I made the prototype of the product before you. A right and left gusseted flange; now I could lag bolt each bracket into one of the studs around a window at any width I wanted.

All I had to do to make a box was mount a facia on the front flanges and lay the bottom boards on the bottom flange. Theoretically, it's done, in a rudimentary form. In this form it would be best to place pots on the lower shelf. I wanted to take it a little further, so I cut a piece of plywood to serve as a back to protect the house. I lined the inside of the box with light gage flashing overlapping the bottoms.

I put some pickets on it to match the front yard. We put good soil in it and planted Gardenias. As long as the flowers were in bloom the breeze brought in the pleasant scent of Gardenias. Some of the neighbors were impressed with what it did for the neighborhood. I made a few more sets and gave them enough to do a similar project.

Within 2 hours the neighbors had completed 3 window boxes with a unique trim that didn't duplicate my style. I started to get excited about this product when I considered how wide-ranging the finished boxes could be in style, not to mention it could be used on corner and bay windows. I felt like the guy who makes blank painters canvases, he didn't create the art, he provided the structure for others' creativity.

What's different about painted art and a window box is that paint weights nearly nothing. Window boxes, in addition to lumber, soil, plants, and water, need to have enough strength to allow some of you who want heavy finish materials, like marble or concrete, to build with zero deflection. It can't move at all; people climbing on it, getting soaked with water every other day, drying out in the direct sun, are all regular abuses to be imposed on your house and the decorations you put on it.

You don't get a second change to make a first impression. Go stand in front of your house or business, does that impression help or hurt you? When new visitors stop by do you need a few minutes to apologize or do you hear "I love what you've done with the place!"