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 carrying ladders to mount panels. After 20 years specifying, setting up, and fixing structure envelopes from Secret Largo to Palm Beach, I've seen what holds up and what doesn't. When the objective is genuine protection with year-round comfort, Miami-Dade approved, energy‑efficient impact windows outshine shutters in manner ins which surpass storm day. They alter how a home feels in August, how peaceful your living-room remains on a Saturday night, and how confident you are when a storm line spins up faster than predicted.
This is a useful look at why numerous South Florida house owners are moving from shutters to typhoon impact-resistant windows, how to read the standards behind "Miami-Dade approved," what products matter, and how to get the installation right the first time.
Miami-Dade County's Product window installation Control Department sets one of the hardest criteria in the nation for developing components exposed to windborne particles. Approval is not a marketing sticker label. It is made through particular lab tests that imitate real typhoon conditions.
First comes large missile impact. A 9-pound 2x4 is contended the glass at roughly 34 miles per hour. That simulates roofing tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the impact, the exact same unit deals with cyclic pressure loading, thousands of pressurization and depressurization cycles that imitate rapid wind gusts over hours. If the glass remains in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The distinction in between "meets Florida building regulations windows" and "Miami-Dade approved windows" often lives in these test thresholds. Miami-Dade is simply stiffer, particularly in High Velocity Typhoon Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind ratings vary by opening size and design pressures, denoted as PSF values. On ocean-facing homes or high-rises, I often define units ranked at +60/ -80 PSF or greater. Inland or in more secured exposures, ratings in the +45/ -60 PSF variety can be adequate, however you size and specification based on the website's wind map, developing height, and surrounding structures. An expert understands that a corner direct exposure at the 2nd story needs 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 better than nothing. But they ask you to do work at the worst possible time. When a watch turns to a caution and the forecast track tightens, the last thing you want is a ladder, a dead cordless drill, and a missing wing nut.
Impact windows reside in place. You get continuous defense, even if a pop-up storm surprises you while you're stuck on US 1. You also get benefits every day of the year.
Noise control is the most underappreciated benefit. Laminated impact glass is essentially a sandwich: 2 panes of glass bonded by a resilient interlayer, typically PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps noise. On tasks along busy passages like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight paths, I have actually measured interior noise drops in the 5 to 10 decibel range, often more when paired with insulated glass units.
Security improves due to the fact that laminated glass resists forced entry. A burglar can shatter the external lite with a hammer, but the interlayer holds the shards. They satisfy a sticky, stubborn membrane rather of a quick path inside. Insurance coverage underwriters know this, which is why policies often provide credits for effect windows and doors. In my projects, premiums usually drop 10 to 25 percent, depending upon the provider and how many openings are protected.
Energy performance is the 3rd pillar. Energy-efficient effect windows with modern low-E impact glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while protecting noticeable light. That implies less cooling demand, particularly on west and south direct 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 approximately a ton of cooling, and the home's annual electrical energy use fell in between 12 and 18 percent. Results vary with shading, aluminum impact windows attic insulation, and heating and cooling performance, but the direction is consistent.
Laminated impact glass is the heart of the system, however not all laminated items are equal.
hurricane rated windowsMost domestic typhoon windows use a PVB interlayer glass stack, frequently 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or several plies. Thicker interlayers improve impact resistance and sound control, but they include weight and cost. For oceanfront or tall openings, you may see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and more powerful than PVB, enabling thinner sections to attain greater style pressures. For noise-sensitive sites, acoustic PVB solutions fine-tune the polymer to better take in noise in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows come up frequently in conversations since tempered glass is more powerful in bending than annealed glass. That's true, and tempered lites are commonly used as the external or inner ply in an effect system. But tempered alone is not impact-resistant in the typhoon sense. When it stops working, it takes off into little cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening vulnerable. The impact efficiency comes from laminated building, not tempering by itself. Numerous systems use a tempered external lite laminated to an annealed 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 usually targets a solar heat gain coefficient in the 0.25 to 0.35 variety while keeping visible light transmission around half or higher. Go too short on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, particularly in larger openings. The sweet area depends on your façade orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I frequently tighten SHGC and accept a small tint to handle early 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 because they handle big openings and won't swell. Thermal breaks and improved glazing gaskets have narrowed the energy space with vinyl. Top quality vinyl effect frames, when enhanced correctly, can carry out well for standard-sized openings and have much better insulating worths, however I avoid them for very large sliders or high storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad units look beautiful in older Mediterranean Revival homes, but they require cautious upkeep and wise flashing. The Florida sun destroys inexpensive vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum surfaces quickly. Try to find powder-coated surfaces rated for seaside exposure, and demand composed service warranty details in salt-air environments.
Window setup can make or break performance. An expensive system set up like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's stress test. The load path is the crux. Impact forces need to travel 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 building, you desire stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into strong product. Hollow cells should be grouted or you require to hit the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to happen. In wood-framed homes, structural screws should 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 simply visual. An effectively sized backer rod and premium polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant create a long lasting, versatile seal that handles thermal expansion. Too small a bead and it tears under movement. Too huge and it treatments improperly. On coastal tasks, I never match 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 integration with the water-resistive barrier are vital. If you rely on sealant alone, water will discover its way in. That wetness may disappoint up as a drip. It might rot a sill plate slowly, then betray itself as a buckling flooring or a musty smell 2 typhoon seasons later.
I have absolutely nothing against well-designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are maintained and oiled, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even detachable panels stored carefully can protect homes effectively. They also assist in certain cases.
Second homes or seasonal leasings where spending plan is tight sometimes lean on shutters to fulfill the Florida building regulations windows requirement for protected openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is rarely used in summertime, a clean motorized roll-down can be affordable, especially if coupling with effect windows and doors somewhere else worries the budget 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 trade-offs. They darken your home when deployed, and they need action at precisely the time you are juggling insurance papers, gas cans, and household logistics. During Cyclone Irma, I viewed a neighbor try 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 survived with stitches. His living room window did not. Shutters also rattle and can vibrate under sustained winds, sometimes loosening fasteners with time if not maintained.
For long-lasting owners who want to set it and forget it, impact windows provide hurricane proof windows protection while preserving daytime and view. The convenience grows important once you have actually experienced one storm season with zero preparation beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes fight 2 fights: latent load from humidity and practical load from direct solar heat gain. Effect glass upgrades can assist both if defined intelligently.
Low-E impact glass uses microscopically thin metallic layers to reflect infrared energy while letting visible light through. With the right coating stacks, you can obstruct a big part of radiant heat and UV. UV obstruction in laminated systems comes mostly from the interlayer itself, which normally filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, lowering fading of fabrics and flooring. Include the low-E, and you suppress the solar heat that drives your air conditioning crazy midafternoon.

I assess glass specs with three numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still assists here by reducing nighttime heat circulation and keeping the interior glass temperature closer to space temperature, which lowers condensation risk. SHGC drives just how much solar heat enters. VT affects how intense the interior feels. Balance is essential. Some homeowners want the crisp, clear appearance 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 overhangs already do some shading. Others choose a more powerful tint for glare control on waterside lots that reflect severe light.
In useful terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to modern 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 exterior surfaces, and an appropriately sized variable-speed heating and cooling, and you begin to build strength. If the grid goes down and you switch to a generator, a lower cooling load means a smaller sized generator and less gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance, or NOA, is the file you ask for. It information the authorized setups, sizes, anchors, and pressures checked. It is inadequate to hear "these are Miami-Dade approved windows" in a showroom. Verify the NOA matches the precise design and alternatives you are buying, including the glazing makeup and hardware. If you are in Broward or Miami-Dade, your allowing workplace will desire 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 Velocity Typhoon Zone, Florida building regulations windows can rely on Florida Item Approval without Miami-Dade particular NOAs. Numerous leading manufacturers carry both. Where spending plans permit, I choose NOA products even outside the zone since the screening is stiffer.
NFRC labels deal with energy metrics. They will not tell you effect performance, however they show U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leak. Aim for air leak at or listed below 0.3 cfm/ft ². Tighter is better for humidity control, but make sure your home still has actually balanced ventilation. Sealing the envelope and disregarding fresh air is a dish for indoor air quality complaints.
Impact windows cost more upfront than shutters. There's no spin around that. Installed expenses vary with size, shape, surface, and access. On straightforward single-family homes, per-opening costs frequently land between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for standard sizes. Big multi-panel sliders, custom arches, and coastal-grade surfaces raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recover value:
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If you plan to own the residential or commercial property for five years or more, the math typically tilts in favor of impact windows, especially when you factor the intangible of assurance. If you prepare to offer within a year and require to show compliance quickly, shutters might make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I pay attention to hardware and devices. Multi-point locks on sashes and awnings enhance seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless real estates glide smoother and last longer on sandy outdoor patios. Take a look at the sill design on sliding doors. Weep systems ought to 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 movies can contravene of neighborhood associations or produce mirror-like glare towards surrounding properties. In coastal communities, extremely reflective glass can puzzle birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Local pros understand which coatings balance performance with compliance.
Color stability is a huge offer. Dark bronze or black frames look great on contemporary homes, but in Florida sun cheap surfaces chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated coatings supply the best color retention and chalk resistance. I specify them for seaside exposures whenever budget plans allow.
Historic districts typically require profiles that simulate old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, but lead times extend and costs climb. Expect additional evaluation by architectural boards, and line up a specialist familiar with these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations often define a narrow list of authorized items for uniformity. They also appreciate sound control between units. If your structure sits straight on Collins Avenue or faces a busy beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated choices. Work with structure management on staging and lift gain access to. Weekend work windows and limited parking can add days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, require special attention in design pressure, deflection, and running hardware. Not every system that looks sturdy in a display room satisfies the wind loads on a ninth-floor balcony. Do not count on catalog maximum sizes. Use the NOA tables that represent your site's zone, positive and unfavorable pressures, and mullion combinations if any.
The finest tasks start with a determined study and exposure analysis. You map each opening, keep in mind the substrate, and determine any framing abnormalities or settlement cracks. During proposition, the contractor reveals you the NOA and the Florida Product Approval, lists anchor types, and discusses 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 protected. They safeguard floorings, pull back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames come out with care to maintain interior surfaces. New units 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, specifically if they will be hidden. After glazing, they water-test with a regulated spray to verify drainage paths and seals. The inspector sees a cool jobsite, clear labels, and paperwork in order.
Six months later on, your windows still close with two fingers, locks bite smoothly, and there is no mystery rattle throughout thunderstorms. You did not need to call for a roller adjustment after the very first week. That is the standard.
Impact rating does not equivalent breakproof. Laminated glass can break under serious impacts, however it ought to stay in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends 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 add shatter resistance, however they do not replacement for an evaluated, anchored system. Your insurer and structure department will not count movies as protected openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows reduce air leak. That's terrific, but it increases the value of a correctly sized HVAC with excellent dehumidification. If your system is extra-large, the thermostat satisfies rapidly and fails 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 however 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 routines extend lifespan.

There are genuine reasons to mix solutions. A pair of rarely utilized garage windows can keep detachable panels to shave spending plan. A deep-set porch with very little sun exposure may do great with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a brand-new roofing deck accessory or a fortified garage door. Shutters can also secure outside kitchen 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. Assign responsibility for release and practice as soon as beyond a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you require 32 wing nuts is not the morning you wish to find you have 29.
Impact windows are not only about making it through the huge one. They improve daily living. The living-room remains cooler and quieter. The AC 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 hurricane threatens, your preparation list gets much shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and concentrate on people rather than panels.
For a number of my clients, that intangible is the deciding factor. They understand storms will come. They also understand life in South Florida is too good 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 early morning and quiet self-confidence when the spaghetti designs point our way in September.
If you are weighing the option, begin with a site-specific evaluation. Match your direct exposures to create pressures, pick the best laminated glass stack for wind and heat, choose frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and employ a team that respects the load course. Done right, energy‑efficient impact windows deliver what shutters can not: security that never ever requests a ladder and a much better home every day of the year.