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 hauling ladders to mount panels. After two decades defining, setting up, quality window installation services and repairing structure envelopes from Key Largo to Palm Beach, I have actually seen what holds up and what does not. When the goal is real defense with year-round comfort, Miami-Dade approved, energy‑efficient effect windows exceed shutters in ways that exceed storm day. They change how a home feels in August, how quiet your living room stays on a Saturday night, and how positive you are when a storm line spins up much faster than predicted.
This is a practical take a look at Boca Raton commercial window installation why numerous South Florida property owners are moving from shutters to hurricane impact-resistant windows, how to check out the requirements 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 benchmarks in the country for building components exposed to windborne debris. Approval is not a marketing sticker. It is made through particular laboratory tests that simulate genuine typhoon conditions.
First comes big missile effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is shot at 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 deals with cyclic pressure loading, thousands of pressurization and depressurization cycles that simulate fast wind gusts over hours. If the glass remains in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The difference between "fulfills Florida building code windows" and "Miami-Dade authorized windows" frequently lives in these test limits. Miami-Dade is simply stiffer, particularly in High Speed Hurricane Zone requirements, which include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind rankings vary by opening size and design pressures, denoted as PSF worths. On ocean-facing homes or high-rises, I frequently define systems ranked at +60/ -80 PSF or greater. Inland or in more secured direct exposures, ratings in the +45/ -60 PSF variety can be adequate, however you size and spec based upon the site's wind map, developing height, and surrounding structures. An expert understands that a corner exposure at the second story needs various reinforcement than a protected window under a deep porch.
Hurricane shutters vs impact windows is not a one-to-one comparison. Shutters can fulfill code, and they're much better than 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 desire is a ladder, a dead cordless drill, and a missing wing nut.
Impact windows reside in location. You get constant defense, 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 impact glass is basically a sandwich: 2 panes of glass bonded by a resistant interlayer, typically PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps sound. On tasks along busy corridors like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight courses, I have actually determined interior noise drops in the 5 to 10 decibel variety, in some cases more when paired with insulated glass units.
Security enhances because laminated glass resists forced entry. A robber can shatter the external lite with a hammer, however the interlayer holds the fragments. They fulfill a sticky, stubborn membrane rather of a fast course inside. Insurance underwriters know this, which is why policies frequently use credits for effect windows and doors. In my jobs, premiums generally drop 10 to 25 percent, depending upon the provider and the number of openings are protected.
Energy performance is the 3rd pillar. Energy-efficient impact windows with modern low-E effect glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while maintaining visible light. That suggests less a/c demand, specifically on west and south direct exposures where the afternoon sun penalizes interiors. In one Coral Gables retrofit, we replaced 1980s single-pane sliders with laminated low-E effect systems. Summer afternoon peak load dropped by approximately a lots of cooling, and the home's annual electricity use fell between 12 and 18 percent. Outcomes differ with shading, attic insulation, and HVAC efficiency, however the direction is consistent.
Laminated effect glass is the heart of the system, but not all laminated items are equal.
Most residential 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 expense. For oceanfront or tall openings, you might see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and more powerful than PVB, allowing thinner areas to accomplish greater style pressures. For noise-sensitive sites, acoustic PVB formulas tweak the polymer to much better take in noise in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz variety, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows show up typically in discussions since tempered glass is stronger in flexing than annealed glass. That's 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 typhoon sense. When it stops working, it blows up into small cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening vulnerable. The impact efficiency originates from laminated building, not tempering by itself. Numerous 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 finishes 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 noticeable light transmission around half or higher. Go too short on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, especially in larger openings. The sweet area depends upon your exterior orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I often tighten SHGC and accept a minor tint to manage early morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I lean toward greater visible transmittance for daylighting.
Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames control here because they manage large openings and will not swell. Thermal breaks and improved glazing gaskets have narrowed the energy space with vinyl. Premium vinyl impact frames, when enhanced properly, can perform well for standard-sized openings and have much better insulating values, but I avoid them for very wide sliders or high storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad systems look beautiful in older Mediterranean Revival homes, however they demand careful maintenance and clever flashing. The Florida sun destroys low-cost vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum surfaces quickly. Search for powder-coated surfaces rated for seaside exposure, and demand written guarantee information in salt-air environments.
Window installation can make or break efficiency. A pricey unit installed like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's stress 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 concrete 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 occur. In wood-framed houses, structural screws must bite into strong 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 visual. An appropriately sized backer rod and high-quality polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant create a durable, flexible seal that handles thermal growth. Too small a bead and it tears under motion. Too big and it remedies improperly. On seaside jobs, I never combine dissimilar metals without a barrier, and I constantly define corrosion-resistant fasteners. 10 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 combination with the water-resistive barrier are vital. If you count on sealant alone, water will find its method. That wetness may disappoint up as a drip. It may rot a sill plate gradually, then betray itself as a buckling flooring or a musty odor 2 cyclone seasons later.
I have absolutely nothing against properly designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are maintained and lubricated, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even removable panels stored carefully can protect homes successfully. They also help in particular cases.
Second homes or seasonal rentals where spending plan is tight often lean on shutters to meet the Florida building code windows requirement for safeguarded openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is seldom utilized Boca Raton impact window options in summer, a tidy motorized roll-down can be reasonable, specifically if coupling with effect doors and windows in other places worries the budget. For homeowners who plan to move within a year, shutters can be a short bridge to compliance before a sale.
But shutters bring trade-offs. They darken your house when deployed, and they require action at precisely the time you are juggling insurance documents, gas cans, and family logistics. During Hurricane Irma, I enjoyed a neighbor attempt to mount steel panels hours before landfall. The ladder sank in saturated soil, a panel slipped, and we spent the next hour in the urgent care waiting space. He made it through with stitches. His living room window did not. Shutters also 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, impact windows offer hurricane evidence windows coverage while preserving daylight and view. The benefit grows valuable once you have actually experienced one storm season with no prep beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes battle two fights: 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 uses microscopically thin metal layers to reflect infrared energy while letting noticeable light through. With the ideal covering stacks, you can obstruct a big part of radiant heat and UV. UV clog in laminated units comes mostly from the interlayer itself, which normally filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, reducing fading of materials and floor covering. Include the low-E, and you suppress the solar heat that drives your a/c crazy midafternoon.
I examine glass specifications with three numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still assists here by lowering nighttime heat circulation and keeping the interior glass temperature closer to room temperature level, which decreases condensation danger. SHGC drives just how much solar heat gets in. VT influences how brilliant the interior feels. Balance is essential. Some house owners desire the crisp, clear appearance of higher VT, even if it suggests accepting a few degrees more heat in late afternoon, since their landscaping and roofing system overhangs already do some shading. Others choose a stronger tint for glare control on waterfront lots that reflect severe light.
In useful terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to modern-day low-E laminated double-glazed systems can reduce peak solar gains by 30 hurricane proof windows Boca Raton to 50 percent on the most exposed sides. Couple that with tuned overhangs, light-colored exterior surfaces, and an appropriately sized variable-speed heating and cooling, and you begin to construct strength. If the grid decreases and you switch to a generator, a lower cooling load suggests a smaller generator and fewer gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notification of Approval, or NOA, is the document you ask for. It information the authorized configurations, sizes, anchors, and pressures tested. It is inadequate to hear "these are Miami-Dade authorized windows" in a display room. Confirm the NOA matches the specific model and choices you are purchasing, consisting of the glazing makeup and hardware. If you are in Broward or Miami-Dade, your permitting workplace will want this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Item Approval system offers FL numbers that show code compliance. In the remainder of the state outside the High Speed Typhoon Zone, Florida building regulations windows can rely on Florida Item Approval without Miami-Dade specific NOAs. Many leading makers carry both. Where spending plans permit, I prefer NOA items even outside the zone since the testing is stiffer.
NFRC labels deal with energy metrics. They won't tell you effect performance, but they reveal U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leak. Aim for air leakage at or listed below 0.3 cfm/ft ². Tighter is much better for humidity control, but make certain your home still has stabilized ventilation. Sealing the envelope and ignoring fresh air is a recipe for indoor air quality complaints.
Impact windows cost more upfront than shutters. There's no spin around that. Installed expenses vary with size, shape, finish, and gain access to. On uncomplicated single-family homes, per-opening costs typically land in 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 5 years or more, the math frequently tilts in favor of effect windows, especially when you factor the intangible of assurance. If you prepare to offer within a year and need to show compliance quickly, shutters might make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I pay attention to hardware and devices. Multi-point locks on casements and awnings enhance seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless real estates slide smoother and last longer on sandy outdoor patios. Take a look at the sill style on moving doors. Weep systems need to be engineered to drain pipes 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 fashion. Reflective movies can run afoul of neighborhood watch or produce mirror-like glare toward surrounding homes. In coastal environments, extremely reflective glass can confuse birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Local pros understand which coverings balance efficiency with compliance.
Color stability is a huge deal. Dark bronze or black frames look fantastic on contemporary homes, but in Florida sun low-cost surfaces chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated finishings offer the best color retention and chalk resistance. I define them for coastal direct exposures whenever budget plans allow.
Historic districts frequently require profiles that mimic old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, but lead times extend and costs climb. Anticipate additional review by architectural boards, and line up a professional acquainted with these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations often specify a narrow list of approved products for uniformity. They also appreciate sound control in between units. If your structure sits straight on Collins Opportunity or deals with a hectic beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated options. Deal with structure management on staging and lift gain access to. Weekend work windows and limited parking can include days and dollars.

Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, need special attention in style pressure, deflection, and operating hardware. Not every system that looks tough in a display room satisfies the wind loads on a ninth-floor terrace. Do not rely on catalog maximum sizes. Utilize the NOA tables that represent your website's zone, favorable and unfavorable pressures, and mullion mixes if any.
The best jobs start with a determined survey and direct exposure analysis. You map each opening, keep in mind the substrate, and identify any framing irregularities or settlement cracks. Throughout proposition, the specialist shows you the NOA and the Florida Item Approval, lists anchor types, and discusses how each opening will be flashed and sealed. They plan for stucco or drywall repairs, not pretend no damage will occur.
On install day, they eliminate one opening at a time to keep the house protected. They safeguard floors, draw back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames bring out care to protect 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 permit file, specifically if they will be concealed. After glazing, they water-test with a controlled spray to confirm drain courses and seals. The inspector sees a cool jobsite, clear labels, and paperwork in order.
Six months later on, your windows still close with 2 fingers, locks bite smoothly, and there is no secret rattle throughout thunderstorms. You did not need to call for a roller modification after the first week. That is the standard.
Impact ranking does not equal breakproof. Laminated glass can crack under extreme impacts, however it ought to 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 task. Replace the sash or IGU after the event.
Window films do not convert non-impact windows into cyclone impact-resistant windows. They can add shatter resistance, however they do not replacement for a checked, anchored system. Your insurance company and structure department will not count films as safeguarded openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows decrease air leakage. That's terrific, however it increases the significance of a properly 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 heating and cooling pro to check practical heat ratio, airflow, and run time. You desire steady, longer cycles, not brief bursts.
Maintenance is uncomplicated but not optional. Clean weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and lube hardware yearly with a silicone-based product that will not gum up in heat. Little practices extend lifespan.
There are genuine factors to blend services. A set of rarely utilized garage windows can keep removable panels to shave budget plan. A deep-set patio with minimal sun direct exposure may do fine with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a new roof deck attachment or a fortified garage door. Shutters can likewise safeguard outdoor kitchen 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 distinction. Assign duty for release and practice once outside of a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you require 32 wing nuts is not the morning you wish to find you have 29.
Impact windows are not just about making it through the huge one. They reshape daily living. The living room remains cooler and quieter. The AC cycles calmly rather of racing at 4 p.m. You sleep without freight trains of wind 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 focus on people instead of panels.
For a lot of my clients, that intangible is the choosing aspect. They know storms will come. They likewise understand life in South Florida is too good to live inside a fortress that just awakens in August. Miami-Dade authorized windows give 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 option, start with a site-specific assessment. Match your direct exposures to design pressures, select the ideal laminated glass stack for wind and heat, select frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and hire a crew that respects the load course. Done right, energy‑efficient effect windows provide what shutters can not: security that never ever requests for a ladder and a better home every day of the year.