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 method next-door neighbors track tropical waves, the pre-storm rush to stock up, and the ritual of transporting ladders to mount panels. After 20 years defining, installing, and troubleshooting building envelopes from Key Largo to Palm Beach, I have actually seen what holds up and what does not. When the objective is real defense with year-round comfort, Miami-Dade authorized, energy‑efficient impact windows surpass shutters in ways that exceed storm day. They alter how a house feels in August, how quiet your living-room stays on a Saturday night, and how confident you are when a storm line spins up faster than predicted.
This is a practical take a look at why lots of South Florida house owners are moving from shutters to typhoon impact-resistant windows, how to read the requirements behind "Miami-Dade authorized," what materials matter, and how to get the installation right the first time.
Miami-Dade County's Product Control Division sets one of the hardest criteria in the country for constructing components exposed to windborne debris. Approval is not a marketing sticker. It is earned through specific lab tests that mimic real typhoon conditions.
First comes big rocket effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is shot at the glass at roughly 34 miles per hour. That mimics roofing tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the impact, the very same system faces cyclic pressure loading, thousands of pressurization and depressurization cycles that imitate rapid wind gusts over hours. If the glass stays in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The difference in between "fulfills Florida building regulations windows" and "Miami-Dade authorized windows" typically resides in these test limits. Miami-Dade is simply stiffer, especially in High Speed Cyclone Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.

Wind ratings vary by opening size and design pressures, represented as PSF values. On ocean-facing residential or commercial properties or high-rises, I typically specify units ranked at +60/ -80 PSF or higher. Inland or in more protected exposures, rankings in the +45/ -60 PSF variety can be sufficient, however you size and spec based on the site's wind map, developing height, and surrounding structures. An expert knows that a corner exposure at the 2nd story demands various support than a protected window under a deep porch.
Hurricane shutters vs effect windows is not a one-to-one comparison. Shutters can satisfy code, and they're better than nothing. However they ask you to do work at the worst possible time. When a watch turns to a warning and the forecast track tightens up, the last thing you want is a ladder, a dead cordless drill, and a missing wing nut.
Impact windows live in place. You get constant protection, even if a pop-up storm surprises you while you're stuck on US 1. You also get advantages every day of the year.
Noise control is the most underappreciated advantage. Laminated impact glass is basically a sandwich: two panes of glass bonded by a resistant interlayer, normally PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps sound. On tasks along busy passages like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight courses, I have actually measured interior noise drops in the 5 to 10 decibel variety, in some cases more when paired with insulated glass units.

Security enhances since laminated glass resists forced entry. A robber can shatter the outer lite with a hammer, however the interlayer holds the fragments. They meet a sticky, persistent membrane rather of a quick path inside. Insurance coverage underwriters understand this, which is why policies frequently provide credits for effect doors and windows. In my projects, premiums generally drop 10 to 25 percent, depending on the carrier and the number of openings are protected.
Energy performance is the third pillar. Energy-efficient impact windows with modern low-E impact glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while preserving noticeable light. That indicates less air conditioning need, particularly on west and south direct exposures where the afternoon sun penalizes interiors. In one Coral Gables retrofit, we replaced 1980s single-pane sliders with laminated low-E effect 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 differ with shading, attic insulation, and heating and cooling efficiency, but the direction is consistent.
Laminated impact glass is the heart of the system, but not all laminated items are equal.
Most residential cyclone windows use a PVB interlayer glass stack, frequently 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 cost. For oceanfront or high openings, you may see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and more powerful than PVB, permitting thinner areas to accomplish higher style pressures. For noise-sensitive sites, acoustic PVB solutions tweak the polymer to better soak up sound in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz variety, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows show up often in discussions because tempered glass is stronger in bending than annealed glass. That's true, and tempered lites are commonly used as the external or inner ply in an impact system. However tempered alone is not impact-resistant in the typhoon sense. When it fails, it explodes into small cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening vulnerable. The effect efficiency comes from laminated construction, not tempering by itself. Many systems use a tempered external lite laminated to a hardened inner lite, or both tempered, however constantly bonded through a PVB or ionoplast interlayer.
Low-E finishings matter for convenience. A soft-coat low-E tuned for South Florida typically targets a solar heat gain coefficient in the 0.25 to 0.35 variety while keeping noticeable light transmission around half or greater. Go too low on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, specifically in larger openings. The sweet area depends on your façade orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I typically tighten up SHGC and accept a minor tint to handle early morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I favor greater noticeable transmittance for daylighting.
Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames control here due to the fact that they deal with big openings and won't swell. Thermal breaks and enhanced glazing gaskets have actually narrowed the energy gap with vinyl. High-quality vinyl impact frames, when enhanced correctly, can perform well for standard-sized openings and have much better insulating values, but I prevent them for really large sliders or high storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad units look stunning in older Mediterranean Revival homes, but they demand mindful maintenance and wise flashing. The Florida sun ruins low-cost vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum finishes rapidly. Look for powder-coated finishes rated for coastal direct exposure, and demand written warranty details in salt-air environments.
Window installation can make or break performance. An expensive system set up like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's stress test. The load course is the crux. Impact forces need 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 construction, you want stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into strong material. Hollow cells should be grouted or you require to strike the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to occur. In wood-framed houses, structural screws should bite into strong trimmers, not simply sheathing. Shimming and plumb positioning matter so the locks engage easily and the weatherstripping compresses evenly.
The sealant joint is not simply aesthetic. An effectively sized backer rod and premium polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant produce a long lasting, flexible seal that deals with thermal growth. Too small a bead and it tears under movement. Too big and it cures inadequately. On seaside jobs, I never pair dissimilar metals without a barrier, and I always define corrosion-resistant fasteners. 10 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 essential. 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 slowly, then betray itself as a buckling flooring or a musty odor 2 hurricane seasons later.
I have nothing versus properly designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are kept and lubed, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even detachable panels kept thoroughly can safeguard homes effectively. They also assist in certain cases.
Second homes or seasonal rentals where budget plan is tight in some cases lean on shutters to meet the Florida building code windows requirement for protected openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is seldom used in summer, a clean motorized roll-down can be reasonable, especially if coupling with effect doors and windows somewhere else stresses the budget. For homeowners who plan to move within a year, shutters can be a short bridge to compliance before a sale.
But shutters bring trade-offs. They darken your home when released, and they require action at exactly the time you are juggling insurance documents, gas cans, and family logistics. During Typhoon Irma, I viewed a neighbor attempt to install steel panels hours before landfall. The ladder sank in saturated soil, a panel slipped, and we spent the next hour in the urgent care waiting room. He endured with stitches. His living room window did not. Shutters also rattle and can vibrate under continual winds, often loosening fasteners in time if not maintained.
For long-term owners who wish to set it and forget it, effect windows provide typhoon evidence windows protection while maintaining daylight and view. The benefit grows important once you have actually experienced one storm season with zero preparation beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes battle two battles: latent load from humidity and reasonable load from direct solar heat gain. Effect glass upgrades can help both if defined intelligently.
Low-E effect glass uses microscopically thin metallic layers to reflect infrared energy while letting noticeable light through. With the best finish stacks, you can block a large portion of convected heat and UV. UV obstruction in laminated systems comes mostly from the interlayer itself, which usually filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, minimizing fading of fabrics and flooring. Add the low-E, and you suppress the solar heat that drives your a/c crazy midafternoon.
I evaluate glass specifications with 3 numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still assists here by lowering nighttime heat flow and keeping the interior glass temperature level closer to space temperature, which minimizes condensation danger. SHGC drives just how much solar heat gets in. VT affects how brilliant the interior feels. Balance is crucial. Some house owners want the crisp, clear look of greater VT, even if it suggests accepting a few degrees more heat in late afternoon, due to the fact that their landscaping and roof overhangs currently do some shading. Others prefer a more powerful tint for glare control on waterside lots that reflect severe light.
In practical terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to modern 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 outside surfaces, and a correctly sized variable-speed a/c, and you start to develop durability. If the grid decreases and you switch to a generator, a lower cooling load implies a smaller generator and fewer gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notice of Approval, or NOA, is the file you request. It information the authorized setups, sizes, anchors, and pressures checked. It is insufficient to hear "these are Miami-Dade approved windows" in a display room. Verify the NOA matches the precise model and choices you are purchasing, consisting of the glazing makeup and hardware. If you remain in Broward or Miami-Dade, your allowing office will want this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Product Approval system supplies FL numbers that show code compliance. In the rest of the state outside the High Velocity Typhoon Zone, Florida building code windows can count on Florida Product Approval without Miami-Dade particular NOAs. Numerous top producers bring both. Where budget plans allow, I choose NOA products even outside the zone since the testing is stiffer.
NFRC labels manage energy metrics. They won't inform you impact performance, but they show U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leak. Aim for air leak at or below 0.3 cfm/ft TWO. Tighter is much better for humidity control, but make sure your home still has balanced ventilation. Sealing the envelope and disregarding fresh air is a recipe for indoor air quality complaints.
Impact windows cost more in advance than shutters. There's no spin around that. Installed costs differ with size, shape, surface, and access. On simple single-family homes, per-opening expenses often land between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for standard sizes. Large multi-panel sliders, customized arches, and coastal-grade surfaces raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recoup worth:
If you prepare to own the property for five years or more, the math frequently tilts in favor of impact windows, especially when you factor the intangible of comfort. If you prepare to offer within a year and require to show compliance quickly, shutters may make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I take note of hardware and accessories. Multi-point locks on sashes and awnings improve seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless housings move smoother and last longer on sandy outdoor patios. Take a look at the sill style on sliding doors. Weep systems need to be engineered to drain pipes 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 films can contravene of neighborhood associations Boca Raton window upgrades or produce mirror-like glare towards surrounding homes. In coastal environments, highly reflective glass can puzzle birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Local pros understand which finishes balance performance with compliance.
Color stability is a huge deal. Dark bronze or black frames look fantastic on contemporary homes, but in Florida sun low-cost finishes chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated coverings provide the very best color retention and chalk resistance. I specify them for seaside exposures whenever spending plans allow.
Historic districts often require profiles that imitate old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, but lead times lengthen and costs climb. Anticipate additional review by architectural boards, and line up a contractor acquainted with these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations in some cases define a narrow list of approved items for uniformity. They likewise appreciate sound control between units. If your structure sits straight on Collins Opportunity or deals with a hectic beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated choices. Work 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 special attention in design pressure, deflection, and operating hardware. Not every unit that looks durable in a display room satisfies the wind loads on a ninth-floor balcony. Do not count on catalog maximum sizes. Use the NOA tables that correspond to your website's zone, favorable and unfavorable pressures, and mullion mixes if any.
The best tasks begin with a measured study and direct exposure analysis. You map each opening, keep in mind the substrate, and identify any framing abnormalities or settlement fractures. During proposal, the professional reveals you the NOA and the Florida Product Approval, notes anchor types, and explains how each opening will be flashed and sealed. They prepare for stucco or drywall repair work, not pretend no damage will occur.
On install day, they get rid of one opening at a time to keep the house safe. They secure floorings, pull back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames come out with care to protect interior finishes. 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, especially if they will be hidden. After glazing, they water-test with a controlled spray to verify drainage paths and seals. The inspector sees a cool jobsite, clear labels, and paperwork in order.
Six months later, your windows still close with 2 fingers, locks bite efficiently, and there is no mystery rattle during thunderstorms. You did not need to call for a roller change after the first week. That is the standard.
Impact rating does not equal breakproof. Laminated glass can break under serious impacts, but best window installation options Boca Raton it ought to remain in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends particles into the glass, you may see star cracks or spidering. The window did its task. Replace the sash or IGU after the event.
Window movies do not convert non-impact windows into typhoon impact-resistant windows. They can include shatter resistance, however they do not replacement for a checked, anchored system. Your insurance company and building department will not count films as secured openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows decrease air leak. That's terrific, however it increases the value of an effectively sized HVAC with great dehumidification. If your system is extra-large, the thermostat pleases rapidly and stops working to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your a/c pro to check sensible heat ratio, air flow, and run time. You desire steady, longer cycles, not brief bursts.
Maintenance is straightforward but not optional. Clean weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and oil hardware yearly with a silicone-based item that will not gum up in heat. Little habits extend lifespan.
There are genuine factors to mix solutions. A pair of rarely utilized garage windows can keep detachable panels to shave budget plan. A deep-set deck with very little sun exposure may do fine with accordion shutters if you prioritize other upgrades like a brand-new roof deck accessory or a prepared garage door. Shutters can also safeguard outside kitchens or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age expensive hardware prematurely.
If you pick shutters, purchase quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with manual bypasses for roll-downs make a difference. Appoint obligation for implementation and practice as soon as outside of a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you require 32 wing nuts is not the early morning you want to find you have 29.
Impact windows are not just about surviving the huge one. They reshape daily living. The living room remains cooler and quieter. The a/c cycles calmly instead of racing at 4 p.m. Boca Raton window installation experts You sleep without freight trains of wind noise when a squall line passes at 2 a.m. When a hurricane threatens, your preparation list gets shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and concentrate on individuals instead of panels.
For a number of my customers, that intangible is the deciding element. They know storms will come. They also understand life in South Florida is too excellent to live inside a fortress that only wakes up in August. Miami-Dade approved windows give you both: a clear view of Biscayne Bay on a breezy February early morning and quiet self-confidence when the spaghetti designs point our method September.
If you are weighing the choice, start with a site-specific assessment. Match your exposures to design pressures, select the right laminated glass stack for wind and heat, select frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and hire a crew that appreciates the load course. Done right, energy‑efficient effect windows deliver what shutters can not: defense that never requests a ladder and a much better home every day of the year.