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 routine of transporting ladders to mount panels. After twenty years specifying, setting up, and repairing building envelopes from Key Largo to Palm Beach, I've seen what holds up and what doesn't. When the objective is genuine defense with year-round comfort, Miami-Dade authorized, energy‑efficient impact windows outperform shutters in ways that exceed storm day. They change how a home feels in August, how peaceful your living room stays on a Saturday night, and how positive you are when a storm line spins up much faster than predicted.
This is a practical look at why many South Florida property owners are moving from shutters to typhoon impact-resistant windows, how to read the requirements behind "Miami-Dade approved," what products matter, and how to get the setup right the very first time.
Miami-Dade County's Product Control Department sets among the toughest benchmarks in the country for developing elements exposed to windborne debris. Approval is not a marketing sticker. It is earned through specific lab tests that simulate real typhoon conditions.
First comes large missile effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is shot at the glass at approximately 34 miles per hour. That imitates roofing tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the effect, the exact same system deals with cyclic pressure loading, countless pressurization and depressurization cycles that simulate fast wind gusts over hours. If the glass stays in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The difference in between "meets Florida building regulations windows" and "Miami-Dade authorized windows" often resides in these test thresholds. Miami-Dade is just stiffer, especially in High Velocity Cyclone Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind rankings vary by opening size and style pressures, signified as PSF values. On ocean-facing homes or high-rises, I typically define units ranked at +60/ -80 PSF or greater. Inland or in more protected direct exposures, ratings in the +45/ -60 PSF variety can be enough, but you size and spec based on the website's wind map, constructing height, and surrounding structures. An expert knows that a corner direct exposure at the 2nd story needs various reinforcement than a protected 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 nothing. But they ask you to do operate at the worst possible time. When a watch turns to a warning and the projection track tightens up, the last thing you desire is a ladder, a dead cordless drill, and a missing wing nut.
Impact windows live in place. You get continuous protection, even if a pop-up storm surprises you while you're stuck on United States 1. You also get benefits every day of the year.
Noise control is the most underappreciated advantage. Laminated effect glass is basically a sandwich: 2 panes of glass bonded by a durable interlayer, usually PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps sound. 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 range, in some cases more when coupled with insulated glass units.
Security improves because laminated glass resists required entry. A burglar can shatter the external lite with a hammer, but the interlayer holds the fragments. They satisfy a sticky, stubborn membrane instead of a fast course inside. Insurance underwriters understand this, which is why policies often use credits for effect doors and windows. In my tasks, premiums typically drop 10 to 25 percent, depending upon the provider and how many openings are protected.
Energy performance is the third pillar. Energy-efficient effect windows with modern-day low-E effect glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while maintaining noticeable light. That indicates less a/c need, specifically on west and south direct exposures where the afternoon sun penalizes interiors. In one Coral Gables retrofit, we changed 1980s single-pane sliders with laminated low-E effect units. Summer afternoon peak load dropped by roughly a lots of cooling, and the home's yearly electricity use fell in between 12 and 18 percent. Outcomes vary with shading, attic insulation, and heating and cooling performance, however the direction is consistent.
Laminated impact glass is the heart of the system, but not all laminated items are equal.
Most domestic typhoon windows utilize a PVB interlayer glass stack, frequently 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or multiple plies. Thicker interlayers improve impact resistance and sound control, but they add weight and cost. For oceanfront or high openings, you might see SGP (ionoplast) impact door installation interlayers, which are stiffer and more powerful than PVB, allowing thinner sections to accomplish higher design pressures. For noise-sensitive sites, acoustic PVB formulas modify the polymer to better take in sound in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz variety, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows show up often in conversations since tempered glass is more powerful in flexing than annealed glass. That holds true, and tempered lites are commonly utilized as the external or inner ply in an impact system. But 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 originates from laminated building and construction, not tempering by itself. Lots of systems use a tempered outer lite laminated to an annealed inner lite, or both tempered, however always bonded through a PVB or ionoplast interlayer.
Low-E coatings 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 50 percent or greater. Go too low on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, specifically in larger openings. The sweet area depends upon your exterior orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I typically tighten SHGC and accept a slight 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 won't swell. Thermal breaks and enhanced glazing gaskets have narrowed the energy gap with vinyl. Premium vinyl impact frames, when strengthened properly, can perform well for standard-sized openings and have better insulating values, but I prevent them for very large sliders or high storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad systems look gorgeous in older Mediterranean Revival homes, but they require careful upkeep and wise flashing. The Florida sun destroys inexpensive vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum finishes rapidly. Search for powder-coated surfaces rated for coastal exposure, and request composed warranty details in salt-air environments.
Window setup can make or break performance. An expensive unit installed like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's stress test. The load path is the core. Effect 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 building and construction, you desire stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into strong product. Hollow cells must be grouted or you need to strike the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to take place. In wood-framed houses, structural screws must bite into strong trimmers, not just sheathing. Shimming and plumb positioning matter so the locks engage easily and the weatherstripping compresses evenly.
The sealant joint is not simply aesthetic. An appropriately sized backer rod and high-quality polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant produce a resilient, versatile seal that deals with thermal expansion. Too little a bead and it tears under movement. Too big and it cures improperly. On coastal jobs, I never ever combine different metals without a barrier, and I always define corrosion-resistant fasteners. Ten years later on, 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 moisture might disappoint up as a drip. It might rot a sill plate slowly, then betray itself as a buckling floor or a moldy smell two hurricane seasons later.
I have nothing versus well-designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are kept and storm damage prevention oiled, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even removable panels kept carefully can safeguard homes efficiently. They likewise help in specific cases.
Second homes or seasonal leasings where budget is tight often lean on shutters to fulfill the Florida building code windows requirement for safeguarded openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is seldom utilized in summertime, a tidy motorized roll-down can be affordable, particularly if pairing with impact doors and windows in other places stresses the spending plan. For house owners who plan to move within a year, shutters can be a brief bridge to compliance before a sale.
But shutters bring compromises. They darken your house when released, and they require action at precisely the time you are juggling insurance coverage papers, gas cans, and family logistics. During Hurricane Irma, I viewed a neighbor attempt 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 sustained winds, in some cases loosening fasteners in time if not maintained.
For long-term owners who want to set it and forget it, impact windows offer typhoon proof windows coverage while preserving daylight and view. The convenience grows valuable once you have actually experienced one storm season with no preparation beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes battle two fights: hidden load from humidity and sensible load from direct solar heat gain. Impact glass upgrades can help both if defined intelligently.
Low-E impact glass uses microscopically thin metal layers to show infrared energy while letting visible light through. With the right coating stacks, you can obstruct a big portion of radiant heat and UV. UV blockage in laminated units comes largely from the interlayer itself, which typically filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, reducing fading of fabrics and flooring. Include the low-E, and you curb the solar heat that drives your AC crazy midafternoon.
I assess glass specifications with 3 numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still assists here by flashing and water intrusion code reducing nighttime heat flow and keeping the interior glass temperature closer to room temperature, which minimizes condensation danger. SHGC drives just how much solar heat goes into. VT influences how intense the interior feels. Balance is crucial. Some property owners desire the crisp, clear look of higher VT, even if it indicates accepting a few degrees more heat in late afternoon, because their landscaping and roof overhangs currently do some shading. Others choose 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 systems can minimize peak solar gains by 30 to half on the most exposed sides. Couple that with tuned overhangs, light-colored outside surfaces, and a properly sized variable-speed a/c, and you start to develop resilience. If the grid goes down and you change to a generator, a lower cooling load indicates a smaller sized generator and fewer gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notification of Approval, or NOA, is the file you ask for. It details the approved configurations, sizes, anchors, and pressures checked. It is insufficient to hear "these are Miami-Dade approved windows" in a showroom. Verify the NOA matches the precise design and choices you are buying, consisting of the glazing makeup and hardware. If you remain in Broward or Miami-Dade, your permitting office will want this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Product Approval system provides FL numbers that show code compliance. In the rest of the state outside the High Speed Hurricane Zone, Florida building code windows can depend on Florida Product Approval without Miami-Dade specific NOAs. Numerous top producers bring both. Where spending plans allow, I choose NOA items even outside the zone because the testing is stiffer.
NFRC labels manage energy metrics. They won't tell you effect performance, however they reveal U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leakage. Aim for air leakage at or below 0.3 cfm/ft TWO. Tighter is better for humidity control, but ensure your home still has actually 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. Set up costs vary with size, shape, finish, and gain access to. On simple single-family homes, per-opening expenses frequently land between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for basic sizes. Big multi-panel sliders, customized arches, and coastal-grade finishes raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recover value:
If you prepare to own the property for five years or more, the mathematics frequently tilts in favor of effect windows, particularly when you factor the intangible of assurance. If you plan to offer within a year and require to reveal compliance quickly, shutters might 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 housings slide smoother and last longer on sandy outdoor patios. Take a look at the sill style on sliding doors. Weep systems should be crafted 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 fashion. Reflective films can run afoul of neighborhood watch or produce mirror-like glare towards surrounding residential or commercial properties. In seaside ecosystems, highly reflective glass can puzzle birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Regional pros know which coverings balance efficiency with compliance.
Color stability is a huge offer. Dark bronze or black frames look wonderful on modern homes, however in Florida sun inexpensive finishes chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated coverings supply the best color retention and chalk resistance. I specify them for seaside exposures whenever budget plans allow.
Historic districts typically require profiles that imitate old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, however lead times extend and costs climb. Expect extra evaluation by architectural boards, and line up a contractor knowledgeable about these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations sometimes specify a narrow list of approved products for uniformity. They likewise care about sound control between systems. If your building sits straight on Collins Opportunity or faces a busy beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated options. Work with building management on staging and lift access. Weekend work windows and minimal parking can add days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, need unique attention in design pressure, deflection, and running hardware. Not every system that looks sturdy in a showroom fulfills the wind loads on a ninth-floor veranda. Do not count on brochure maximum sizes. Utilize the NOA tables that represent your site's zone, positive and unfavorable pressures, and mullion mixes if any.
The best projects start with a determined study and exposure analysis. You map each opening, keep in mind the substrate, and identify any framing abnormalities or settlement fractures. Throughout proposition, the contractor shows you the NOA and the Florida Item Approval, notes anchor types, and describes how each opening will be flashed and sealed. They prepare for stucco or drywall repairs, not pretend no damage will occur.
On install day, they eliminate one opening at a time to keep the house safe and secure. They secure floors, draw back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames come out with care to maintain interior finishes. New systems get dry-fit, shimmed, and anchored per the schedule. The crew checks squareness and diagonals before setting sealant. They photograph anchors for the license file, especially if they will be concealed. After glazing, they water-test with a regulated spray to confirm drainage paths and seals. The inspector sees a neat jobsite, clear labels, and documents in order.
Six months later, your windows still close with two fingers, locks bite efficiently, and there is no secret rattle throughout thunderstorms. You did not need to require a roller adjustment after the very first week. That is the standard.
Impact rating does not equivalent breakproof. Laminated glass can split under extreme effects, however it should stay in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends debris into the glass, you might see star cracks or spidering. The window did its task. Change the sash or IGU after the event.


Window films 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 provider and building department will not count films as secured openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows lower air leakage. That's fantastic, but it increases the value of a correctly sized HVAC with good dehumidification. If your system is extra-large, the thermostat satisfies rapidly and stops working to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your HVAC pro to examine sensible heat ratio, air flow, and run time. You want steady, longer cycles, not short bursts.
Maintenance is uncomplicated but not optional. Clean weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and lubricate hardware yearly with a silicone-based item that will not gum up in heat. Small routines extend lifespan.
There are genuine factors to mix options. A pair of seldom used garage windows can keep detachable panels to shave spending plan. A deep-set porch with very little sun exposure might do great with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a brand-new roof deck accessory or a fortified garage door. Shutters can also safeguard outdoor cooking areas or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age fancy hardware prematurely.
If you pick shutters, purchase quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with manual bypasses for roll-downs make a distinction. Designate responsibility for deployment and practice as soon as beyond a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you require 32 wing nuts is not the morning you want to find you have 29.
Impact windows are not only about making it through the big one. They improve daily living. The living room remains 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 typhoon threatens, your preparation list gets shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and focus on people rather than panels.
For a lot of my customers, that intangible is the deciding element. They understand storms will come. They likewise know life in South Florida is too great to live inside a fortress that only gets up in August. Miami-Dade approved windows provide you both: a clear view of Biscayne Bay on a breezy February morning and peaceful self-confidence when the spaghetti designs point our method September.
If you are weighing the option, start with a site-specific evaluation. Match your direct exposures to design pressures, pick the ideal laminated glass stack for wind and heat, select frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and hire a team that respects the load path. Done right, energy‑efficient effect windows deliver what shutters can not: defense that never asks for a ladder and a much better home every day of the year.