More Bar Removal

Hunter Ochs rang, "I read the blog entry about bar removal (Gone in 20 Minutes), and it sounded fun--particularly the part about the taqueria."

"It isn't fun," I countered, "it's a freshet of hot sparks, flakes of metal, and paint--hard, dirty work....I'll call Josh, we'll be right over."

I'm asked repeatedly about the presence of security bars in West Adams. Mostly, they're a vestige of an earlier, more fearful time, beginning with the 'defensible spaces' discourse of the 1970's. Form follows fear. These bars were installed at least two owners ago, prior to 1990.

A few concerned homeowners go beyond window bars, utilizing alienated poochies, razor wire, alarm systems, even protection from a higher power. Statues of the Virgin Mary, housed in plexiglass trophy cases or in a spotlit niche.

Still, security bars are as often removed today in southern Mid-City as installed. Frequently the catalyst for bar removal is the simple need to paint. After the purge, some residents initially feel a bit exposed, even vulnerable, though usually such feelings are short-lived. Most later indicate a greater sense of engagement and connectedness with the exterior.

Many homeowners remove their security grilles an exposure at a time--an audition of sorts, beginning in the front, and ending in the rear.

The holes left by the bolts can be filled with wood dowels, chiseled, filled, and sanded flush.

Manufacturers seek to make these impregnations more decorative, like wrought iron rather than mild steel, with ridiculous curly ques, spears, finials, and twists.

Rather like trying to make a silk purse of a sow's ear.