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 stockpile, and the ritual of carrying ladders to mount panels. After twenty years defining, setting up, and troubleshooting building envelopes from Secret Largo to Palm Beach, I have actually seen what holds up and what does not. When the goal is genuine protection with year-round convenience, Miami-Dade approved, energy‑efficient impact windows exceed shutters in manner ins which exceed storm day. They change how a house feels in August, how quiet your living room remains on a Saturday night, and how positive you are when a storm line spins up much faster than predicted.
This is a useful look at why many South Florida homeowners are moving from shutters to typhoon impact-resistant windows, how to check out the standards behind "Miami-Dade approved," what materials matter, and how to get the installation right the first time.
Miami-Dade County's Product Control Division sets one of the toughest benchmarks in the country for constructing components exposed to windborne debris. Approval is not a marketing sticker label. It is earned through particular lab tests that simulate genuine typhoon conditions.
First comes big missile effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is contended the glass at roughly 34 miles per hour. That mimics roofing system tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the impact, the same unit deals with cyclic pressure loading, countless pressurization and depressurization cycles that simulate fast wind gusts over hours. If the glass remains in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The distinction in between "satisfies Florida building code windows" and "Miami-Dade authorized windows" frequently resides in these test thresholds. Miami-Dade is merely stiffer, especially in High Speed Typhoon Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.

Wind scores vary by opening size and style pressures, represented as PSF values. On ocean-facing residential or commercial properties or high-rises, I often specify units ranked at +60/ -80 PSF or higher. Inland or in more protected exposures, rankings in the +45/ -60 PSF variety can suffice, but you size and spec based on the website's wind map, constructing height, and surrounding structures. A professional understands that a corner exposure at the second story demands various support than a sheltered window under a deep porch.
Hurricane shutters vs effect windows is not a one-to-one contrast. Shutters can satisfy code, and they're much better than absolutely nothing. But they ask you to do operate at the worst possible time. When a watch turns to a warning and the forecast track tightens up, the last thing you desire is a quality hurricane proof windows Boca Raton 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 advantage. Laminated impact glass is basically a sandwich: 2 panes of glass bonded by a resilient interlayer, typically PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps noise. On jobs along hectic passages like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight paths, I have actually determined interior sound drops in the 5 to 10 decibel variety, sometimes more when coupled with insulated glass units.
Security enhances due to the fact that laminated glass resists required entry. A robber can shatter the outer lite with a hammer, but the interlayer holds the fragments. They fulfill a sticky, persistent membrane rather of a fast course inside. Insurance underwriters understand this, which is why policies frequently provide credits for impact doors and windows. In my projects, premiums usually drop 10 to 25 percent, depending upon the carrier and how many openings are protected.
Energy efficiency is the third pillar. Energy-efficient effect windows with contemporary low-E effect glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while maintaining noticeable light. That means less cooling demand, especially 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 season afternoon peak load stopped by approximately a lots of cooling, and the home's annual electrical power usage fell in between 12 and 18 percent. Results vary with shading, attic insulation, and HVAC efficiency, but the direction is consistent.
Laminated impact glass is the heart of the system, however not all laminated products are equal.
Most property cyclone windows utilize a PVB interlayer glass stack, typically 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or numerous plies. Thicker interlayers improve impact resistance and sound control, but they include weight and expense. For oceanfront or tall openings, you may see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and stronger than PVB, permitting thinner sections to attain greater style pressures. For noise-sensitive sites, acoustic PVB formulas modify the polymer to better absorb noise in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and impact windows near me voices sit.
Tempered glass windows show up typically in conversations because tempered glass is stronger in bending than annealed glass. That's true, and tempered lites are typically used as the external or inner ply in an impact unit. However tempered alone is not impact-resistant in the hurricane sense. When it fails, it explodes into small cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening vulnerable. The impact efficiency comes from laminated building, not tempering by itself. Lots of systems utilize a tempered outer lite laminated to an annealed inner lite, or both tempered, however constantly bonded through a PVB or ionoplast interlayer.
Low-E finishes matter for convenience. A soft-coat low-E tuned for South Florida normally targets a solar heat gain coefficient in the 0.25 to 0.35 range while keeping visible light transmission around half or greater. Go too short on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, particularly in bigger openings. The sweet spot depends upon your façade orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I often tighten SHGC and accept a slight tint to manage early morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I lean toward higher visible transmittance for daylighting.
Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames control here because they handle big openings and won't swell. Thermal breaks and improved glazing gaskets have narrowed the energy space with vinyl. High-quality vinyl impact frames, when reinforced effectively, can perform well for standard-sized openings and have much better insulating worths, but I prevent them for extremely large sliders or tall storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad units look stunning in older Mediterranean Revival homes, but they require mindful maintenance and wise flashing. The Florida sun destroys low-cost vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum finishes quickly. Look for powder-coated surfaces ranked for coastal exposure, and request written guarantee information in salt-air environments.
Window setup can make or break performance. A pricey system set up like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's tension test. The load course is the essence. Effect forces have to travel from the glass through the frame, to the anchors, into the substrate, and then into the structure's framing or masonry.
In cinder block building and construction, you desire stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into strong product. Hollow cells must be grouted or you need to hit the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to happen. In wood-framed houses, 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 high-quality polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant create a long lasting, flexible seal that deals with thermal growth. Too small a bead and it tears under motion. Too big and it cures badly. On seaside jobs, I never pair dissimilar metals without a barrier, and I constantly 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 integration with the water-resistive barrier are vital. If you count on sealant alone, water will find its method. That moisture may not show up as a drip. It may rot a sill plate gradually, then betray itself as a buckling floor or a musty odor 2 hurricane seasons later.
I have absolutely nothing versus properly designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are kept and lubed, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even removable panels saved thoroughly can protect homes effectively. They also help in particular cases.
Second homes or seasonal leasings where budget plan is tight sometimes lean on shutters to fulfill the Florida building code windows requirement for protected openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is seldom utilized in summer season, a tidy motorized roll-down can be reasonable, especially if pairing with effect doors and windows somewhere else worries the budget. For house owners who plan to move within a year, shutters can be a short bridge to compliance before a sale.
But shutters bring compromises. They darken your house when deployed, and they require action at specifically the time you are juggling insurance documents, gas cans, and family logistics. Throughout Hurricane Irma, I watched a next-door neighbor try to install steel panels hours before landfall. The ladder sank in saturated soil, a panel slipped, and we invested the next hour in the immediate care waiting room. He survived with stitches. His living room window did not. Shutters also rattle and can vibrate under continual winds, sometimes loosening up fasteners over time if not maintained.
For long-lasting owners who wish to set it and forget it, effect windows provide cyclone evidence windows coverage while maintaining daylight and view. The convenience grows valuable once you've experienced one storm season with no preparation beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes battle two battles: latent load from humidity and practical load from direct solar heat gain. Impact glass upgrades can assist both if specified intelligently.
Low-E effect glass utilizes microscopically thin metallic layers to reflect infrared energy while letting noticeable light through. With the ideal coating stacks, you can block a large part of radiant heat and UV. UV clog in laminated systems comes mainly from the interlayer itself, which typically filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, reducing fading of fabrics and floor covering. Add the low-E, and you suppress the solar heat that drives your a/c crazy midafternoon.
I examine glass specifications with three numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still helps here by reducing nighttime heat circulation and keeping the interior glass temperature level closer to space temperature, which reduces condensation risk. SHGC drives just how much solar heat goes into. VT affects how bright the interior feels. Balance is crucial. Some homeowners want the crisp, clear look of higher VT, even if it indicates accepting a few degrees more heat in late afternoon, because their landscaping and roofing overhangs currently do some shading. Others prefer a more powerful tint for glare control on waterfront lots that show severe light.
In practical terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to modern low-E laminated double-glazed units can minimize peak solar gains by 30 to half 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 develop durability. If the grid goes down and you switch to a generator, a lower cooling load indicates a smaller generator and fewer gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notification of Approval, or NOA, is the file you request for. It information the authorized setups, sizes, anchors, and pressures tested. It is insufficient to hear "these are Miami-Dade approved windows" in a display room. Verify the NOA matches the exact model and alternatives you are buying, including the glazing makeup and hardware. If you are in Broward or Miami-Dade, your allowing office will want this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Item Approval system provides FL numbers that show code compliance. In the remainder of the state outside the High Speed Hurricane Zone, Florida building regulations windows can rely on Florida Item Approval without Miami-Dade particular NOAs. Numerous top makers carry both. Where spending plans allow, I prefer NOA products even outside the zone due to the fact that the screening is stiffer.
NFRC labels deal with energy metrics. They won't tell you impact efficiency, however they show U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leak. Aim for air leakage at or listed below 0.3 cfm/ft ². Tighter is much better for humidity control, however make sure your home still has actually balanced ventilation. Sealing the envelope and overlooking 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 expenses vary with size, shape, finish, and gain access to. On straightforward single-family homes, per-opening expenses often land between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for standard sizes. Large multi-panel sliders, custom arches, and coastal-grade surfaces raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recover worth:
If you plan to own the property for five years or more, the math frequently tilts in favor of effect windows, particularly when you factor the intangible of peace of mind. If you prepare to sell within a year and require to show compliance quickly, shutters might make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I focus on hardware and accessories. Multi-point locks on sashes and awnings improve seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless real estates glide smoother and last longer on sandy outdoor patios. Look at the sill design on sliding doors. Weep systems ought to be crafted to drain heavy rainfall without letting wind-driven water blow back in. Ask to see a cutaway sample in the showroom.
Tint colors and reflectivity are more than fashion. Reflective movies can run afoul of neighborhood watch or produce mirror-like glare towards surrounding properties. In coastal communities, highly reflective glass can confuse birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Local pros understand which finishes balance performance with compliance.
Color stability is a big offer. Dark bronze or black frames look wonderful on modern homes, but in Florida sun low-cost surfaces chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated coverings offer the very best color retention and chalk resistance. I define them for coastal direct exposures whenever budget plans allow.
Historic districts frequently require profiles that imitate old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, but lead times extend and costs climb. Expect additional review by architectural boards, and line up a contractor knowledgeable about these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations in some cases specify a narrow list of approved items for harmony. They likewise appreciate sound control between systems. If your structure sits straight on Collins Opportunity or deals with a busy beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated alternatives. Work with structure management on staging and lift gain access to. Weekend work windows and restricted parking can add days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, need special attention in style pressure, deflection, and running hardware. Not every unit that looks strong in a showroom fulfills the wind loads on a ninth-floor balcony. Do not depend on catalog optimum sizes. Use the NOA tables that represent your website's zone, favorable and negative pressures, and mullion combinations if any.
The best tasks start with a determined survey and direct exposure analysis. You map each opening, note the substrate, and identify any framing abnormalities or settlement fractures. During proposition, the contractor reveals you the NOA and the Florida Item Approval, lists anchor types, and discusses how each opening will be flashed and sealed. They plan for stucco or drywall repairs, not pretend no damage will occur.
On install day, they get rid of one opening at a time to keep your house secure. They secure floorings, draw back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames bring out care to protect interior surfaces. New units get dry-fit, shimmed, and anchored per the schedule. The team checks squareness and diagonals before setting sealant. They photograph anchors for the permit file, specifically if they will be hidden. After glazing, they water-test with a regulated spray to confirm drainage courses and seals. The inspector sees a neat jobsite, clear labels, and documents in order.
Six months later on, your windows still close with two fingers, locks bite efficiently, and there is no secret rattle throughout thunderstorms. You did not have to require a roller change after the first week. That is the standard.
Impact rating does not equivalent breakproof. Laminated glass can break under severe effects, however it needs to remain in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends out particles into the glass, you may see star cracks or spidering. The window did its job. Change the sash or IGU after the event.
Window films do not convert non-impact windows into typhoon impact-resistant windows. They can include shatter resistance, however they do not replacement for a tested, anchored system. Your insurer and building department will not count movies as secured openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient effect windows reduce air leak. That's great, however it increases the importance of a properly sized a/c with excellent dehumidification. If your system is oversized, the thermostat satisfies rapidly and fails to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your HVAC pro to check practical heat ratio, air flow, and run time. You desire steady, longer cycles, not short bursts.
Maintenance is straightforward but not optional. Clean weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and oil hardware every year with a silicone-based product that will not gum up in heat. Little routines extend lifespan.
There are legitimate factors to mix options. A set of hardly ever used garage windows can keep detachable panels to shave budget plan. A deep-set porch with very little sun direct exposure might do great with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a brand-new roofing system deck accessory or a prepared garage door. Shutters can also protect outdoor kitchens or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age elegant hardware prematurely.
If you select shutters, purchase quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with handbook bypasses for roll-downs make a distinction. Assign responsibility for release and practice as soon as beyond a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you require 32 wing nuts is not the early morning you wish to discover you have 29.
Impact windows are not only about surviving the big one. They improve daily living. The living room stays cooler and quieter. The air conditioning cycles calmly instead 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 cyclone 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 clients, that intangible is the deciding element. They understand storms will come. They likewise understand life in South Florida is too great to live inside a fortress that just wakes up in August. Miami-Dade approved windows provide you both: a clear view of Biscayne Bay on a breezy February early morning and peaceful confidence when the spaghetti models point our method September.
If you are weighing the choice, start with a site-specific evaluation. Match your direct exposures to develop pressures, select the right 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 deliver what shutters can not: protection that never ever requests for a ladder and a better home every day of the year.