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 ritual of hauling ladders to mount panels. After two decades defining, installing, and troubleshooting structure envelopes from Secret Largo to Palm Beach, I have actually seen what holds up and what doesn't. When the objective is real security with year-round convenience, Miami-Dade authorized, energy‑efficient impact windows outperform shutters in ways that go beyond storm day. They alter how a home feels in August, how quiet your living room remains on a Saturday night, and how positive you are when a storm line spins up much faster than predicted.
This is a useful take a look at why numerous South Florida house owners are moving from shutters to cyclone impact-resistant windows, how to check out the standards behind "Miami-Dade authorized," what materials matter, and how to get the installation right the first time.
Miami-Dade County's Product Control Division sets among the most difficult criteria in the nation for constructing parts exposed to windborne debris. Approval is not a marketing sticker. It is made through particular laboratory tests that simulate genuine typhoon conditions.
First comes large rocket effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is contended the glass at roughly 34 miles per hour. That mimics roofing system tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the effect, the same system deals with cyclic pressure loading, thousands of pressurization and depressurization cycles that imitate rapid wind gusts over hours. If the glass stays in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The difference between "meets Florida building code windows" and "Miami-Dade approved windows" typically resides in these test limits. Miami-Dade is just stiffer, especially in High Speed Typhoon Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind rankings vary by opening size and design pressures, signified as PSF values. On ocean-facing properties or high-rises, I typically define systems rated at +60/ -80 PSF storm window replacement or higher. Inland or in more protected direct exposures, rankings in the +45/ -60 PSF variety can be sufficient, but you size and specification based on the site's wind map, developing height, and surrounding structures. A professional understands that a corner exposure at the 2nd story demands various reinforcement than a sheltered window under a deep porch.
Hurricane shutters vs effect windows is not a one-to-one comparison. Shutters can satisfy code, and they're much better than nothing. However they ask you to do operate at the worst possible time. When a watch turns to a warning and the projection track tightens, the last thing you desire is a ladder, a dead cordless drill, and a missing wing nut.
Impact windows reside in location. You get continuous protection, even if a pop-up storm surprises you while you're stuck on United States 1. You also 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 resistant interlayer, normally PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps sound. On jobs along hectic passages like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight courses, I have actually measured interior sound drops in the 5 to 10 decibel variety, often more when paired with insulated glass units.
Security enhances because laminated glass resists forced entry. A burglar can shatter the outer 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 know this, which is why policies frequently provide credits for effect windows and doors. In my tasks, premiums generally 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 contemporary low-E impact glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while maintaining noticeable light. That implies less cooling demand, specifically 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 impact systems. Summertime afternoon peak load dropped by approximately a lots of cooling, and the home's annual electricity use fell in between 12 and 18 percent. Results differ with shading, attic insulation, and heating and cooling performance, but the instructions is consistent.
Laminated impact glass is the heart of the system, however not all laminated products are equal.
Most property cyclone windows utilize 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 cost. For oceanfront or high openings, you may see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and stronger than PVB, allowing thinner sections to achieve higher style pressures. For noise-sensitive websites, acoustic PVB formulas fine-tune the polymer to much better absorb noise in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows turn up typically in discussions since tempered glass is stronger in bending than annealed glass. That holds true, and tempered lites are typically used as the external or inner ply in an impact system. However tempered alone is not impact-resistant in the cyclone sense. When it stops working, it explodes into small cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening vulnerable. The effect efficiency originates 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 coatings matter window installers near me for convenience. A soft-coat low-E tuned for South Florida normally targets a solar heat gain coefficient in the 0.25 to 0.35 range while keeping visible light transmission around 50 percent or higher. Go too short on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, especially in bigger openings. The sweet area depends upon your façade orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I often tighten SHGC and accept a minor tint to manage morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I favor higher visible transmittance for daylighting.
Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames dominate here since they handle big openings and won't swell. Thermal breaks and improved glazing gaskets have narrowed the energy space with vinyl. Premium vinyl impact frames, when reinforced properly, can perform well for standard-sized openings and have much better insulating worths, however I avoid them for very broad sliders or tall storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad units look beautiful in older Mediterranean Revival homes, but they demand careful maintenance and smart flashing. The Florida sun ruins low-cost vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum finishes rapidly. Look for powder-coated finishes rated for seaside exposure, and demand composed warranty information in salt-air environments.
Window installation can make or break performance. An expensive unit set up like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's tension test. The load course is the core. 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 construction, you want stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into solid material. 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 solid trimmers, not just sheathing. Shimming and plumb alignment matter so the locks engage cleanly and the weatherstripping compresses evenly.
The sealant joint is not just aesthetic. A properly sized backer rod and top quality polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant create a resilient, flexible seal that handles thermal expansion. Too little a bead and it tears under movement. Too big and it remedies poorly. On coastal jobs, I never combine dissimilar metals without a barrier, and I always define corrosion-resistant fasteners. Ten years later on, you will see who took shortcuts.
Flashing is the other non-negotiable. Pan flashing at sills, self-adhered membranes at jambs and heads, and integration with the water-resistive barrier are essential. If you rely on sealant alone, water will discover its way in. That moisture may not show up as a drip. It might rot a sill plate gradually, then betray itself as a buckling flooring or a moldy odor 2 typhoon seasons later.
I have absolutely nothing versus properly designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are maintained and lubed, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even removable panels stored carefully can protect homes effectively. They also help in certain cases.
Second homes or seasonal leasings where spending plan is tight sometimes lean on shutters to meet the Florida building regulations windows requirement for protected openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is seldom utilized in summer season, a tidy motorized roll-down can be affordable, specifically if pairing with impact doors and windows in other places stresses 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 released, and they need action at specifically the time you are handling insurance documents, gas cans, and household logistics. During Hurricane Irma, I viewed a next-door neighbor attempt to install steel panels hours before landfall. The ladder sank in saturated soil, a panel slipped, and we spent the next hour in the immediate care waiting space. He made it through with stitches. His living-room window did not. Shutters likewise rattle and can vibrate under sustained winds, often loosening up fasteners in time if not maintained.
For long-lasting owners who wish to set it and forget it, impact windows offer hurricane proof windows coverage while maintaining daytime and view. The convenience grows valuable once you've experienced one storm season with no preparation beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes battle two battles: hidden load from humidity and sensible load from direct solar heat gain. Effect glass upgrades can help both if defined intelligently.
Low-E impact glass utilizes microscopically thin metal layers to show infrared energy while letting noticeable light through. With the ideal covering stacks, you can block a large portion of radiant heat and UV. UV clog in laminated units comes mostly from the interlayer itself, which typically filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, minimizing fading of materials and floor covering. Include the low-E, and you curb 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 helps here by reducing nighttime heat circulation and keeping the interior glass temperature level closer to room temperature level, which decreases condensation danger. SHGC drives how much solar heat enters. VT influences how brilliant the interior feels. Balance is crucial. Some property owners desire the crisp, clear look of higher VT, even if it indicates accepting a few degrees more heat in late afternoon, since their landscaping and roofing overhangs currently do some shading. Others choose a more powerful tint for glare control on waterfront lots that reflect severe light.
In useful terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to contemporary low-E laminated double-glazed units can reduce peak solar gains by 30 to half on the most exposed sides. Couple that with tuned overhangs, light-colored exterior surfaces, and an effectively sized variable-speed a/c, and you start to build resilience. If the grid goes down and you switch to a generator, a lower cooling load implies a smaller generator and less gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notification of Acceptance, or NOA, is the file you request for. It details the authorized configurations, sizes, anchors, and pressures evaluated. It is inadequate to hear "these are Miami-Dade authorized windows" in a display room. Confirm the NOA matches the precise model and choices you are purchasing, consisting of the glazing makeup and hardware. If you remain in Broward or Miami-Dade, your permitting workplace will want this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Item Approval system provides FL numbers that reveal 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 producers carry both. Where budget plans enable, I prefer NOA products even outside the zone since the screening is stiffer.
NFRC labels deal with energy metrics. They won't tell you impact efficiency, however they reveal U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leakage. Go for air leakage at or below 0.3 cfm/ft ². Tighter is better for humidity control, however make sure your home still has balanced ventilation. Sealing the envelope and neglecting fresh air is a dish for indoor air quality complaints.
Impact windows cost more in advance than shutters. There's no spin around that. Installed expenses vary with size, shape, finish, and access. On uncomplicated single-family homes, per-opening costs typically land in between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for basic sizes. Large multi-panel sliders, custom arches, and coastal-grade finishes raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recoup value:
If you plan to own the residential or commercial property for 5 years or more, the mathematics frequently tilts in favor of effect windows, especially when you factor the intangible of peace of mind. If you prepare to offer within a year and need to reveal compliance rapidly, shutters may make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I focus on hardware and devices. Multi-point locks on casements and awnings enhance seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless housings slide smoother and last longer on sandy patio areas. Take a look at the sill style on sliding doors. Weep systems ought to be engineered 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 contravene of neighborhood associations or produce mirror-like glare toward surrounding homes. In coastal environments, extremely reflective glass can puzzle birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Regional pros understand which finishings balance efficiency with compliance.
Color stability is a big offer. Dark bronze or black frames look great on modern homes, but in Florida sun inexpensive finishes chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated finishings provide the best color retention and chalk resistance. I define them for coastal exposures whenever budgets allow.
Historic districts typically need profiles that imitate 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 sometimes define a narrow list of approved items for harmony. They also appreciate noise control between systems. If your structure sits straight on Collins Opportunity or deals with a busy beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated choices. Work with structure management on staging and lift access. Weekend work windows and minimal parking can include days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, need special attention in style pressure, deflection, and running hardware. Not every unit that looks strong in a showroom fulfills the wind loads on a ninth-floor terrace. Do not depend on brochure maximum sizes. Utilize 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 direct exposure analysis. You map each opening, keep in mind the substrate, and recognize any framing abnormalities or settlement fractures. Throughout proposal, the contractor shows you the NOA and the Florida Item Approval, notes anchor types, and describes how each opening will be flashed and sealed. They plan for stucco or drywall repair work, not pretend no damage will occur.
On set up day, they eliminate one opening at a time to keep your house safe and secure. They protect floors, draw back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames bring out care to preserve 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, especially if they will be concealed. After glazing, they water-test with a regulated spray to verify drainage paths and seals. The inspector sees a neat jobsite, clear labels, and paperwork in order.
Six months later, your windows still close with 2 fingers, locks bite efficiently, and there is no mystery rattle during thunderstorms. You did not have to require a roller modification after the very first week. That is the standard.
Impact ranking does not equal breakproof. Laminated glass can crack under extreme impacts, but it must remain in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends out debris into the glass, you may see star cracks or spidering. The window did its job. Change the sash or IGU after the event.
Window films do not convert non-impact windows into hurricane impact-resistant windows. They can add shatter resistance, but they do not substitute for an evaluated, anchored system. Your insurance company and building department will not count movies as secured openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows minimize air leak. That's great, but it increases the significance of a correctly sized heating and cooling with great dehumidification. If your system is large, the thermostat satisfies quickly and fails to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your heating and cooling pro to check practical heat ratio, airflow, and run time. You want steady, longer cycles, not short bursts.
Maintenance is uncomplicated 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. Little routines extend lifespan.
There are legitimate factors to blend options. A pair of seldom used garage windows can keep removable panels to shave budget plan. A deep-set patio with very little sun direct exposure might do great with accordion shutters if you prioritize other upgrades like a brand-new roof deck attachment or a fortified garage door. Shutters can also secure outside cooking areas 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 handbook overrides for roll-downs make a difference. Designate obligation for deployment and practice once outside of a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you need 32 wing nuts is not the early 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 a/c 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 typhoon threatens, your preparation list gets shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and concentrate on people rather than panels.
For a lot of my customers, that intangible is the choosing element. They understand storms will come. They also 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 early morning and quiet 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 develop pressures, pick the best laminated glass stack for wind and heat, choose frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and work with a crew that respects the load course. Done right, energy‑efficient impact windows deliver what shutters can not: defense that never ever requests a ladder and a better home every day of the year.