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 next-door neighbors track tropical waves, the pre-storm rush to stockpile, and the ritual of transporting ladders to mount panels. After two decades defining, installing, and troubleshooting structure envelopes from Secret Largo to Palm Beach, I've seen what holds up and what does not. When the goal is genuine protection with year-round convenience, Miami-Dade authorized, energy‑efficient impact windows exceed shutters in ways that exceed storm day. They alter how a house feels in August, how peaceful your living room remains on a Saturday night, and how confident you are when a storm line spins up much faster than predicted.
This is a useful look at why lots of South Florida property owners are moving from shutters to hurricane impact-resistant windows, how to read the standards behind "Miami-Dade authorized," what materials matter, and how to get the setup right the very first time.
Miami-Dade County's Item Control Department sets one of the hardest standards in the nation for constructing elements exposed to windborne debris. Approval is not a marketing sticker. It is earned through specific laboratory tests that replicate real hurricane conditions.
First comes large rocket effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is contended the glass at approximately 34 miles per hour. That simulates roof tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the effect, the very same system faces cyclic pressure loading, countless pressurization and depressurization cycles that mimic quick wind gusts over hours. If the glass stays in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The distinction in between "fulfills Florida building code windows" and "Miami-Dade authorized windows" typically lives in these test limits. Miami-Dade is simply stiffer, especially in High Velocity Hurricane Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind rankings vary by opening size and style pressures, represented as PSF worths. On ocean-facing residential or commercial properties or high-rises, I often define units ranked at +60/ -80 PSF or higher. Inland or in more protected exposures, rankings in the +45/ -60 PSF range can be sufficient, however you size and spec based upon the website's wind map, constructing height, and surrounding structures. An expert understands that a corner exposure at the 2nd story demands various support than a sheltered window under a deep porch.
Hurricane shutters vs effect windows is not a one-to-one comparison. Shutters can meet code, and they're much better than absolutely nothing. However they ask you to do work at the worst possible time. When a watch turns to a caution 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 location. You get constant defense, even if a pop-up storm surprises you while you're stuck on United States 1. You likewise get advantages every day of the year.
Noise control is the most underappreciated benefit. Laminated effect glass is basically a sandwich: two panes of glass bonded by a durable interlayer, usually PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps noise. On tasks along hectic corridors like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight paths, I have actually measured interior sound drops in the 5 to 10 decibel variety, often more when paired with insulated glass units.
Security enhances since laminated glass resists required entry. A robber can shatter the outer lite with a hammer, however the interlayer holds the shards. They satisfy a sticky, stubborn membrane instead of a fast course inside. Insurance coverage underwriters understand this, which is why policies typically use credits for impact windows and doors. In my tasks, premiums normally drop 10 to 25 percent, depending upon the carrier and how many openings are protected.
Energy efficiency is the third pillar. Energy-efficient impact windows with modern-day low-E impact glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while preserving visible light. That means less air conditioning need, specifically on west and south direct exposures where the afternoon sun punishes interiors. In one Coral local hurricane proof windows Boca Raton Gables retrofit, we changed 1980s single-pane sliders with laminated low-E effect systems. Summertime afternoon peak load dropped by roughly a lots of cooling, and the home's yearly electrical power use fell between 12 and 18 percent. Results differ with shading, attic insulation, and HVAC efficiency, but the instructions is consistent.
Laminated impact glass is the heart of the system, but not all laminated products are equal.
Most residential hurricane windows use a PVB interlayer glass stack, commonly 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or numerous plies. Thicker interlayers improve impact resistance and sound control, however they add weight and expense. For oceanfront or tall openings, you may see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and stronger than PVB, enabling thinner areas to achieve higher style pressures. For noise-sensitive sites, acoustic PVB formulas modify the polymer to much better absorb noise in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows show up often in conversations since tempered glass is stronger in flexing than annealed glass. That's true, and tempered lites are typically used as the external or inner ply in an effect unit. But tempered alone is not impact-resistant in the typhoon sense. When it stops working, it blows up into small cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening susceptible. The impact efficiency comes from laminated building, not tempering by itself. Numerous systems utilize a tempered outer lite laminated to a hardened inner lite, or both tempered, but always bonded through a PVB or ionoplast interlayer.
Low-E finishes 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 variety while keeping noticeable light transmission around 50 percent or higher. Go too low on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, particularly in larger openings. The sweet spot depends upon your façade orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I frequently tighten up SHGC and accept a small tint to handle early morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I favor higher noticeable transmittance for daylighting.
Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames dominate here due to the fact that they manage large openings and won't swell. Thermal breaks and enhanced glazing gaskets have actually narrowed the energy space with vinyl. Top quality vinyl impact frames, when enhanced correctly, can carry out well for standard-sized openings and have much better insulating worths, but I avoid them for really broad sliders or high storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad units look beautiful in older Mediterranean Revival homes, but they demand cautious upkeep and clever flashing. The Florida sun ruins low-cost vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum finishes rapidly. Look for powder-coated surfaces rated for seaside exposure, and demand composed guarantee information in salt-air environments.
Window installation can make or break performance. A pricey system installed like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's stress test. The load path is the essence. Impact forces have 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 cinder block building, you want stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into strong material. Hollow cells must be grouted or you need to strike the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to occur. In wood-framed houses, structural screws need to bite into solid trimmers, not just sheathing. Shimming and plumb alignment matter so the locks engage easily and the weatherstripping compresses evenly.
The sealant joint is not just visual. A properly sized backer rod and premium polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant develop a resilient, versatile seal that handles thermal expansion. Too small a bead and it tears under motion. Too huge and it cures poorly. On coastal tasks, I never ever combine different metals without a barrier, and I constantly specify corrosion-resistant fasteners. Ten years later, you will see who took shortcuts.
Flashing is the other Boca Raton window installation services non-negotiable. Pan flashing at sills, self-adhered membranes at jambs and heads, and integration with the water-resistive barrier are crucial. If you depend on sealant alone, water will discover its way in. That wetness may not show up as a drip. It might rot a sill plate gradually, then betray itself as a buckling floor or a musty smell two cyclone seasons later.
I have absolutely nothing against well-designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are preserved and lubed, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even detachable panels kept thoroughly can protect homes effectively. They also help in specific cases.
Second homes or seasonal leasings where budget is tight in some cases lean on shutters to satisfy the Florida building regulations windows requirement for protected openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is rarely utilized in summer, a tidy motorized roll-down can be reasonable, especially if pairing with impact doors and windows elsewhere worries the budget. For property 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 the house when deployed, and they require action at precisely the time you are managing insurance papers, gas cans, and family logistics. Throughout Hurricane Irma, I watched a next-door 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 urgent care waiting space. He survived with stitches. His living-room window did not. Shutters likewise rattle and can vibrate under sustained winds, often loosening fasteners over time if not maintained.
For long-term owners who wish to set it and forget it, impact windows offer typhoon evidence windows coverage while preserving daylight and view. The convenience grows valuable once you have actually experienced one storm season with zero prep beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes fight two fights: latent load from humidity and sensible load from direct solar heat gain. Impact glass upgrades can help both if defined intelligently.
Low-E effect glass utilizes microscopically thin metal layers to show infrared energy while letting noticeable light through. With the best finishing stacks, you can obstruct a large portion of radiant heat and UV. UV obstruction in laminated systems comes mainly from the interlayer itself, which usually filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, decreasing fading of materials and floor covering. Add the low-E, and you curb the solar heat that drives your a/c insane midafternoon.
I evaluate glass specs with 3 numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still helps here by lowering nighttime heat circulation and keeping the interior glass temperature closer to space temperature, which reduces condensation risk. SHGC drives just how much solar heat gets in. VT influences how bright the interior feels. Balance is essential. Some homeowners want the crisp, clear look of greater VT, even if it implies accepting a few degrees more heat in late afternoon, since their landscaping and roofing system overhangs already do some shading. Others prefer a more powerful tint for glare control on waterside lots that reflect harsh 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 correctly sized variable-speed HVAC, and you start to develop durability. If the grid goes down and you change to a generator, a lower cooling load indicates a smaller sized generator and less gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notice of Approval, or NOA, is the file you request. It details the approved setups, sizes, anchors, and pressures checked. It is insufficient to hear "these are Miami-Dade authorized windows" in a showroom. Validate the NOA matches the precise model and options you are purchasing, 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 offers FL numbers that show code compliance. In the remainder of the state outside the High Velocity Hurricane Zone, Florida building regulations windows can count on Florida Item Approval without Miami-Dade hurricane proof windows features particular NOAs. Lots of leading producers carry both. Where spending plans enable, I choose NOA items even outside the zone since the testing is stiffer.
NFRC labels deal with energy metrics. They will not tell you effect performance, but they reveal U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leak. Aim for air leakage at or listed below 0.3 cfm/ft ². Tighter is better for humidity control, however ensure your home still has stabilized ventilation. Sealing the envelope and ignoring fresh air is a dish for indoor air quality complaints.
Impact windows cost more in advance than shutters. There's no spin around that. Set up expenses differ with size, shape, surface, and gain access to. On uncomplicated single-family homes, per-opening expenses often land in between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for standard sizes. Big multi-panel sliders, custom-made arches, and coastal-grade surfaces raise the numbers quickly.
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If you plan to own the residential or commercial property for 5 years or more, the mathematics frequently tilts in favor of impact windows, particularly when you factor the intangible of peace of mind. If you prepare to sell within a year and need to show compliance quickly, shutters may make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I focus on hardware and devices. Multi-point locks on casements and awnings improve seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless real estates slide smoother and last longer on sandy patio areas. Look at the sill style on moving doors. Weep systems should be engineered to drain heavy rains without letting wind-driven water blow back in. Ask to see a cutaway sample in the showroom.
Tint colors and reflectivity are more than style. Reflective films can run afoul of neighborhood associations or produce mirror-like glare towards surrounding properties. In coastal communities, highly reflective glass can confuse birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Regional pros understand which finishes balance efficiency with compliance.
Color stability is a big offer. Dark bronze or black frames look wonderful on modern homes, but in Florida sun inexpensive surfaces chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated finishes supply the very best color retention and chalk resistance. I define them for coastal direct exposures whenever spending plans allow.
Historic districts often need profiles that mimic old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, however lead times extend and costs climb. Anticipate additional evaluation by architectural boards, and line up a professional acquainted with these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations in some cases specify a narrow list of approved products for harmony. They likewise appreciate noise control in between systems. If your structure sits directly on Collins Avenue or faces a hectic beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated options. Work with structure management on staging and lift access. Weekend work windows and limited parking can add 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 satisfies the wind loads on a ninth-floor balcony. Do not depend on brochure maximum sizes. Use the NOA tables that correspond to your site's zone, positive and negative pressures, and mullion combinations if any.
The finest tasks begin with a determined study and exposure analysis. You map each opening, keep in mind the substrate, and identify any framing irregularities or settlement fractures. During proposal, the professional 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 repair work, not pretend no damage will occur.
On set up day, they remove one opening at a time to keep your house safe. They protect floors, draw back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames come out with care to maintain 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 permit file, specifically if they will be concealed. After glazing, they water-test with a controlled spray to verify drainage courses and seals. The inspector sees a neat jobsite, clear labels, and documentation in order.
Six months later on, your windows still close with 2 fingers, locks bite smoothly, and there is no secret rattle during thunderstorms. You did not have to call for a roller change after the very first week. That is the standard.
Impact ranking does not equal breakproof. Laminated glass can break under severe impacts, but it should 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 job. Replace 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 alternative to a checked, anchored system. Your insurance provider and structure department will not count movies as protected openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient effect windows minimize air leak. That's great, but it increases the value of an appropriately sized a/c with excellent dehumidification. If your system is oversized, the thermostat satisfies quickly and fails to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your HVAC pro to examine practical 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 oil hardware yearly with a silicone-based product that will not gum up in heat. Small practices extend lifespan.
There are genuine factors to blend services. A pair of hardly ever used garage windows can keep detachable panels to shave spending plan. A deep-set porch with minimal sun exposure might do fine with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a brand-new roofing system deck accessory or a fortified garage door. Shutters can also secure outside cooking areas or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age elegant hardware prematurely.
If you select shutters, invest in quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with handbook bypasses for roll-downs make a difference. Designate duty for release and practice once beyond a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you need 32 wing nuts is not the morning you want to discover you have 29.
Impact windows are not just about enduring the big one. They reshape 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 sound when a squall line passes at 2 a.m. When a cyclone threatens, your preparation list gets shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and concentrate on individuals rather than panels.
For a number of my customers, that intangible is the deciding aspect. They know storms will come. They also understand life in South Florida is too great to live inside a fortress that only awakens in August. Miami-Dade authorized windows offer you both: a clear view of Biscayne Bay on a breezy February early morning and quiet self-confidence when the spaghetti models point our method September.
If you are weighing the choice, begin with a site-specific assessment. Match your exposures to create pressures, choose the ideal laminated glass stack for wind and heat, select frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and hire a crew that respects the load course. Done right, energy‑efficient impact windows deliver what shutters can not: defense that never ever asks for a ladder and a much better home every day of the year.