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 stockpile, and the routine of hauling ladders to install panels. After 20 years defining, installing, and troubleshooting building envelopes from Secret Largo to Palm Beach, I've seen what holds up and what doesn't. When the objective is real security with year-round convenience, Miami-Dade authorized, energy‑efficient effect windows outshine shutters in manner ins which exceed storm day. They change how a house feels in August, how peaceful your living room stays 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 many South Florida homeowners are moving from shutters to hurricane impact-resistant windows, how to check out 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 Division sets one of the toughest criteria in the nation for building parts exposed to windborne particles. Approval is not a marketing sticker label. It is earned through particular laboratory tests that simulate genuine cyclone conditions.
First comes big rocket effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is contended the glass at approximately 34 miles per hour. That imitates roofing tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the effect, the very same system faces cyclic pressure loading, countless pressurization and depressurization cycles that simulate fast wind gusts over hours. If the glass stays in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The difference between "satisfies Florida building regulations windows" and "Miami-Dade authorized windows" typically lives in these test limits. Miami-Dade is just stiffer, particularly in High Velocity Cyclone Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind ratings vary by opening size and style pressures, represented as PSF worths. On ocean-facing homes or high-rises, I frequently define systems rated at +60/ -80 PSF or greater. Inland or in more secured direct exposures, rankings in the +45/ -60 PSF range can be adequate, however you size and specification based on the site's wind map, developing height, and surrounding structures. An expert 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 fulfill code, and they're better than absolutely nothing. However 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.
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Impact windows live in location. You get constant protection, 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 effect glass is essentially a sandwich: two panes of glass bonded by a durable interlayer, typically PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps sound. On tasks along busy corridors like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight courses, I've determined interior sound drops in the 5 to 10 decibel variety, often more when paired with insulated glass units.
Security improves since laminated glass resists required entry. A burglar can shatter the outer lite with a hammer, however the interlayer holds the shards. They fulfill a sticky, persistent membrane instead of a fast course inside. Insurance underwriters know this, which is why policies typically offer credits for impact doors and windows. In my projects, premiums typically drop 10 to 25 percent, depending upon the provider and the number of openings are protected.
Energy efficiency is the third pillar. Energy-efficient impact windows with modern-day low-E effect glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while preserving noticeable light. That indicates less a/c 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. Summertime afternoon peak load come by approximately a ton of cooling, and the home's annual electrical energy usage fell in between 12 and 18 percent. Results vary with shading, attic insulation, and a/c efficiency, however the instructions is consistent.
Laminated impact glass is the heart of the system, however not all laminated products are equal.
Most property typhoon windows use a PVB interlayer glass stack, commonly 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or several plies. Thicker interlayers enhance impact resistance and sound control, but they add weight and cost. For oceanfront or tall openings, you might see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and more powerful than PVB, enabling thinner areas to achieve greater style pressures. For noise-sensitive websites, acoustic PVB formulas modify the polymer to much better soak up sound in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows show up typically in discussions since tempered glass is more powerful 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 hurricane sense. When it fails, it explodes into little cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening susceptible. The impact efficiency originates from laminated building, not tempering by itself. Many systems use a tempered outer lite laminated to a hardened inner lite, or both tempered, however constantly bonded through a PVB or ionoplast interlayer.
Low-E finishings 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 bigger openings. The sweet spot depends upon your façade orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I often tighten up 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 dominate here since they manage big openings and won't swell. Thermal breaks and enhanced glazing gaskets have actually narrowed the energy space with vinyl. High-quality vinyl impact frames, when enhanced properly, can carry out well for standard-sized openings and have much better insulating values, however I prevent them for very broad sliders or tall storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad systems look lovely in older Mediterranean Revival homes, however they require cautious maintenance and wise flashing. The Florida sun destroys cheap vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum finishes rapidly. Try to find powder-coated surfaces rated for seaside direct exposure, and demand composed guarantee information in salt-air environments.
Window installation can make or break performance. A costly system set up like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's tension test. The load course is the essence. 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 construction, you desire 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 occur. In wood-framed homes, structural screws need to 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 aesthetic. An appropriately sized backer rod and top quality polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant produce a long lasting, versatile seal that deals with thermal growth. Too small a bead and it tears under motion. Too huge and it treatments poorly. On coastal jobs, I never combine different metals without a barrier, and I always specify corrosion-resistant fasteners. Ten years later, you will see who took shortcuts.
Flashing is the other non-negotiable. Pan affordable hurricane proof windows Boca Raton flashing at sills, self-adhered membranes at jambs and heads, and combination with the water-resistive barrier are crucial. If you count on sealant alone, water will find its way in. That moisture may disappoint up as a drip. It might rot a sill plate gradually, then betray itself as a buckling floor or a moldy odor two cyclone seasons later.
I have absolutely nothing versus well-designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are preserved and lubed, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even removable panels saved thoroughly can safeguard homes successfully. They also help in particular cases.
Second homes or seasonal leasings where budget plan is tight in some cases lean on shutters to meet the Florida building regulations windows requirement for protected openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is hardly ever used in summer, a clean motorized roll-down can be reasonable, specifically if coupling with impact doors and windows elsewhere stresses the budget. For house 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 home when deployed, and they require action at exactly the time you are handling insurance documents, gas cans, and household logistics. Throughout Cyclone Irma, I enjoyed 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 immediate care waiting space. He endured with stitches. His living-room window did not. Shutters likewise rattle and can vibrate under continual winds, in some cases loosening up fasteners in time if not maintained.
For long-lasting owners who want to set it and forget it, effect windows give cyclone proof windows protection while maintaining daylight and view. The benefit grows important once you've experienced one storm season with absolutely no prep beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes combat two fights: hidden load from humidity and practical load from direct solar heat gain. Impact glass upgrades can assist both if specified intelligently.
Low-E impact glass uses microscopically thin metallic layers to show infrared energy while letting visible light through. With the right finish stacks, you can block a big part of radiant heat and UV. UV blockage in laminated systems comes mostly from the interlayer itself, which usually filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, decreasing fading of materials and flooring. Include the low-E, and you suppress the solar heat that drives your AC insane midafternoon.
I assess glass specifications with 3 numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still assists here by decreasing nighttime heat circulation and keeping the interior glass temperature closer to space temperature level, which minimizes condensation threat. SHGC drives how much solar heat enters. VT affects how intense the interior feels. Balance is essential. Some house owners desire 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 prefer 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 units can minimize peak solar gains by 30 to half on the most exposed sides. Couple that with tuned overhangs, light-colored outside finishes, and an appropriately sized variable-speed heating and cooling, and you start to develop resilience. If the grid goes down and you switch to a generator, a lower cooling load means a smaller generator and less gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notification of Approval, or NOA, is the document you request. It details the authorized setups, sizes, anchors, and pressures checked. It is insufficient to hear "these are Miami-Dade approved windows" in a showroom. Confirm the NOA matches the exact design and options you are purchasing, consisting of the glazing makeup and hardware. If you remain in Broward or Miami-Dade, your permitting office will want this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Product Approval system provides FL numbers that reveal code compliance. In the remainder of the state outside the High Speed Hurricane Zone, Florida building code windows can depend on Florida Product Approval without Miami-Dade particular NOAs. Numerous top manufacturers bring both. Where spending plans permit, I choose NOA products even outside the zone because the testing is stiffer.
NFRC labels deal with energy metrics. They won't inform you impact performance, but they reveal U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leak. Aim for air leakage at or listed below 0.3 cfm/ft TWO. Tighter is much better for humidity control, but make certain 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. Set up costs vary with size, shape, surface, and gain access to. On uncomplicated single-family homes, per-opening costs often land between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for basic sizes. Large multi-panel sliders, custom arches, and coastal-grade surfaces raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recoup worth:
If you prepare to own the home for 5 years or more, the math typically tilts in favor of effect windows, particularly when you factor the intangible of peace of mind. If you plan to sell within a year and need to show compliance quickly, shutters may make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I pay attention to hardware and accessories. Multi-point locks on casements and awnings improve seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless housings glide smoother and last longer on sandy patios. Take a look at the sill design on moving doors. Weep systems need 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 run afoul of neighborhood associations or produce mirror-like glare towards surrounding residential or commercial properties. In coastal environments, extremely reflective glass can puzzle birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Regional pros understand which coatings balance performance with compliance.
Color stability is a huge offer. Dark bronze or black frames look great on modern homes, however in Florida sun cheap surfaces chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated coverings provide the very best color retention and chalk resistance. I define them for seaside direct exposures whenever spending plans allow.
Historic districts typically 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 acquainted with these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations sometimes define a narrow list of authorized items for uniformity. They also care about noise control in between units. If your building sits straight on Collins Opportunity or faces a busy beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated options. Deal with structure management on staging and lift gain access to. Weekend work windows and minimal parking can include days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, require unique attention in design pressure, deflection, and operating hardware. Not every system that looks tough in a showroom meets the wind loads on a ninth-floor balcony. Do not depend on catalog maximum sizes. Utilize the NOA tables that correspond to your website's zone, positive and unfavorable pressures, and mullion mixes if any.
The best tasks start with a determined study and direct exposure analysis. You map each opening, keep in mind the substrate, and recognize any framing irregularities or settlement cracks. Throughout proposition, the professional shows you the NOA and the Florida Product Approval, notes anchor types, and discusses how each opening will be flashed and sealed. They plan for stucco or drywall repair work, not pretend no damage will occur.
On install day, they eliminate one opening at a time to keep your house secure. They protect floors, pull back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames bring out care to maintain interior surfaces. New systems get dry-fit, shimmed, and anchored per the schedule. The team checks squareness and diagonals before setting sealant. They picture anchors for the license file, especially if they will be hidden. After glazing, they water-test with a regulated spray to validate drain paths and seals. The inspector sees a cool jobsite, clear labels, and documentation in order.
Six months later, your windows still close with 2 fingers, locks bite efficiently, and there is no secret rattle during thunderstorms. You did not have to require a roller adjustment after the first week. That is the standard.
Impact rating does not equivalent breakproof. Laminated glass can crack under extreme effects, however it must stay in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends 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 movies do not transform non-impact windows into typhoon impact-resistant windows. They can include shatter resistance, however they do not alternative to an evaluated, anchored system. Your insurance company and structure department will not count movies as protected openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows minimize air leak. That's excellent, but it increases the significance of a properly sized heating and cooling with good dehumidification. If your system is extra-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 consistent, longer cycles, not brief bursts.
Maintenance is straightforward however not optional. Clean weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and oil hardware every year with a silicone-based item that will not gum up in heat. Little routines extend lifespan.
There are legitimate factors to mix solutions. A pair of seldom utilized garage windows can keep detachable panels to shave budget plan. A deep-set patio with very little sun exposure might do great with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a new roof deck attachment or a fortified garage door. Shutters can likewise secure outside cooking areas or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age fancy hardware prematurely.
If you pick shutters, buy quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with handbook bypasses for roll-downs make a difference. Designate duty for release and practice as soon as 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 big one. They improve daily living. The living room remains cooler and quieter. The AC 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 shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and focus on individuals rather than panels.
For many of my customers, that intangible is the choosing factor. They know storms will come. They likewise know life in South Florida is too great to live inside a fortress that only gets 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 designs point our method September.
If you are weighing the choice, start with a site-specific assessment. Match your direct exposures to design pressures, pick the ideal laminated glass stack for wind and heat, select frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and work with a crew that respects the load path. Done right, energy‑efficient effect windows deliver what shutters can not: protection that never ever requests for a ladder and a much better home every day of the year.
