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 neighbors track tropical waves, the pre-storm rush to stockpile, and the ritual of transporting ladders to mount panels. After 20 years defining, installing, and fixing structure envelopes from Secret Largo to Palm Beach, I've seen what holds up and what doesn't. When the goal is real defense with year-round convenience, Miami-Dade authorized, energy‑efficient effect windows surpass shutters in manner ins which exceed storm day. They change how a house feels in August, how quiet your living room stays on a Saturday night, and how positive you are when a storm line spins up faster than predicted.
This is a useful look at why numerous South Florida property owners are moving from shutters to typhoon impact-resistant windows, how to check out the standards 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 toughest criteria in the nation for developing elements exposed to windborne particles. Approval is not a marketing sticker label. It is earned through specific laboratory tests that imitate genuine hurricane conditions.
First comes large rocket impact. A 9-pound 2x4 is contended the glass at roughly 34 miles per hour. That imitates roof tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the impact, the exact same system deals with cyclic pressure loading, countless pressurization and depressurization cycles that imitate quick wind gusts over hours. If the glass stays in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The difference between "fulfills Florida building code windows" and "Miami-Dade approved windows" typically resides in these test thresholds. Miami-Dade is merely stiffer, especially in High Velocity Cyclone Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind scores differ by opening size and design pressures, denoted as PSF worths. On ocean-facing properties or high-rises, I often define units rated at +60/ -80 PSF or higher. Inland or in more secured direct exposures, rankings in the +45/ -60 PSF range can suffice, however you size and specification based upon the site's wind map, building height, and surrounding structures. An expert knows that a corner exposure at the 2nd story demands different reinforcement than a sheltered window under a deep porch.
Hurricane shutters vs effect windows is not a one-to-one comparison. Shutters can fulfill 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 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 location. You get constant defense, even if a pop-up storm surprises you while you're stuck on United States 1. You also 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, typically PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps noise. On jobs along hectic passages like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight courses, I have actually determined interior sound drops in the 5 to 10 decibel variety, sometimes more when paired with insulated glass units.
Security enhances because laminated glass withstands required entry. A robber can shatter the outer lite with a hammer, however the interlayer holds the fragments. They meet a sticky, stubborn membrane instead of a quick course inside. Insurance coverage underwriters know this, which is why policies typically offer credits for impact doors and windows. In my projects, premiums usually drop 10 to 25 percent, depending on the provider and how many openings are protected.
Energy efficiency is the 3rd pillar. Energy-efficient effect windows with modern low-E impact glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while maintaining noticeable light. That means less air conditioning demand, particularly 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 effect systems. Summer afternoon peak load dropped by roughly a ton of cooling, and the home's annual electrical power use fell 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 domestic typhoon windows utilize 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, however they include weight and cost. For oceanfront or high openings, you might see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and stronger than PVB, allowing thinner sections to attain higher design pressures. For noise-sensitive websites, acoustic PVB formulas tweak the polymer to much better absorb sound in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows affordable Boca Raton impact windows come up frequently in conversations since tempered glass is more powerful in bending than annealed glass. That's true, and tempered lites are typically 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 susceptible. The effect performance comes from laminated building, not tempering by itself. Lots of systems use a tempered external lite laminated to a hardened inner lite, or both tempered, but always bonded through a PVB or ionoplast interlayer.
Low-E coverings matter for comfort. A soft-coat low-E tuned for South Florida usually targets a solar heat gain coefficient in the 0.25 to 0.35 range while keeping visible light transmission around 50 percent or higher. Go too low on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, specifically in larger openings. The sweet area depends upon your façade orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I typically tighten up SHGC and accept a small tint to manage early morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I favor greater visible transmittance for daylighting.
Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames dominate here since they handle big openings and will not swell. Thermal breaks and enhanced glazing gaskets have actually narrowed the energy space with vinyl. Top quality vinyl effect frames, when strengthened effectively, can carry out well for standard-sized openings and have much better insulating worths, but I avoid them for really large sliders or high storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad systems look lovely in older Mediterranean Revival homes, but they demand careful upkeep and clever flashing. The Florida sun damages cheap vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum surfaces rapidly. Search for powder-coated surfaces ranked for seaside direct exposure, and request composed guarantee details in salt-air environments.
Window installation can make or break performance. A pricey system set up like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's stress test. The load course is the essence. Impact forces need to take a trip from the glass through the frame, to the anchors, into the substrate, and then into the structure's framing or masonry.
In concrete block building, you desire stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into strong material. Hollow cells must be grouted or you require to strike the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to occur. In wood-framed homes, structural screws must bite into solid trimmers, not simply sheathing. Shimming and plumb alignment matter so the locks engage easily and the weatherstripping compresses evenly.
The sealant joint is not just aesthetic. A properly sized backer rod and top quality polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant develop a long lasting, flexible seal that handles thermal expansion. Too little a bead and it tears under movement. Too huge and it remedies improperly. On seaside jobs, I never combine dissimilar metals without a barrier, and I constantly 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 combination with the water-resistive barrier are essential. If you rely on sealant alone, water will find its way in. That wetness may disappoint up as a drip. It may rot a sill plate gradually, then betray itself as a buckling floor or a musty smell two hurricane seasons later.
I have absolutely nothing versus properly designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are maintained and lubed, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even detachable panels saved carefully can secure homes efficiently. They also assist in specific cases.
Second homes or seasonal rentals where spending plan is tight often lean on shutters to meet the Florida building regulations 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, particularly if pairing with impact doors and windows in other places stresses the budget. For property owners who prepare to move within a year, shutters can be a short bridge to compliance before a sale.
But shutters bring compromises. They darken the house when deployed, and they require action at specifically the time you are juggling insurance coverage papers, gas cans, and family logistics. During Cyclone Irma, I enjoyed a 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 room. He endured with stitches. His living room window did not. Shutters likewise rattle and can vibrate under continual winds, sometimes loosening up fasteners with time if not maintained.
For long-lasting owners who want to set it and forget it, effect windows offer hurricane proof windows protection while preserving daytime and view. The benefit grows important once you have actually experienced one storm season with absolutely no preparation beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes fight 2 fights: latent load from humidity and sensible load from direct solar heat gain. Effect glass upgrades can help both if specified intelligently.
Low-E impact glass utilizes microscopically thin metallic layers to show infrared energy while letting visible light through. With the best covering stacks, you can obstruct a big portion of convected heat and UV. UV clog in laminated systems comes mostly from the interlayer itself, which normally filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, minimizing fading of fabrics and flooring. Include the low-E, and you curb the solar heat that drives your a/c insane midafternoon.
I examine glass specs with 3 numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still assists here by decreasing nighttime heat circulation and keeping the interior glass temperature level closer to room temperature level, which lowers condensation danger. SHGC drives just how much solar heat goes into. VT influences how bright the interior feels. Balance is essential. Some house owners desire the crisp, clear look of greater VT, even if it indicates accepting a few degrees more heat in late afternoon, due to the fact that their landscaping and roofing system overhangs currently do some shading. Others prefer a stronger tint for glare control on waterfront lots that reflect extreme light.
In practical terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to contemporary low-E laminated double-glazed systems can minimize peak solar gains by 30 to 50 percent on the most exposed sides. Couple that with tuned overhangs, light-colored exterior surfaces, and an appropriately sized variable-speed a/c, and you begin to develop strength. If the grid goes down and you change to a generator, a lower cooling load suggests a smaller sized generator and less gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance, or NOA, is the document you request for. It information the authorized configurations, sizes, anchors, and pressures checked. It is inadequate to hear "these are Miami-Dade authorized windows" in a showroom. Validate the NOA matches the precise design and alternatives you are purchasing, consisting of the glazing makeup and hardware. If you are in Broward or Miami-Dade, your permitting workplace will want this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Product Approval system offers FL numbers that reveal code compliance. In the remainder of the state outside the High Velocity Typhoon Zone, Florida building regulations windows can count on Florida Item Approval without Miami-Dade specific NOAs. Lots of top producers bring both. Where spending plans enable, I prefer NOA products even outside the zone since the screening is stiffer.
NFRC labels handle energy metrics. They will not tell you impact efficiency, but they reveal U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leakage. Aim for air leakage at or below 0.3 cfm/ft ². Tighter is better for humidity control, however make certain your home still has actually balanced ventilation. Sealing the envelope and ignoring fresh air is a recipe for indoor air quality complaints.
Impact windows cost more upfront than shutters. There's no spin around that. Installed expenses vary with size, shape, finish, and access. On simple single-family homes, per-opening expenses often land in between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for standard sizes. Big multi-panel sliders, custom arches, and coastal-grade finishes raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recoup value:
If you plan to own the residential or commercial property for 5 years or more, the math often tilts in favor of effect windows, especially when you factor the intangible of comfort. If you prepare to sell within a year and need to reveal compliance quickly, shutters might make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I take note of hardware and accessories. Multi-point locks buy hurricane proof windows Boca Raton on casements and awnings enhance seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless real estates glide smoother and last longer on sandy patios. Take a look at the sill design on moving doors. Weep systems should 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 toward surrounding properties. In seaside communities, extremely reflective glass can puzzle birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Regional pros understand which coatings balance performance with compliance.
Color stability is a huge deal. Dark bronze or black frames look great on modern homes, but in Florida sun low-cost finishes chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated coatings offer the best color retention and chalk resistance. I specify them for seaside exposures whenever spending plans allow.
Historic districts often require profiles that mimic old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, but lead times lengthen and costs climb. Expect additional evaluation by architectural boards, and line up a contractor familiar with these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations in some cases define a narrow list of approved items for uniformity. They also appreciate noise control in between units. If your building sits directly on Collins Avenue or deals with a hectic 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 include days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, require unique attention in style pressure, deflection, and running hardware. Not every system that looks sturdy in a showroom meets the wind loads on a ninth-floor veranda. Do not rely on catalog optimum sizes. Use the NOA tables that represent your site's zone, positive and negative pressures, and mullion combinations if any.
The best projects begin with a measured survey and exposure analysis. You map each opening, note the substrate, and identify any framing irregularities or settlement fractures. During proposition, the contractor reveals you the NOA and the Florida Product Approval, lists 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 eliminate one opening at a time to keep the house secure. They secure floorings, draw back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames bring out care to preserve interior surfaces. New systems get dry-fit, shimmed, and anchored per the schedule. The team checks squareness and diagonals before setting sealant. They photo anchors for the authorization file, especially if they will be concealed. After glazing, they water-test with a regulated spray to validate drain paths and seals. The inspector sees a neat jobsite, clear labels, and documentation 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 adjustment after the first week. That is the standard.

Impact rating does not equal breakproof. Laminated glass can split under severe impacts, however it needs to stay in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends out particles into the glass, you might see star cracks or spidering. The window did its task. Change the sash or IGU after the event.
Window movies do not transform non-impact windows into cyclone impact-resistant windows. They can include shatter resistance, however they do not alternative to a tested, anchored system. Your insurance company and building department will not count films as protected openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient effect windows lower air leakage. That's excellent, however it increases the importance of a properly sized a/c with excellent dehumidification. If your system is extra-large, the thermostat satisfies quickly and fails to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your HVAC pro to inspect reasonable heat ratio, airflow, and run time. You desire steady, longer cycles, not brief bursts.
Maintenance is simple but not optional. Tidy weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and lube hardware annually with a silicone-based item that will not gum up in heat. Small habits extend lifespan.
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There are legitimate reasons to mix services. A pair of rarely utilized garage windows can keep removable panels to shave budget plan. A deep-set deck with very little sun direct exposure may do fine with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a new roofing system deck attachment or a fortified garage door. Shutters can likewise safeguard outside cooking areas or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age fancy hardware prematurely.
If you select shutters, buy quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with handbook overrides for roll-downs make a difference. Appoint duty for deployment and practice when beyond a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you need 32 wing nuts is not the morning you want to find you have 29.
Impact windows are not just about surviving the huge one. They improve daily living. The living room remains cooler and quieter. The AC cycles calmly instead of racing at 4 p.m. 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 much shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and concentrate on individuals instead of panels.
For much of my clients, that intangible is the choosing factor. They understand storms will come. They likewise understand life in South Florida is too great 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 self-confidence when the spaghetti models point our way in September.
If you are weighing the choice, begin with a site-specific evaluation. Match your exposures to develop pressures, select the ideal laminated glass stack for wind and heat, select frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and employ a crew that respects the load path. Done right, energy‑efficient impact windows deliver what shutters can not: security that never ever requests a ladder and a better home every day of the year.
