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 stock up, and the ritual of transporting ladders to mount panels. After 20 years specifying, setting up, and troubleshooting building envelopes from Key Largo to Palm Beach, I've seen what holds up and what does not. When the objective is real security with year-round convenience, Miami-Dade approved, energy‑efficient effect windows outperform shutters in manner ins which surpass storm day. They alter how a house feels in August, how quiet your living room remains on a Saturday night, and how positive you are when a storm line spins up quicker than predicted.
This is a useful take a look at why numerous South Florida house 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 first time.
Miami-Dade County's Product Control Department sets among the hardest standards in the country for developing elements exposed to windborne particles. Approval is not a marketing sticker. It is made through specific lab tests that mimic genuine hurricane conditions.
First comes large missile impact. A 9-pound 2x4 is shot at 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 exact same system deals with cyclic pressure loading, thousands of pressurization and depressurization cycles that simulate rapid wind gusts over hours. If the glass remains in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The distinction between "meets Florida building regulations windows" and "Miami-Dade authorized windows" typically resides in these test limits. Miami-Dade is simply stiffer, particularly in High Speed Cyclone Zone requirements, which include Miami-Dade and Broward.

Wind rankings differ by opening size and style pressures, signified as PSF values. On ocean-facing homes or high-rises, I typically define units rated at +60/ -80 PSF or greater. Inland or in more safeguarded direct exposures, scores in the +45/ -60 PSF range 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 exposure at the 2nd story demands different reinforcement than a protected window under a deep porch.
Hurricane shutters vs effect windows is not a one-to-one contrast. Shutters can fulfill code, and they're 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 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 likewise get benefits every day of the year.
Noise control is the most underappreciated benefit. Laminated impact glass is essentially a sandwich: two panes of glass bonded by a durable interlayer, typically PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps sound. On tasks along hectic corridors like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight paths, I've determined interior sound drops in the 5 to 10 decibel variety, in some cases more when coupled with insulated glass units.
Security enhances since laminated glass resists forced entry. A robber can shatter the external lite with a hammer, however the interlayer holds the fragments. They meet a sticky, stubborn membrane rather of a fast path inside. Insurance underwriters know this, which is why policies frequently use credits for effect windows and doors. In my tasks, premiums typically drop 10 to 25 percent, depending upon the provider and the number of openings are protected.
Energy efficiency 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 visible light. That means less a/c 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 impact units. Summer afternoon peak load stopped by approximately a ton of cooling, and the home's yearly electrical energy usage fell between 12 and 18 percent. Outcomes differ with shading, attic insulation, and a/c effectiveness, however the instructions is consistent.
Laminated impact glass is the heart of the system, however not all laminated items are equal.
Most domestic typhoon windows use a PVB interlayer glass stack, frequently 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or numerous plies. Thicker interlayers enhance impact resistance and sound control, but they add weight and expense. For oceanfront or tall openings, you might see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and stronger than PVB, enabling thinner sections to attain higher style pressures. For noise-sensitive sites, acoustic PVB solutions tweak the polymer to much better soak up sound in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows come up typically in conversations since tempered glass is stronger in bending than annealed glass. That holds true, and tempered lites are typically utilized as the outer or inner ply in an impact system. But tempered alone is not impact-resistant in the hurricane sense. When it stops working, it takes off into little cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening susceptible. The effect performance originates from laminated building, not tempering by itself. Many systems use a tempered outer lite laminated to a hardened inner lite, or both tempered, but constantly bonded through a PVB or ionoplast interlayer.
Low-E coverings 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 50 percent or greater. Go too low on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, particularly in larger openings. The sweet spot depends upon your exterior orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I often tighten up SHGC and accept a small tint to manage morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I lean toward higher noticeable transmittance for daylighting.
Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames control here since they manage big openings and won't swell. Thermal breaks and improved glazing gaskets have narrowed the energy space with vinyl. Top quality vinyl impact frames, when enhanced correctly, can perform well for standard-sized openings and have better insulating worths, however I avoid them for very wide sliders or high storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad systems look gorgeous in older Mediterranean Revival homes, but they demand careful upkeep and custom tempered glass smart flashing. The Florida sun ruins cheap vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum finishes quickly. Look for powder-coated finishes rated for coastal direct exposure, and demand composed guarantee information in salt-air environments.
Window setup can make or break performance. An expensive unit set up 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 after that into the structure's framing or masonry.
In concrete block construction, you desire stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into strong product. Hollow cells should be grouted or you require 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 cleanly and the weatherstripping compresses evenly.
The sealant joint is not just aesthetic. A correctly sized backer rod and premium polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant create a resilient, versatile seal that manages thermal growth. Too small a bead and it tears under movement. Too huge and it remedies inadequately. On coastal tasks, I never combine dissimilar metals without a barrier, and I constantly specify corrosion-resistant fasteners. Ten years later, you will see who took shortcuts.

Flashing is the other non-negotiable. Pan flashing at sills, self-adhered membranes at jambs and heads, and combination with the water-resistive barrier are essential. If you depend on sealant alone, water will discover its method. That moisture may disappoint up as a drip. It may rot a sill plate gradually, then betray itself as a buckling flooring or a moldy odor two cyclone seasons later.
I have absolutely nothing against well-designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are kept and lubed, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even removable panels stored carefully can protect homes successfully. They also help in specific cases.
Second homes or seasonal rentals where spending plan is tight in some cases lean on shutters to satisfy the Florida building code windows requirement for safeguarded openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is hardly ever used in summer, a tidy motorized roll-down can be sensible, especially if coupling with impact windows and doors in other places stresses the spending plan. For property owners 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 deployed, and they need action at exactly the time you are managing insurance coverage documents, gas cans, and family logistics. During Typhoon Irma, I viewed a neighbor attempt to mount 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 space. He endured with stitches. His living room window did not. Shutters likewise rattle and can vibrate under sustained winds, sometimes loosening fasteners in time if not maintained.
For long-lasting owners who wish to set it and forget it, impact windows offer hurricane evidence windows coverage while preserving daytime and view. The benefit grows valuable once you've experienced one storm season with no preparation beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes battle two battles: latent load from humidity and practical load from direct solar heat gain. Effect glass upgrades can help both if specified intelligently.
Low-E effect glass uses microscopically thin metallic layers to reflect infrared energy while letting noticeable light through. With the right finish stacks, you can block a big portion of convected heat and UV. UV blockage in laminated units comes mostly from the interlayer itself, which usually filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, decreasing fading of fabrics and flooring. Add the low-E, and you curb the solar heat that drives your air conditioner crazy midafternoon.
I evaluate glass specifications with 3 numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still helps here by reducing nighttime heat circulation and keeping the interior glass temperature closer to space temperature level, which reduces condensation threat. SHGC drives how much solar heat goes into. VT affects how brilliant the interior feels. Balance is key. Some property owners want the crisp, clear appearance of greater VT, even if it means accepting a couple of degrees more heat in late afternoon, because their landscaping and roofing overhangs already do some shading. Others prefer a more powerful tint for glare control on waterfront lots that show extreme light.

In useful terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to modern-day low-E laminated double-glazed systems can lower peak solar gains by 30 to half on the most exposed sides. Couple that with tuned overhangs, light-colored outside surfaces, and an effectively sized variable-speed HVAC, and you start to develop resilience. If the grid decreases and you switch to a generator, a lower cooling load suggests a smaller generator and fewer gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance, or NOA, is the document you request for. It details the approved configurations, sizes, anchors, and pressures tested. It is not enough to hear "these are Miami-Dade approved windows" in a showroom. Confirm the NOA matches the precise model and choices you are buying, including the glazing makeup and hardware. If you are in Broward or Miami-Dade, your allowing workplace will want this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Product Approval system provides FL numbers that show code compliance. In the remainder of the state outside the High Speed Hurricane Zone, Florida building regulations windows can rely on Florida Product Approval without Miami-Dade specific NOAs. Numerous top makers bring both. Where spending plans enable, I prefer NOA products even outside the zone since the testing is stiffer.
NFRC labels deal with energy metrics. They will not tell you effect efficiency, but they show U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leakage. Aim for air leak at or listed below 0.3 cfm/ft ². Tighter is better for humidity control, but make certain your home still has actually stabilized ventilation. Sealing the envelope and neglecting fresh air is a dish for indoor air quality complaints.
Impact windows cost more upfront than shutters. There's no spin around that. Set up costs differ with size, shape, finish, and access. On straightforward single-family homes, per-opening costs often land in between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for basic sizes. Large multi-panel sliders, customized arches, and coastal-grade finishes raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recover value:
If you plan to own the home for five years or more, the mathematics frequently tilts in favor of effect windows, particularly when you factor the intangible of peace of mind. If you plan to sell within a year and require to show compliance quickly, shutters might make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I pay attention to hardware and accessories. Multi-point locks on casements and awnings enhance seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless housings glide smoother and last longer on sandy outdoor patios. Take a look at the sill style on sliding doors. Weep systems ought to be engineered to drain pipes 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 movies can run afoul of neighborhood associations or produce mirror-like glare toward neighboring residential or commercial properties. In coastal ecosystems, extremely reflective glass can puzzle birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Regional pros know which finishings balance performance with compliance.
Color stability is a big offer. Dark bronze or black frames look great on contemporary homes, however in Florida sun inexpensive surfaces chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated finishes supply the very best color retention and chalk resistance. I specify them for coastal exposures whenever budget plans allow.
Historic districts often need profiles that simulate old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, but lead times extend and costs climb. Anticipate additional review by architectural boards, and line up a professional familiar with these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations often specify a narrow list of authorized items for uniformity. They also care about noise control between units. If your structure sits straight on Collins Opportunity or faces a hectic beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated options. Work with structure management on staging and lift gain access to. Weekend work windows and minimal parking can include days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, need special attention in design pressure, deflection, and operating hardware. Not every unit that looks strong in a showroom fulfills the wind loads on a ninth-floor terrace. Do not count on brochure maximum sizes. Use the NOA tables that correspond to your site's zone, favorable and negative pressures, and mullion mixes if any.
The finest projects start with a measured study and exposure analysis. You map each opening, note the substrate, and recognize any framing irregularities or settlement cracks. During proposition, the contractor shows you the NOA and the Florida Item Approval, lists anchor types, and describes 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 your home secure. They safeguard floors, draw 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 picture anchors for the authorization file, especially if they will be concealed. After glazing, they water-test with a controlled spray to confirm drain courses and seals. The inspector sees a neat jobsite, clear labels, and paperwork in order.
Six months later, your windows still close with two fingers, locks bite smoothly, 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 score does not equal breakproof. Laminated glass can split under severe impacts, but it should remain 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 hurricane impact-resistant windows. They can include shatter resistance, but they do not replacement for an evaluated, anchored system. Your insurer and building department will not count films as secured openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows reduce air leak. That's excellent, however it increases the significance of a properly sized HVAC with excellent dehumidification. If your system is extra-large, the thermostat satisfies rapidly and stops working to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your heating and cooling pro to examine practical heat ratio, air flow, and run time. You want steady, longer cycles, not brief bursts.
Maintenance is simple but not optional. Tidy weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and oil hardware every year with a silicone-based item that will not gum up in heat. Little routines extend lifespan.
There are genuine reasons to blend services. A set of rarely used garage windows can keep detachable panels to shave budget plan. A deep-set patio with very little sun exposure might do great with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a new roof deck accessory or a prepared garage door. Shutters can likewise safeguard outside kitchens or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age expensive hardware prematurely.
If you select shutters, purchase quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with manual bypasses for roll-downs make a difference. Appoint responsibility for release and practice once beyond a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you require 32 wing nuts is not the early morning you wish to find you have 29.
Impact windows are not only about surviving the huge one. They reshape daily living. The living-room stays cooler and quieter. The air conditioning cycles calmly rather 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 cyclone threatens, your preparation list gets much shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and concentrate on individuals rather than panels.
For a number of my clients, that intangible is the deciding aspect. They know storms will come. They also understand life in South Florida is too good to live inside a fortress that just wakes up in August. Miami-Dade approved windows give you both: a clear view of Biscayne Bay on a breezy February early morning and peaceful self-confidence when the spaghetti designs point our method September.
If you are weighing the option, start with a site-specific assessment. Match your exposures to create pressures, pick the best laminated glass stack for wind and heat, choose frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and hire a crew that respects the load course. Done right, energy‑efficient effect windows provide what shutters can not: defense that never ever requests for a ladder and a better home every day of the year.