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 neighbors track tropical waves, the pre-storm rush to stockpile, and the ritual of carrying ladders to install panels. After twenty years defining, setting up, and fixing building envelopes from Key Largo to Palm Beach, I've seen what holds up and what does not. When the goal 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 remains on a Saturday night, and how confident you are when a storm line spins up much faster than predicted.
This is a useful take a look at why numerous South Florida property owners are moving from shutters to cyclone impact-resistant windows, how to read the standards behind "Miami-Dade approved," what products matter, and how to get the installation right the very first time.
Miami-Dade County's Product Control Department sets one of the hardest benchmarks in the country for constructing parts exposed to windborne debris. Approval is not a marketing sticker label. It is made through specific lab tests that mimic real hurricane conditions.
First comes large rocket effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is shot at the glass at roughly 34 miles per hour. That simulates roof tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the impact, the same unit faces cyclic pressure loading, thousands of pressurization and depressurization cycles that imitate fast wind gusts over hours. If the glass stays in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The distinction in between "satisfies Florida building regulations windows" and "Miami-Dade authorized windows" frequently resides in these test limits. Miami-Dade is merely stiffer, especially in High Velocity Hurricane Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind scores differ by opening size and design pressures, represented as PSF worths. On ocean-facing residential or commercial properties or high-rises, I frequently define units ranked at +60/ -80 PSF or greater. Inland or in more protected exposures, rankings in the +45/ -60 PSF variety can be adequate, but you size and spec based upon the website's wind map, developing height, and surrounding structures. An expert knows that a corner direct exposure at the second story needs different support than a sheltered window under a deep porch.
Hurricane shutters vs effect windows is not a one-to-one contrast. Shutters can satisfy code, and they're much better than absolutely nothing. But 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 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 United States 1. You also impact resistant doors get advantages 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 resistant interlayer, typically PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps noise. On jobs along busy passages like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight paths, I've measured interior noise drops in the 5 to 10 decibel variety, sometimes more when coupled with insulated glass units.
Security improves since laminated glass withstands required entry. An intruder can shatter the external lite with a hammer, however the interlayer holds the fragments. They fulfill a sticky, persistent membrane rather of a fast path inside. Insurance coverage underwriters know this, which is why policies frequently provide credits for effect doors and windows. In my tasks, premiums normally drop 10 to 25 percent, depending on the carrier and the number of openings are protected.
Energy performance is the 3rd pillar. Energy-efficient effect windows with modern low-E effect glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while protecting visible light. That indicates less air conditioning demand, especially 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 units. Summertime afternoon peak load dropped by roughly a lots of cooling, and the home's yearly electricity use fell between 12 and 18 percent. Outcomes vary with shading, attic insulation, and heating and cooling efficiency, however the instructions is consistent.
Laminated effect glass is the heart of the system, however not all laminated items are equal.
Most domestic cyclone windows use a PVB interlayer glass stack, commonly 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or multiple plies. Thicker interlayers enhance effect resistance and sound control, however they include weight and cost. For oceanfront or tall openings, you might see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and stronger than PVB, permitting thinner areas to accomplish greater design pressures. For noise-sensitive websites, acoustic PVB formulations tweak the polymer to better absorb noise in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows show up typically in discussions because tempered glass is stronger in bending than annealed glass. That's true, and tempered lites are commonly used as the outer or inner ply in an impact system. However tempered alone is not impact-resistant in the cyclone sense. When it stops working, it takes off into small cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening susceptible. The impact efficiency comes from laminated construction, not tempering by itself. Many systems utilize a tempered outer lite laminated to a hardened inner lite, or both tempered, but always bonded through a PVB or ionoplast interlayer.
Low-E finishings 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 variety while keeping visible light transmission around 50 percent or higher. Go too short on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, specifically in larger openings. The sweet area depends on your exterior orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I frequently tighten SHGC and accept a minor tint to manage 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 dominate here since they handle big openings and will not swell. Thermal breaks and improved glazing gaskets have actually narrowed the energy space with vinyl. High-quality vinyl impact frames, when enhanced effectively, can carry out well for standard-sized openings and have better insulating values, but I avoid them for very broad sliders or tall storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad units look stunning in older Mediterranean Revival homes, however they demand cautious upkeep and wise flashing. The Florida sun ruins low-cost vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum finishes rapidly. Look for powder-coated surfaces ranked for coastal direct exposure, and request composed service warranty information in salt-air environments.
Window installation can make or break efficiency. A pricey system installed like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's stress test. The load path is the essence. Impact forces 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 cinder block construction, you want stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into solid material. Hollow cells must be grouted or you need to hit the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to happen. In wood-framed houses, structural screws should bite into strong 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. A properly sized backer rod and high-quality polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant create a resilient, flexible seal that deals with thermal expansion. Too little a bead and it tears under movement. Too huge and it treatments poorly. On coastal jobs, 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 integration with the water-resistive barrier are essential. If you count on sealant alone, water will find its method. That wetness might not show up as a drip. It might rot a sill plate gradually, then betray itself as a buckling floor or a moldy smell 2 typhoon seasons later.
I have nothing versus properly designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are preserved and lubed, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even detachable panels stored carefully can protect homes effectively. They likewise help in certain 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 protected openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is rarely utilized in summertime, a tidy motorized roll-down can be sensible, especially if pairing with effect doors and windows somewhere else worries the spending plan. For property owners who prepare to move within a year, shutters can be a short bridge to compliance before a sale.
But shutters bring compromises. They darken your house when released, and they need action at specifically the time you are managing insurance documents, gas cans, and household logistics. During Cyclone Irma, I saw a next-door neighbor attempt to mount steel panels hours before landfall. The ladder sank in saturated soil, a panel slipped, and we invested the next hour in the immediate care waiting space. He survived with stitches. His living room window did not. Shutters likewise rattle and can vibrate under continual winds, in some cases loosening fasteners with time if not maintained.
For long-lasting owners who want to set it and forget it, effect windows offer cyclone proof windows coverage while protecting daytime and view. The convenience grows valuable once you have actually experienced one storm season with absolutely no preparation beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes combat two fights: latent load from humidity and reasonable load from direct solar heat gain. Impact glass upgrades can help both if specified intelligently.
Low-E effect glass utilizes microscopically thin metallic layers to reflect infrared energy while letting visible light through. With the ideal finishing stacks, you can obstruct a large 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 AC insane midafternoon.
I examine glass specs with 3 numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still assists here by reducing nighttime heat flow and keeping the interior glass temperature level closer to space temperature, which decreases condensation risk. SHGC drives how much solar heat gets in. VT affects how bright the interior feels. Balance is key. Some house owners want the crisp, clear look of higher VT, even if it indicates accepting a couple of degrees more heat in late afternoon, because their landscaping and roofing system overhangs already do some shading. Others choose a more powerful tint for glare control on waterfront lots that reflect extreme light.
In useful terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to contemporary 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 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 implies a smaller sized generator and fewer gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notification of Approval, or NOA, is the document you request. It information the approved setups, sizes, anchors, and pressures checked. It is inadequate to hear "these are Miami-Dade approved windows" in a showroom. Confirm the NOA matches the precise model and alternatives you are buying, consisting of the glazing makeup and hardware. If you are in Broward or Miami-Dade, your permitting office will desire this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Product Approval system offers FL numbers that reveal code compliance. In the rest of the state outside the High Velocity Cyclone Zone, Florida building regulations windows can depend on Florida Item Approval without Miami-Dade particular NOAs. Lots of leading producers bring both. Where budgets allow, I choose NOA items even outside the zone since the testing is stiffer.
NFRC labels deal with energy metrics. They will not inform you effect efficiency, however they show U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leakage. Go for air leak at or below 0.3 cfm/ft ². Tighter is better for humidity control, but make sure your home still has 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 costs differ with size, shape, surface, and gain access to. On straightforward single-family homes, per-opening expenses typically energy efficient impact windows land between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for standard sizes. Big multi-panel sliders, custom arches, and coastal-grade finishes raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recover worth:
If you plan to own the home for five years or more, the math frequently tilts in favor of effect windows, particularly when you factor the intangible of peace of mind. If you prepare to sell within a year and need to reveal compliance rapidly, shutters might make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I pay attention to hardware and devices. Multi-point locks on casements and awnings improve seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless housings slide smoother and last longer on sandy patios. Take a look at the sill style on moving doors. Weep systems must 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 films can run afoul of neighborhood associations or produce mirror-like glare towards surrounding properties. In seaside ecosystems, highly reflective glass can confuse birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Local pros know which coatings balance efficiency with compliance.
Color stability is a big deal. Dark bronze or black frames look fantastic on modern homes, however in Florida sun inexpensive surfaces chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated finishes provide the best color retention and chalk resistance. I define them for seaside direct exposures whenever budgets allow.
Historic districts frequently require profiles that imitate old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, however lead times lengthen and costs climb. Anticipate additional evaluation by architectural boards, and line up a contractor familiar with these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations often specify a narrow list of approved items for harmony. They also care about sound control between systems. If your structure sits directly on Collins Opportunity or faces a hectic beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated options. Work with structure management on staging and lift access. Weekend work windows and restricted parking can add days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, need special attention in design pressure, deflection, and operating hardware. Not every system that looks durable in a showroom satisfies the wind loads on a ninth-floor balcony. Do not count on catalog maximum sizes. Use the NOA tables that represent your website's zone, positive and negative pressures, and mullion mixes if any.
The finest jobs begin with a measured survey and direct exposure analysis. You map each opening, keep in mind the substrate, and recognize any framing irregularities or settlement cracks. Throughout proposition, the specialist shows you the NOA and the Florida Product Approval, lists anchor types, and describes how each opening will be flashed and sealed. They prepare for stucco or drywall repairs, not pretend no damage will occur.
On install day, they get rid of one opening at a time to keep your home protected. They protect floorings, pull back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames come out with care to protect interior finishes. New systems get dry-fit, shimmed, and anchored per the schedule. The crew checks squareness and diagonals before setting sealant. They photo anchors for the license file, particularly if they will be concealed. After glazing, they water-test with a controlled spray to validate drain paths and seals. The inspector sees a neat jobsite, clear labels, and paperwork in order.

Six months later on, your windows still close with two fingers, locks bite efficiently, and there is no secret rattle during thunderstorms. You did not have to require a roller modification after the very first week. That is the standard.
Impact score does not equal breakproof. Laminated glass can break under extreme impacts, but it must stay 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. Replace the sash or IGU after the event.
Window films do not transform non-impact windows into typhoon impact-resistant windows. They can add shatter resistance, however they do not alternative to an evaluated, anchored system. Your insurance company and structure department will not count movies as safeguarded openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows decrease air leak. That's fantastic, however it increases the value of an appropriately sized heating and cooling with good dehumidification. If your system is oversized, the thermostat satisfies quickly and stops working to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your HVAC pro to inspect reasonable heat ratio, airflow, and run time. You desire steady, longer cycles, not short bursts.
Maintenance is uncomplicated but not optional. Tidy weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and lube hardware each year with a silicone-based product that will not gum up in heat. Little habits extend lifespan.
There are genuine factors to mix services. A pair of seldom utilized garage windows can keep detachable panels to shave spending plan. A deep-set patio with minimal sun direct exposure might do fine with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a brand-new roof deck attachment or a fortified garage door. Shutters can also protect outdoor kitchen areas or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age elegant hardware prematurely.
If you choose shutters, buy quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with manual overrides for roll-downs make a distinction. Designate responsibility for release and practice when beyond a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you need 32 wing nuts is not the early morning you wish to discover you have 29.
Impact windows are not just about surviving the huge one. They improve daily living. The living room stays cooler and quieter. The air conditioner cycles calmly instead 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 instead of panels.
For many of my customers, that intangible is the deciding aspect. They know storms will come. They also know life in South Florida is too great 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 morning and quiet self-confidence when the spaghetti designs point our method September.
If you are weighing the choice, begin with a site-specific assessment. Match your exposures to develop pressures, pick the ideal laminated glass stack for wind and heat, select frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and employ a team that appreciates the load course. Done right, energy‑efficient effect windows provide what shutters can not: protection that never ever requests a ladder and a much better home every day of the year.