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 routine of transporting ladders to install panels. After twenty years defining, setting up, and repairing structure envelopes from Secret Largo to Palm Beach, I have actually seen what holds up and what doesn't. When the goal is real defense with year-round comfort, Miami-Dade authorized, energy‑efficient impact windows exceed shutters in ways that surpass storm day. They change 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 faster than predicted.
This is a practical take a look at why numerous South Florida property owners are moving from shutters to cyclone impact-resistant windows, how to check out the requirements behind "Miami-Dade authorized," what products matter, and how to get the installation right the very first time.
Miami-Dade County's Product Control Department sets among the most difficult benchmarks in the country for constructing components exposed to windborne debris. Approval is not a marketing sticker label. It is earned through particular laboratory tests that simulate genuine typhoon conditions.
First comes large rocket effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is contended Boca Raton window installation costs the glass at approximately 34 miles per hour. That mimics roofing system tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the impact, the very same system faces cyclic pressure loading, thousands of pressurization and depressurization cycles that imitate rapid wind gusts over hours. If the glass remains in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The difference in between "satisfies Florida building regulations windows" and "Miami-Dade approved windows" often lives in these test limits. Miami-Dade is just stiffer, especially in High Velocity Hurricane Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind rankings vary by opening size and design pressures, signified as PSF worths. On ocean-facing properties or high-rises, I frequently define systems ranked at +60/ -80 PSF or higher. Inland or in more protected exposures, rankings in the +45/ -60 PSF variety can be adequate, but you size and spec based on the site's wind map, developing height, and surrounding structures. A professional knows that a corner exposure at the second story needs different reinforcement 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 nothing. However they ask you to do operate at the worst possible time. When a watch turns to a caution 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 likewise get advantages every day of the year.
Noise control is the most underappreciated advantage. Laminated impact glass is basically a sandwich: 2 panes of glass bonded by a resilient interlayer, generally PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps sound. On jobs along hectic corridors like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight paths, I have actually determined interior sound drops in the 5 to 10 decibel range, often more when paired with insulated glass units.
Security enhances since laminated glass resists required entry. A burglar can shatter the external lite with a hammer, however the interlayer holds the shards. They meet a sticky, stubborn membrane rather of a quick path inside. Insurance 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 provider and how many openings are protected.
Energy efficiency is the 3rd pillar. Energy-efficient effect windows with modern-day low-E effect glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while protecting visible light. That means less cooling need, specifically on west and south 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 season afternoon peak load stopped by approximately a lots of cooling, and the home's annual electricity use fell 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 cyclone windows utilize a PVB interlayer glass stack, typically 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or multiple plies. Thicker interlayers improve impact resistance and sound control, however they add weight and expense. For oceanfront or high openings, you might see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and more powerful than PVB, permitting thinner sections to attain higher design pressures. For noise-sensitive websites, acoustic PVB formulations modify the polymer to much better soak up noise in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows come up frequently in discussions since tempered glass is stronger in bending than annealed glass. That's true, and tempered lites are typically utilized as the external or inner ply in an impact unit. But tempered alone is not impact-resistant in the hurricane sense. When it fails, it blows up into small cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening vulnerable. The effect performance comes from laminated construction, not tempering by itself. Numerous systems utilize a tempered external 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 normally 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 low on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, especially in larger openings. The sweet area depends on your façade orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I typically tighten up SHGC and accept a slight tint to manage morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I favor higher noticeable transmittance for daylighting.
Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames dominate here due to the fact that they deal with big openings and will not swell. Thermal breaks and enhanced glazing gaskets have narrowed the energy gap with vinyl. High-quality vinyl effect frames, when strengthened effectively, can perform well for standard-sized openings and have better insulating worths, but I avoid them for really 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 upkeep and smart flashing. The Florida sun damages inexpensive vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum surfaces quickly. Try to find powder-coated finishes ranked for coastal direct exposure, and request composed warranty details in salt-air environments.
Window installation can make or break efficiency. A pricey system set up like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's stress test. The load path is the crux. Impact forces have to take a trip from the glass through the frame, to the anchors, into the substrate, and after that into the structure's framing or masonry.
In concrete block building, you desire stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into strong product. Hollow cells need to be grouted or you need to hit the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to take place. In wood-framed homes, structural screws need to bite into strong trimmers, not just sheathing. Shimming and plumb alignment 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, flexible seal that handles thermal growth. Too small a bead and it tears under motion. Too big and it cures badly. On coastal jobs, I never pair dissimilar metals without a barrier, and I constantly define corrosion-resistant fasteners. Ten years later on, you will see who took shortcuts.
Flashing is the other non-negotiable. Pan flashing at sills, self-adhered membranes at jambs and heads, and integration with the water-resistive barrier are crucial. If you count on sealant alone, water will find its method. That moisture might not show up as a drip. It might rot a sill plate gradually, then betray itself as a buckling flooring or a moldy smell two hurricane seasons later.
I have absolutely nothing versus properly designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are maintained and oiled, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even removable panels stored carefully can secure homes efficiently. They also help in specific cases.
Second homes or seasonal leasings where budget plan is tight often lean on shutters to meet the Florida building regulations windows requirement for safeguarded openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is rarely used in summer, a clean motorized roll-down can be reasonable, specifically if pairing with effect doors and windows in other places stresses the budget 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 trade-offs. They darken your house when released, and they require action at precisely the time you are handling insurance coverage documents, gas cans, and household logistics. During Typhoon Irma, I enjoyed a 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 room. He made it through with stitches. His living room window did not. Shutters likewise rattle and can vibrate under sustained winds, sometimes loosening fasteners gradually if not maintained.
For long-lasting owners who want to set it and forget it, impact windows offer cyclone proof windows protection while maintaining daylight and view. The benefit grows important once you have actually experienced one storm season with absolutely no prep beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes battle 2 battles: hidden load from humidity and sensible load from direct solar heat gain. Impact glass upgrades can assist both if specified intelligently.
Low-E impact glass uses microscopically thin metal layers to reflect infrared energy while letting visible light through. With the right finish stacks, you can block a big part of convected heat and UV. UV blockage in laminated systems comes largely from the interlayer itself, which usually filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, lowering fading of fabrics and flooring. Include the low-E, and you curb the solar heat that drives your a/c crazy midafternoon.
I evaluate glass specifications 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 closer to space temperature, which minimizes condensation danger. SHGC drives how much solar heat enters. VT affects how brilliant the interior feels. Balance is essential. Some homeowners want the crisp, clear look of greater VT, even if it means accepting a few degrees more heat in late afternoon, because their landscaping and roofing overhangs currently do some shading. Others prefer a more powerful tint for glare control on waterside lots that reflect severe light.
In useful terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to modern low-E laminated double-glazed systems can lower peak solar gains by 30 to 50 percent on the most exposed sides. Couple that with tuned overhangs, light-colored outside surfaces, and a properly sized variable-speed heating and cooling, and you begin to develop strength. If the grid decreases and you switch to a generator, a lower cooling load means a smaller sized generator and less gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notification of Acceptance, or NOA, is the document you request for. It information the authorized setups, sizes, anchors, and pressures checked. It is not enough to hear "these are Miami-Dade authorized windows" in a showroom. Validate the NOA matches the exact model and alternatives you are buying, consisting of the glazing makeup and hardware. If you remain in Broward or Miami-Dade, your allowing workplace will desire this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Item Approval system provides FL numbers that show code compliance. In the remainder of the state outside the High Velocity Cyclone Zone, Florida building code windows can depend on Florida Product Approval without Miami-Dade particular NOAs. Numerous leading makers carry both. Where spending plans permit, I choose NOA products even outside the zone since the testing is stiffer.
NFRC labels manage energy metrics. They will not tell you impact performance, however they show U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leakage. Aim for air leak at or listed below 0.3 cfm/ft ². Tighter is better for humidity control, but make sure your home still has actually stabilized ventilation. Sealing the envelope and disregarding fresh air is a dish for indoor air quality complaints.
Impact windows cost more upfront than shutters. There's no spin around that. 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 standard sizes. Large multi-panel sliders, custom-made arches, and coastal-grade surfaces raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recoup worth:
If you plan to own the residential or commercial property for 5 years or more, the math frequently tilts in favor of effect windows, particularly when you factor the intangible of comfort. If you prepare to sell within a year and need to show compliance rapidly, shutters might make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I take notice of hardware and accessories. Multi-point locks on sashes and awnings improve seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless housings glide smoother and last longer on sandy patios. Look at the sill design on moving doors. Weep systems ought to be crafted to drain pipes heavy rainfall without letting wind-driven water blow back in. Ask to see a cutaway sample in the showroom.
Tint colors and reflectivity are more than fashion. Reflective movies can run afoul of neighborhood watch or produce mirror-like glare towards neighboring properties. In seaside communities, extremely 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 offer. Dark bronze or black frames look great on modern-day homes, but in Florida sun cheap finishes chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated coatings provide the very best color retention and chalk resistance. I define them for seaside direct exposures whenever budget plans allow.
Historic districts typically need profiles that simulate old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, however lead times lengthen and costs climb. Anticipate additional review by architectural boards, and line up a contractor acquainted with these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations often specify a narrow list of authorized items for harmony. They likewise care about noise control in between units. If your building sits directly on Collins Opportunity or deals with a hectic beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated choices. Work with structure management on staging and lift gain access to. Weekend work windows and limited parking can add days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, need unique attention in design pressure, deflection, and operating hardware. Not every system that looks strong in a display room fulfills the wind loads on a ninth-floor veranda. Do not depend on brochure optimum sizes. Use the NOA tables that represent your site's zone, favorable and negative pressures, and mullion mixes if any.
The best tasks start with a determined study and direct exposure analysis. You map each opening, note the substrate, and recognize any framing irregularities or settlement cracks. During proposition, the professional reveals you the NOA and the Florida Item Approval, lists anchor types, and explains how each opening will be flashed and sealed. They prepare for stucco or drywall repairs, not pretend no damage will occur.
On set up day, they get rid of one opening at a time to keep your home safe and secure. They safeguard floorings, pull back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames bring out care to maintain interior surfaces. New units get dry-fit, shimmed, and anchored per the schedule. The crew checks squareness and diagonals before setting sealant. They picture anchors for the authorization file, specifically if they will be hidden. After glazing, they water-test with a regulated spray to confirm drain paths and seals. The inspector sees a neat jobsite, clear labels, and documents 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 need to require a roller modification after the first week. That is the standard.
Impact rating does not equal breakproof. Laminated glass can crack under extreme impacts, but it needs to stay in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends out particles into the glass, you might see star fractures or spidering. The window did its task. Change the sash or IGU after the event.
Window movies do not convert non-impact windows into typhoon impact-resistant windows. They can include shatter resistance, however they do not substitute for a checked, anchored system. Your insurer and building department will not count movies as protected openings.

Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient effect windows decrease air leakage. That's terrific, however it increases the value of an effectively sized HVAC with excellent dehumidification. If your system is extra-large, the thermostat pleases rapidly and stops working to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your a/c pro to check sensible heat ratio, air flow, and run time. You want constant, longer cycles, not short 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 item that will not gum up in heat. Small practices extend lifespan.
There are legitimate reasons to mix options. A pair of seldom used garage windows can keep removable panels to shave spending plan. A deep-set porch with minimal sun exposure may do fine with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a brand-new roofing deck accessory or a fortified garage door. Shutters can also safeguard outdoor kitchens or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age elegant hardware prematurely.
If you select shutters, purchase quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with manual bypasses for roll-downs make a difference. Designate obligation 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 morning you wish to discover you have 29.

Impact windows are not just about making it through the huge one. They reshape daily living. The living room remains cooler and quieter. The air conditioning 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 much shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and concentrate on individuals instead of panels.
For a lot of my clients, that intangible is the deciding element. They understand storms will come. They also understand life in South Florida is too great to live inside a fortress that only gets up in August. Miami-Dade authorized windows provide you both: a clear view of Biscayne Bay on a breezy February early morning and quiet self-confidence when the spaghetti designs point our way in September.
If you are weighing the choice, begin with a site-specific evaluation. Match your direct 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 respects the load course. Done right, energy‑efficient impact windows deliver what shutters can not: security that never requests for a ladder and a much better home every day of the year.