STS Impact Windows, Doors & Roofing is a veteran-owned company based in South Florida that specializes in premium hurricane protection solutions, including impact windows, doors, custom storefronts, and roofing. Combining over 25 years of industry experience with military precision, STS provides expert installation, full transparency, and outstanding customer service, backed by a leading 3-year installation warranty. Their comprehensive services ensure security and peace of mind for both residential and commercial clients, with a strong focus on quality, reliability, and efficiency.
View on Google MapsSTS Impact Windows and Doors specializes in hurricane protection solutions, offering high-quality impact windows, storm-resistant doors, custom storefronts, and professional roofing services. With expert installation, full transparency, and outstanding customer service, the company ensures homes and businesses stay secure and energy-efficient.
STS Impact Windows and Doors is located at 1000 Holland Dr Suite 10, Boca Raton, FL 33487, United States. The company proudly serves residential and commercial clients across Florida and throughout the United States, delivering reliable storm protection solutions. View their location on Google Maps.
Yes, STS Impact Windows and Doors is a veteran-owned company recognized for its dedication, integrity, and service to the community. This background adds an extra level of trust and reliability for homeowners and businesses seeking storm protection solutions.
STS Impact Windows and Doors provides a wide range of services including the installation of hurricane impact windows, impact doors, custom commercial storefronts, and roofing services. Each project is backed by expert craftsmanship, a 3-year installation warranty, and over 25 years of industry experience.
The company proudly serves both residential homeowners and commercial property owners. From protecting family homes to fortifying businesses with hurricane-rated storefronts, STS Impact Windows and Doors delivers customized solutions that ensure safety, durability, and efficiency.
Clients benefit from the company’s focus on quality, reliability, and efficiency. Their impact-resistant windows and doors not only enhance security and hurricane protection but also improve energy efficiency, reduce noise, and increase property value. With a 3-year installation warranty, customers can trust in long-term performance and peace of mind.
STS Impact Windows and Doors has been recognized with multiple industry honors, including the South Florida Veteran Owned Business Excellence Award, Best Hurricane Protection Provider 2023 Florida, and the Angi’s Super Service Award for Window Installation. These awards highlight their commitment to excellence, customer satisfaction, and industry leadership.
You can reach STS Impact Windows and Doors by phone at 561-600-1018 or visit their website at stswindows.com. They are open Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm and are available on Facebook and Instagram for updates and project showcases.
Business Name: STS Impact Windows & Doors
Address: 1000 Holland Dr #10, Boca Raton, FL 33487, United States
Phone: (561)-600-1018
Hurricane season shapes life along Florida's coasts. You feel it in the method neighbors track tropical waves, the pre-storm rush to stock up, and the routine of carrying ladders to install panels. After twenty years specifying, installing, and repairing building envelopes from Secret Largo to Palm Beach, I have actually seen what holds up and what does not. When the objective is genuine defense with year-round convenience, Miami-Dade approved, energy‑efficient effect windows outperform shutters in manner ins which exceed storm day. They change how a house feels in August, how quiet your living room stays on a Saturday night, and how positive you are when a storm line spins up faster than predicted.
This is a practical take a look at why numerous South Florida homeowners are moving from shutters to hurricane impact-resistant windows, how to check out the standards behind "Miami-Dade authorized," what products matter, and how to get the setup right the very first time.
Miami-Dade County's Product Control Division sets one of the hardest criteria in the country for developing elements exposed to windborne particles. Approval is not a marketing sticker. It is made through specific lab tests that simulate genuine cyclone conditions.
First comes large missile impact. A 9-pound 2x4 is shot at the glass at roughly 34 miles per hour. That mimics roof tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the effect, the exact same unit deals with cyclic pressure loading, thousands of pressurization and depressurization cycles that mimic rapid wind gusts over hours. If the glass remains in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The difference between "fulfills Florida building regulations windows" and "Miami-Dade authorized windows" often lives in these test thresholds. Miami-Dade is merely stiffer, especially in High Speed Cyclone Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind rankings differ by opening size and style pressures, signified as PSF worths. On ocean-facing properties or high-rises, I typically specify units rated at +60/ -80 PSF or greater. Inland or in more secured direct exposures, ratings in the +45/ -60 PSF variety can be adequate, but you size and spec 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 support than a protected window under a deep porch.
Hurricane shutters vs impact windows is not a one-to-one contrast. Shutters can meet 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 projection 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 security, 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 advantage. Laminated effect glass is basically a sandwich: 2 panes of glass bonded by a resistant interlayer, generally PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps sound. On jobs along busy passages like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight paths, I've measured 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 withstands forced entry. An intruder can shatter the external lite with a hammer, but the interlayer holds the fragments. They fulfill a sticky, stubborn membrane rather of a fast course inside. Insurance coverage underwriters understand this, which is why policies frequently use credits for effect windows and doors. In my jobs, premiums usually drop 10 to 25 percent, depending on 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 noticeable light. That means less cooling demand, particularly on west and south exposures where the afternoon sun punishes 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 usage fell between 12 and 18 percent. Outcomes differ with shading, attic insulation, and heating and cooling effectiveness, however the instructions 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, commonly 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or multiple plies. Thicker interlayers enhance impact resistance and sound control, but they include weight and cost. For oceanfront or tall openings, you might see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and more powerful than PVB, allowing thinner areas to attain greater style pressures. For noise-sensitive websites, acoustic PVB solutions modify the polymer to much better absorb sound in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows come up often in conversations since tempered glass is stronger in bending than annealed glass. That holds true, and tempered lites are frequently used as the outer or inner ply in an impact system. But tempered alone is not impact-resistant in the hurricane sense. When it fails, it takes off into small cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening vulnerable. The effect performance comes from laminated building, not tempering by itself. Numerous systems use a tempered external lite laminated to a hardened inner lite, or both tempered, but constantly bonded through a PVB or ionoplast interlayer.
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Low-E coatings matter for convenience. A soft-coat low-E tuned for South Florida generally targets a solar heat gain coefficient in the 0.25 to 0.35 range while keeping visible light transmission around 50 percent or higher. Go too low on SHGC and the glass can look gray or Boca Raton custom window installation green, particularly in larger openings. The sweet area depends on your façade orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I typically tighten SHGC and accept a small tint to handle early morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I lean toward greater noticeable transmittance for daylighting.
Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames control here because they manage large openings and won't swell. Thermal breaks and improved glazing gaskets have actually narrowed the energy space with vinyl. High-quality vinyl effect frames, when enhanced properly, can perform well for standard-sized openings and have better insulating values, however I avoid them for really wide sliders or tall storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad units look gorgeous in older Mediterranean Revival homes, but they demand cautious upkeep and smart flashing. The Florida sun ruins inexpensive vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum surfaces rapidly. Look for powder-coated finishes ranked for coastal direct exposure, and demand written warranty details in salt-air environments.
Window installation can make or break efficiency. A costly unit installed like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's stress test. The load course is the crux. Effect 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 building, you want stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into strong material. Hollow cells must be grouted or you require to strike the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to occur. In wood-framed houses, structural screws should bite into solid 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 visual. An appropriately sized backer rod and top quality polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant produce a durable, versatile seal that handles thermal growth. Too small a bead and it tears under motion. Too huge and it cures inadequately. On coastal jobs, I never match different metals without a barrier, and I constantly 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 integration with the water-resistive barrier are vital. If you depend on sealant alone, water will discover its way in. That wetness may not show up as a drip. It may rot a sill plate slowly, then betray itself as a buckling floor or a musty odor two hurricane seasons later.
I have absolutely nothing versus well-designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are preserved and oiled, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even removable panels stored thoroughly can safeguard homes successfully. They also assist in specific cases.
Second homes or seasonal rentals where budget is tight often lean on shutters to satisfy the Florida building regulations windows requirement for safeguarded openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is hardly ever used in summertime, a clean motorized roll-down can be reasonable, especially if coupling with effect doors and windows elsewhere stresses the spending plan. For homeowners 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 deployed, and they need action at precisely the time you are managing insurance coverage papers, gas cans, and family logistics. Throughout Hurricane Irma, I viewed a next-door neighbor try to install 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 room. He made it through with stitches. His living-room window did not. Shutters likewise rattle and can vibrate under sustained winds, in some cases loosening fasteners in time if not maintained.
For long-lasting owners who wish to set it and forget it, impact windows offer cyclone evidence windows coverage while maintaining daytime and view. The benefit grows valuable once you have actually experienced one storm season with zero prep beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes fight 2 battles: hidden load from humidity and practical load from direct solar heat gain. Effect glass upgrades can assist both if defined intelligently.
Low-E effect glass utilizes microscopically thin metallic layers to show infrared energy while letting visible light through. With the best finish stacks, you can obstruct a large part of radiant heat and UV. UV clog in laminated systems comes mostly from the interlayer itself, which generally filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, reducing fading of materials and flooring. Include the low-E, and you curb the solar heat that drives your air conditioning insane 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 level closer to room temperature level, which reduces condensation danger. SHGC drives just how much solar heat gets in. VT affects how brilliant the interior feels. Balance is essential. Some homeowners desire the crisp, clear look of higher VT, even if it suggests accepting a couple of degrees more heat in late afternoon, because their landscaping and roofing overhangs already do some shading. Others prefer a stronger tint for glare control on waterfront lots that reflect extreme light.
In practical terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to modern low-E laminated double-glazed units can lower peak solar gains by 30 to 50 percent on the most exposed sides. Couple that with tuned overhangs, light-colored exterior surfaces, and a properly sized variable-speed heating and cooling, and you begin to construct strength. If the grid decreases and you switch 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 document you request for. It information the approved configurations, sizes, anchors, and pressures checked. It is inadequate to hear "these are Miami-Dade authorized windows" in a showroom. Verify the NOA matches the specific model and options you are purchasing, 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 Item Approval system provides FL numbers that show code compliance. In the remainder of the state outside the High Speed Typhoon Zone, Florida building code windows can count on Florida Item Approval without Miami-Dade particular NOAs. Many leading producers carry both. Where budget plans permit, I prefer NOA items even outside the zone since the testing is stiffer.
 
NFRC labels manage energy metrics. They won't tell you effect efficiency, however they show U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leakage. Go for air leakage at or below 0.3 cfm/ft TWO. Tighter is better for humidity control, however ensure your home still has actually stabilized 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 differ with size, shape, surface, and access. On simple single-family homes, per-opening expenses frequently land in between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for basic sizes. Large multi-panel sliders, custom-made arches, and coastal-grade finishes raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recoup worth:
If you plan to own the home for five years or more, the mathematics often tilts in favor of impact windows, especially when you factor the intangible of comfort. If you plan to offer within a year and require to reveal compliance rapidly, shutters might make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I pay attention to hardware and accessories. 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 patio areas. Take a look at the sill design on sliding doors. Weep systems ought to be crafted to drain heavy rainfall without letting wind-driven water blow back in. Ask to see a cutaway sample in the showroom.
Tint colors and reflectivity are more than fashion. Reflective movies can run afoul of neighborhood watch or produce mirror-like glare towards neighboring properties. In coastal 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 great on contemporary homes, but in Florida sun inexpensive finishes chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated coatings supply the best color retention and chalk resistance. I specify them for coastal direct exposures whenever spending plans allow.
Historic districts often require profiles that simulate old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, however lead times extend and costs climb. Anticipate additional review by architectural boards, and line up a contractor familiar with these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations in some cases specify a narrow list of authorized products for harmony. They also appreciate sound control between units. If your structure sits directly on Collins Avenue or deals with a hectic beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated choices. Work with building management on staging and lift access. Weekend work windows and restricted parking can include days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, need unique attention in design pressure, deflection, and running hardware. Not every unit that looks sturdy in a display room satisfies the wind loads on a ninth-floor terrace. Do not count on catalog maximum sizes. Use the NOA tables that correspond to your site's zone, positive and negative pressures, and mullion mixes if any.
The finest tasks begin with a determined survey and direct exposure analysis. You map each opening, note the substrate, and recognize any framing irregularities or settlement fractures. During proposition, the contractor shows you the NOA and the Florida Item Approval, lists anchor types, and explains how each opening will be flashed and sealed. They plan for stucco or drywall repairs, not pretend no damage will occur.
On set up day, they remove one opening at a time to keep your house secure. They protect floors, draw back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames bring out care to preserve 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 verify drain paths and seals. The inspector sees a cool 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 modification after the first week. That is the standard.
Impact ranking does not equivalent breakproof. Laminated glass can break under severe effects, however it must remain in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends out particles into the glass, you may see star fractures or spidering. The window did its job. Change the sash or IGU after the event.
Window films do not transform non-impact windows into hurricane impact-resistant windows. They can add shatter resistance, however they do not alternative to a checked, anchored system. Your insurance provider and building department will not count films as safeguarded openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows minimize air leakage. That's great, but commercial window installation it increases the importance of a correctly sized heating and cooling with great dehumidification. If your system is large, the thermostat pleases rapidly and stops working to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your HVAC pro to check practical heat ratio, air flow, and run time. You want steady, longer cycles, not short bursts.
Maintenance is uncomplicated 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 practices extend lifespan.
There are genuine factors to mix services. A set of hardly ever utilized garage windows can keep removable panels to shave spending plan. A deep-set patio with minimal sun direct exposure might do great with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a brand-new roof deck accessory or a prepared garage door. Shutters can also protect 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 manual bypasses for roll-downs make a difference. Designate duty for deployment and practice as soon as outside of a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you need 32 wing nuts is not the morning you wish to discover you have 29.
Impact windows are not just about making it through the huge one. They reshape daily living. The living-room stays cooler and quieter. The a/c cycles calmly rather 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 concentrate on people instead of panels.
For a number of my clients, that intangible is the choosing aspect. They understand storms will come. They likewise know life in South Florida is too good to live inside a fortress that just wakes 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 models point our way in September.
If you are weighing the choice, begin with a site-specific assessment. Match your exposures to develop pressures, select the best laminated glass stack for wind and heat, select frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and work with a crew that appreciates the load course. Done right, energy‑efficient effect windows deliver what shutters can not: security that never ever requests for a ladder and a much better home every day of the year.