STS Impact Windows, Doors & Roofing is a veteran-owned company based in South Florida that specializes in premium hurricane protection solutions, including impact windows, doors, custom storefronts, and roofing. Combining over 25 years of industry experience with military precision, STS provides expert installation, full transparency, and outstanding customer service, backed by a leading 3-year installation warranty. Their comprehensive services ensure security and peace of mind for both residential and commercial clients, with a strong focus on quality, reliability, and efficiency.
View on Google MapsSTS Impact Windows and Doors specializes in hurricane protection solutions, offering high-quality impact windows, storm-resistant doors, custom storefronts, and professional roofing services. With expert installation, full transparency, and outstanding customer service, the company ensures homes and businesses stay secure and energy-efficient.
STS Impact Windows and Doors is located at 1000 Holland Dr Suite 10, Boca Raton, FL 33487, United States. The company proudly serves residential and commercial clients across Florida and throughout the United States, delivering reliable storm protection solutions. View their location on Google Maps.
Yes, STS Impact Windows and Doors is a veteran-owned company recognized for its dedication, integrity, and service to the community. This background adds an extra level of trust and reliability for homeowners and businesses seeking storm protection solutions.
STS Impact Windows and Doors provides a wide range of services including the installation of hurricane impact windows, impact doors, custom commercial storefronts, and roofing services. Each project is backed by expert craftsmanship, a 3-year installation warranty, and over 25 years of industry experience.
The company proudly serves both residential homeowners and commercial property owners. From protecting family homes to fortifying businesses with hurricane-rated storefronts, STS Impact Windows and Doors delivers customized solutions that ensure safety, durability, and efficiency.
Clients benefit from the company’s focus on quality, reliability, and efficiency. Their impact-resistant windows and doors not only enhance security and hurricane protection but also improve energy efficiency, reduce noise, and increase property value. With a 3-year installation warranty, customers can trust in long-term performance and peace of mind.
STS Impact Windows and Doors has been recognized with multiple industry honors, including the South Florida Veteran Owned Business Excellence Award, Best Hurricane Protection Provider 2023 Florida, and the Angi’s Super Service Award for Window Installation. These awards highlight their commitment to excellence, customer satisfaction, and industry leadership.
You can reach STS Impact Windows and Doors by phone at 561-600-1018 or visit their website at stswindows.com. They are open Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm and are available on Facebook and Instagram for updates and project showcases.
Business Name: STS Impact Windows & Doors
Address: 1000 Holland Dr #10, Boca Raton, FL 33487, United States
Phone: (561)-600-1018
Hurricane season shapes life along Florida's coasts. You feel it in the way neighbors track tropical waves, the pre-storm rush to stock up, and the ritual of transporting ladders to mount panels. After twenty years defining, setting up, and repairing building envelopes from Key Largo to Palm Beach, I've seen what holds up and what doesn't. When the goal is real security with year-round convenience, Miami-Dade authorized, energy‑efficient effect windows surpass shutters in manner ins which surpass storm day. They change how a home feels in August, how quiet your living-room stays on a Saturday night, and how confident you are when a storm line spins up quicker than predicted.
This is a useful look at why lots of South Florida house owners are moving from shutters to typhoon impact-resistant windows, how to read the standards behind "Miami-Dade authorized," what materials matter, and how to get the setup right the very first time.
Miami-Dade County's Item Control Division sets one of the most difficult criteria in the country for constructing parts exposed to windborne particles. Approval is not a marketing sticker. It is made through specific laboratory tests that replicate real typhoon conditions.
First comes large rocket effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is shot at the glass at approximately 34 miles per hour. That imitates roof tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the effect, the very same unit deals with cyclic pressure loading, countless pressurization and depressurization cycles that simulate rapid wind gusts over hours. If the glass remains in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The difference in between "meets Florida building code windows" and "Miami-Dade approved windows" frequently resides in these test thresholds. Miami-Dade is merely stiffer, particularly in High Velocity Hurricane Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind scores differ by opening size and style pressures, denoted as PSF values. On ocean-facing homes or high-rises, I often specify systems ranked at +60/ -80 PSF or greater. Inland or in more secured direct exposures, scores in the +45/ -60 PSF range can be adequate, but you size and specification based upon the website's wind map, developing height, and surrounding structures. A professional understands that a corner direct exposure at the 2nd story demands various reinforcement than a sheltered window under a deep porch.
Hurricane shutters vs effect windows is not a one-to-one comparison. Shutters can meet code, and they're much better than absolutely nothing. But they ask you to do work at the worst possible time. When a watch turns to a caution and the forecast track tightens, the last thing you desire is a ladder, a dead cordless drill, and a missing wing nut.
Impact windows reside in place. You get continuous defense, even if a pop-up storm surprises you while you're stuck on United States 1. You likewise get advantages every day of the year.
Noise control is the most underappreciated benefit. Laminated impact glass is basically a sandwich: two panes of glass bonded by a resilient interlayer, generally PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps sound. On jobs along busy corridors like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight courses, I have actually measured interior noise drops in the 5 to 10 decibel range, in some cases more when paired with insulated glass units.
Security enhances due to the fact that laminated glass withstands forced entry. A burglar can shatter the external lite with a hammer, however the interlayer holds the shards. They meet a sticky, persistent membrane instead of a fast course inside. Insurance coverage underwriters know this, which is why policies typically use credits for effect windows and doors. In my tasks, premiums generally drop 10 to 25 percent, depending on the carrier and the number of openings are protected.
Energy performance is the 3rd pillar. Energy-efficient effect windows with modern-day low-E impact glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while maintaining visible light. That implies less cooling need, specifically on west and south exposures where the afternoon sun punishes interiors. In one Coral Gables retrofit, we replaced 1980s single-pane sliders with laminated low-E impact systems. Summer afternoon peak load come by approximately a ton of cooling, and the home's annual electricity use fell in between 12 and 18 percent. Results differ with shading, attic insulation, and a/c efficiency, but the direction is consistent.
Laminated effect glass is the heart of the system, but not all laminated items are equal.
Most domestic hurricane windows use a PVB interlayer glass stack, typically 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or several plies. Thicker interlayers improve impact resistance and sound control, but they add weight and expense. For oceanfront or high openings, you might see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and stronger than PVB, permitting thinner areas to attain higher style pressures. For noise-sensitive sites, acoustic PVB formulas fine-tune the polymer to better soak up noise in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows come up often in conversations due to the fact that tempered glass is stronger in flexing than annealed glass. That holds true, and tempered lites are frequently used as the outer or inner ply in an effect system. But tempered alone is not impact-resistant in the cyclone sense. When it stops working, it blows up into small cubes and falls out of the frame, Boca Raton hurricane proof window installation which leaves the opening vulnerable. The impact efficiency comes from laminated construction, not tempering by itself. Lots of systems use a tempered external lite laminated to an annealed inner lite, or both tempered, but always bonded through a PVB or ionoplast interlayer.
Low-E finishings matter for convenience. A soft-coat low-E tuned for South Florida generally targets a solar heat gain coefficient in the 0.25 to 0.35 variety while keeping visible light transmission around half or higher. Go too low on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, specifically in bigger openings. The sweet spot depends on your exterior orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I often tighten SHGC and accept a slight tint to handle morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I favor higher visible transmittance for daylighting.
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Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames dominate here since they handle large openings and will not swell. Thermal breaks and enhanced glazing gaskets have narrowed the energy space with vinyl. Top quality vinyl impact frames, when strengthened effectively, can carry out well for standard-sized openings and have better insulating values, however I prevent them for really broad sliders or tall storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad units look beautiful in older Mediterranean Revival homes, but they require careful maintenance and smart flashing. The Florida sun destroys cheap vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum surfaces rapidly. Try to find powder-coated finishes ranked for seaside direct exposure, and request composed service warranty details in salt-air environments.
Window installation can make or break efficiency. A pricey unit set up like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's tension test. The load course is the essence. Impact forces have to travel from the glass through the frame, to the anchors, into the substrate, and after that into the structure's framing or masonry.
In concrete block building, you desire stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into strong product. Hollow cells must be grouted or you require to hit the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to occur. In wood-framed homes, structural screws need to bite into strong trimmers, not just sheathing. Shimming and plumb positioning matter so the locks engage cleanly and the weatherstripping compresses evenly.
The sealant joint is not simply aesthetic. A correctly sized backer rod and top quality polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant produce a resilient, flexible seal that deals with thermal growth. Too small a bead and it tears under motion. Too huge and it cures improperly. On coastal jobs, I never ever combine dissimilar metals without a barrier, and I always specify corrosion-resistant fasteners. Ten years later, you will see who took shortcuts.
Flashing is the other non-negotiable. Pan flashing at sills, self-adhered membranes at jambs and heads, and combination with the water-resistive barrier are crucial. If you count on sealant alone, water will find its method. That wetness might disappoint up as a drip. It might rot a sill plate gradually, then betray itself as a buckling floor or a moldy smell 2 hurricane seasons later.
I have nothing against properly designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are kept and lubed, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even detachable panels stored thoroughly can protect homes efficiently. They likewise help in certain cases.
Second homes or seasonal leasings where budget is tight sometimes lean on shutters to fulfill the Florida building code windows requirement for secured openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is seldom utilized in summertime, a clean motorized roll-down can be reasonable, particularly if coupling with impact doors and windows elsewhere worries the budget plan. For property owners who plan to move within a year, custom window installation services shutters can be a short bridge to compliance before a sale.
But shutters bring trade-offs. They darken the house when released, and they require action at specifically the time you are managing insurance documents, gas cans, and family logistics. Throughout Typhoon Irma, I viewed a next-door neighbor try to mount steel panels hours before landfall. The ladder sank in saturated soil, a panel slipped, and we invested the next hour in the urgent care waiting space. He made it through with stitches. His living room window did not. Shutters also rattle and can vibrate under continual winds, often loosening up fasteners over time if not maintained.
For long-term owners who want to set it and forget it, impact windows offer cyclone proof windows coverage while protecting daytime and view. The benefit grows important once you have actually experienced one storm season with zero prep beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes battle two battles: hidden load from humidity and sensible load from direct solar heat gain. Effect glass upgrades can assist both if defined intelligently.
Low-E effect glass uses microscopically thin metal layers to reflect infrared energy while letting visible light through. With the best finish stacks, you can block a large part of convected heat and UV. UV obstruction in laminated systems comes mainly from the interlayer itself, which typically filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, minimizing fading of materials and flooring. Include the low-E, and you curb the solar heat that drives your air conditioning insane midafternoon.
I assess glass specs with 3 numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still helps here by lowering nighttime heat flow and keeping the interior glass temperature closer to room temperature, which decreases condensation danger. SHGC drives just how much solar heat gets in. VT influences how brilliant the interior feels. Balance is key. Some homeowners desire the crisp, clear look of higher VT, even if it suggests accepting a couple of degrees more heat in late afternoon, because their landscaping and roof overhangs already do some shading. Others prefer a more powerful tint for glare control on waterfront lots that show harsh light.
In practical terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to modern-day low-E laminated double-glazed units can decrease peak solar gains by 30 to 50 percent on the most exposed sides. Couple that with tuned overhangs, light-colored exterior finishes, and a properly sized variable-speed a/c, and you begin to construct resilience. If the grid goes down and you change to a generator, a lower cooling load means a smaller generator and less gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notification of Acceptance, or NOA, is the document you request. It details the approved configurations, sizes, anchors, and pressures checked. It is not enough to hear "these are Miami-Dade approved windows" in a display room. Validate the NOA matches the exact design and choices you are purchasing, including the glazing makeup and hardware. If you are in Broward or Miami-Dade, your permitting workplace will want this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Item Approval system supplies FL numbers that reveal code compliance. In the rest of the state outside the High Velocity Cyclone Zone, Florida building regulations windows can count on Florida Item Approval without Miami-Dade specific NOAs. Lots of leading producers bring both. Where spending plans allow, I choose NOA items even outside the zone because the testing is stiffer.
NFRC labels deal with energy metrics. They will not tell you impact efficiency, however they reveal U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leakage. Aim for air leakage at or listed below 0.3 cfm/ft ². Tighter is better for humidity control, but make certain your home still has actually stabilized ventilation. Sealing the envelope and ignoring fresh air is a dish for indoor air quality complaints.
Impact windows cost more in advance than shutters. There's no spin around that. Set up costs vary with size, shape, surface, and access. On simple single-family homes, per-opening costs typically land between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for basic sizes. Large multi-panel sliders, customized arches, and coastal-grade surfaces raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recover worth:
If you prepare to own the residential or commercial property for five years or more, the math often tilts in favor of impact windows, especially when you factor the intangible of assurance. If you prepare to offer within a year and need to show compliance quickly, shutters may make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I focus on hardware and accessories. Multi-point locks on casements and awnings improve seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless real estates move smoother and last longer on sandy patio areas. Look at the sill style on moving doors. Weep systems must be engineered to drain heavy rains without letting wind-driven water blow back in. Ask to see a cutaway sample in the showroom.
Tint colors and reflectivity are more than style. Reflective movies can contravene of neighborhood watch or produce mirror-like glare toward neighboring homes. In seaside ecosystems, highly reflective glass can confuse birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Regional pros understand which finishes balance efficiency with compliance.
Color stability is a huge deal. Dark bronze or black frames look great on contemporary homes, however in Florida sun inexpensive finishes chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated finishings provide the very best color retention and chalk resistance. I specify them for seaside direct exposures whenever budgets allow.
Historic districts frequently need profiles that imitate old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, however lead times lengthen and costs climb. Expect extra review by architectural boards, and line up a specialist acquainted with these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations often define a narrow list of authorized items for uniformity. They likewise care about sound control in between units. If your structure sits straight on Collins Avenue or deals with a hectic beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated alternatives. Deal with structure management on staging and lift access. Weekend work windows and limited parking can include days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, require unique attention in style pressure, deflection, and operating hardware. Not every system that looks sturdy in a showroom satisfies the wind loads on a ninth-floor terrace. Do not depend on catalog optimum sizes. Utilize the NOA tables that represent your website's zone, positive and unfavorable pressures, and mullion combinations if any.
The finest jobs start with a measured survey and exposure analysis. You map each opening, note the substrate, and recognize any framing irregularities or settlement cracks. During proposition, the contractor shows you the NOA and the Florida Item Approval, notes anchor types, and discusses how each opening will be flashed and sealed. They plan for stucco or drywall repair work, not pretend no damage will occur.
On set up day, they eliminate one opening at a time to keep your house secure. They protect floorings, pull back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames come out with care to preserve interior surfaces. New units get dry-fit, shimmed, and anchored per the schedule. The crew checks squareness and diagonals before setting sealant. They photo anchors for the authorization file, particularly if they will be concealed. After glazing, they water-test with a regulated spray to confirm drainage courses and seals. The inspector sees a neat jobsite, clear labels, and paperwork in order.
Six months later on, your windows still close with two fingers, locks bite smoothly, and there is no secret rattle during thunderstorms. You did not have to call for a roller modification after the first week. That is the standard.
Impact rating does not equivalent breakproof. Laminated glass can crack under serious effects, but it ought to stay in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends out debris into the glass, you might see star cracks or spidering. The window did its job. Replace the sash or IGU after the event.
Window movies do not convert non-impact windows into cyclone impact-resistant windows. They can include shatter resistance, but they do not replacement for a tested, anchored system. Your insurer and structure department will not count films as safeguarded openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows minimize air leak. That's great, but it increases the importance of a correctly sized HVAC with great dehumidification. If your system is oversized, the thermostat pleases rapidly and fails to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your HVAC pro to check sensible heat ratio, air flow, and run time. You want consistent, longer cycles, not brief bursts.
Maintenance is simple but not optional. Clean weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and oil hardware annually with a silicone-based item that will not gum up in heat. Little practices extend lifespan.
There are genuine reasons to blend services. A pair of hardly ever utilized garage windows can keep detachable panels to shave budget plan. A deep-set porch with minimal sun exposure may do great with accordion shutters if you prioritize other upgrades like a brand-new roofing system deck accessory or a fortified garage door. Shutters can likewise secure outdoor kitchens or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age fancy hardware prematurely.
If you pick shutters, buy quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with manual overrides for roll-downs make a distinction. Appoint obligation for release and practice when outside of a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you need 32 wing nuts is not the morning you wish to discover you have 29.
Impact windows are not just about surviving the huge one. They reshape daily living. The living room stays cooler and quieter. The a/c cycles calmly rather of racing at 4 p.m. You sleep without freight trains of wind sound when a squall line passes at 2 a.m. When a hurricane threatens, your preparation list gets much shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and focus on people rather than panels.
For a number of my customers, that intangible is the deciding aspect. They understand storms will come. They also understand life in South Florida is too excellent to live inside a fortress that just awakens in August. Miami-Dade authorized windows provide you both: a clear view of Biscayne Bay on a breezy February morning and quiet confidence when the spaghetti models point our method September.
If you are weighing the option, start with a site-specific evaluation. Match your exposures to design pressures, pick the best laminated glass stack for wind and heat, select frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and hire a team that appreciates the load path. Done right, energy‑efficient impact windows provide what shutters can not: security that never requests a ladder and a much better home every day of the year.