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 next-door neighbors track tropical waves, the pre-storm rush to stock up, and the ritual of transporting ladders to mount panels. After twenty years defining, setting up, and repairing structure envelopes from Secret Largo to Palm Beach, I've seen what holds up and what does not. When the objective is real defense with year-round convenience, Miami-Dade authorized, energy‑efficient effect windows surpass shutters in manner ins which surpass storm day. They change how a home 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 read 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 criteria in the nation for developing components exposed to windborne debris. Approval is not a marketing sticker label. It is made through specific laboratory tests that replicate real typhoon conditions.
First comes big missile effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is shot at the glass at roughly 34 miles per hour. That simulates roofing system tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the effect, the very same unit faces cyclic pressure loading, countless pressurization and depressurization cycles that mimic rapid wind gusts over hours. If the glass stays in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The difference between "meets Florida building regulations windows" and "Miami-Dade approved windows" frequently lives in these test limits. Miami-Dade is merely stiffer, especially in High Speed Typhoon Zone requirements, which include Miami-Dade and Broward.

Wind scores vary by opening size and design pressures, denoted as PSF values. On ocean-facing residential or commercial properties or high-rises, I typically specify units ranked at +60/ -80 PSF or higher. Inland or in more secured direct exposures, scores in the +45/ -60 PSF variety can be enough, however you size and specification based on 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 meet code, and they're much better than nothing. But they ask you to do work at the worst possible time. When a watch turns to a warning and the forecast 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 advantage. Laminated effect glass is essentially a sandwich: 2 panes of glass bonded by a durable interlayer, generally PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps sound. On jobs along busy corridors like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight paths, I've 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 required entry. A burglar can shatter the outer lite with a hammer, however the interlayer holds the fragments. They satisfy a sticky, stubborn membrane rather of a fast course inside. Insurance coverage underwriters understand this, which is why policies often use credits for effect windows and doors. In my projects, premiums generally drop 10 to 25 percent, depending on the provider and the number of openings are protected.
Energy efficiency is the third pillar. Energy-efficient impact windows with contemporary low-E impact glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while maintaining visible light. That indicates less a/c need, especially on west and south exposures where the afternoon sun punishes interiors. In one Coral Gables retrofit, we replaced 1980s single-pane sliders with laminated low-E impact systems. Summer season afternoon peak load visited roughly a ton of cooling, and the home's yearly electrical power use fell between 12 and 18 percent. Outcomes vary with shading, attic insulation, and a/c performance, but the instructions is consistent.
Laminated impact glass is the heart of the system, but not all laminated items are equal.
Most residential cyclone windows use a PVB interlayer glass stack, typically 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or numerous plies. Thicker interlayers improve impact resistance and sound control, but they add weight and cost. For oceanfront or high openings, you may see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and stronger than PVB, permitting thinner sections to achieve greater design pressures. For noise-sensitive sites, acoustic PVB formulations tweak the polymer to better soak up noise in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows turn up typically in conversations due to the fact that tempered glass is more powerful in bending than annealed glass. That's true, and tempered lites are frequently used as the outer or inner ply in an impact system. But 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 effect efficiency comes from laminated building, not tempering by itself. Lots of 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 coverings 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 range while keeping noticeable light transmission around 50 percent or higher. Go too short on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, specifically 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 slight tint to manage morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I favor higher visible transmittance for daylighting.
Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames control here due to the fact that they deal with big openings and will not swell. Thermal breaks and enhanced glazing gaskets have actually narrowed the energy space with vinyl. High-quality vinyl effect frames, when enhanced properly, can perform well for standard-sized openings and have much better insulating values, however I prevent them for extremely wide sliders or high storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad systems look stunning in older Mediterranean Revival homes, but they require careful maintenance and wise flashing. The Florida sun damages low-cost vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum finishes quickly. Search for powder-coated finishes rated for coastal exposure, and request composed guarantee details in salt-air environments.
Window setup can make or break efficiency. A pricey system installed like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's tension test. The load path is the core. 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 building, you desire stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into solid material. Hollow cells must be grouted or you require to hit the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to take place. In wood-framed houses, structural screws need to bite into strong trimmers, not simply sheathing. Shimming and plumb alignment matter so the locks engage easily and the weatherstripping compresses evenly.
The sealant joint is not simply visual. An appropriately sized backer rod and premium polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant create a durable, versatile seal that manages thermal expansion. Too small a bead and it tears under motion. Too huge and it treatments poorly. On coastal jobs, I never match dissimilar metals without a barrier, and I constantly define 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 important. If you rely on sealant alone, water will find its way in. That wetness might not show up as a drip. It may rot a sill plate slowly, then betray itself as a buckling floor or a moldy smell 2 hurricane seasons later.
I have nothing against properly designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are kept and lubricated, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even removable panels stored carefully can secure homes successfully. They also help in certain cases.
Second homes or seasonal rentals where budget plan is tight often lean on shutters to satisfy the Florida building regulations windows requirement for secured openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is hardly ever utilized in summer, a tidy motorized roll-down can be sensible, particularly if pairing with effect doors and windows in other places stresses the spending plan. For house owners who plan 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 deployed, and they require action at exactly the time you are juggling insurance coverage papers, gas cans, and family logistics. During Typhoon Irma, I saw a neighbor attempt to install steel panels hours before landfall. The ladder sank in saturated soil, a panel slipped, and we invested the next hour in the urgent care waiting room. He survived with stitches. His living-room window did not. Shutters likewise rattle window replacement for hurricanes and can vibrate under sustained winds, often loosening up fasteners with time if not maintained.
For long-term owners who want to set it and forget it, effect windows give hurricane evidence windows coverage while preserving daylight and view. The benefit grows valuable once you've experienced one storm season with no preparation beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes battle two fights: latent load from humidity and reasonable load from direct solar heat gain. Impact glass upgrades can assist both if defined intelligently.
Low-E effect glass utilizes microscopically thin metallic layers to reflect infrared energy while letting visible light through. With the right finishing stacks, you can obstruct a big portion of convected heat and UV. UV blockage in laminated units comes largely from the interlayer itself, which typically filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, decreasing fading of fabrics and floor covering. Include the low-E, and you suppress the solar heat that drives your a/c crazy 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 flow and keeping the interior glass temperature level closer to room temperature, which lowers condensation danger. SHGC drives how much solar heat enters. VT influences how intense the interior feels. Balance is essential. Some house owners want the crisp, clear appearance of higher VT, even if it suggests accepting a couple of degrees more heat in late afternoon, because their landscaping and roofing overhangs already do some shading. Others choose a more powerful tint for glare control on waterfront lots that show harsh light.
In practical terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to modern low-E laminated double-glazed units 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 an effectively sized variable-speed HVAC, and you start to construct resilience. If the grid decreases and you change to a generator, a lower cooling load means a smaller generator and less gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notice of Approval, or NOA, is the file you ask for. It details the authorized configurations, sizes, anchors, and pressures tested. It is inadequate to hear "these are Miami-Dade authorized windows" in a showroom. Verify the NOA matches the precise model and options you are purchasing, consisting of the glazing makeup and hardware. If you are in Broward or Miami-Dade, your allowing workplace will want this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Product Approval system supplies FL numbers that show code compliance. In the rest of the state outside the High Speed Typhoon Zone, Florida building code windows can rely on Florida Product Approval without Miami-Dade particular NOAs. Many leading makers carry both. Where spending plans allow, I prefer NOA items even outside the zone due to the fact that the screening is stiffer.
NFRC labels manage energy metrics. They will not inform you impact performance, but they show U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leakage. Aim for air leakage at or listed below 0.3 cfm/ft TWO. Tighter is much better for humidity control, however make sure your home still has actually stabilized ventilation. Sealing the envelope and ignoring 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 expenses vary with size, shape, finish, and gain access to. On straightforward single-family homes, per-opening costs often land in between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for basic sizes. Large multi-panel sliders, custom arches, and coastal-grade finishes raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recover worth:
If you prepare to own the residential or commercial property for 5 years or more, the mathematics often tilts in favor of impact windows, especially when you factor the intangible of assurance. If you prepare to sell within a year and need to show compliance quickly, shutters may make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I focus on hardware and accessories. Multi-point locks on sashes 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. Look at the sill design on sliding doors. Weep systems should 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 toward neighboring homes. In coastal communities, extremely reflective glass can confuse birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Regional pros understand which coverings balance efficiency with compliance.
Color stability is a huge deal. Dark bronze or black frames look wonderful on modern-day homes, however in Florida sun cheap finishes chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated coverings offer the very best color retention and chalk resistance. I specify them for coastal direct exposures whenever budgets allow.

Historic districts frequently require profiles that mimic old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, but lead times lengthen and costs climb. Anticipate additional evaluation by architectural boards, and line up a specialist familiar with these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations often define a narrow list of approved products for uniformity. They likewise care about noise control in between systems. If your building sits straight on Collins Avenue or faces a busy beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated choices. Work with building management on staging and lift gain access to. Weekend work windows and restricted parking can add days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, require special attention in style pressure, deflection, and running hardware. Not every system that looks durable in a showroom fulfills the wind loads on a ninth-floor balcony. Do not rely on brochure maximum sizes. Utilize the NOA tables that correspond to your site's zone, favorable and unfavorable pressures, and mullion combinations if any.
The best jobs begin with a determined study and exposure analysis. You map each opening, keep in mind the substrate, and determine any framing abnormalities or settlement fractures. During proposition, the professional reveals you the NOA and the Florida Product Approval, notes anchor types, and describes how each opening will be flashed and sealed. They plan for stucco or drywall repair work, not pretend no damage will occur.
On install day, they get rid of one opening at a time to keep the house secure. They secure floors, pull back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames bring out care to protect interior surfaces. New units 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 validate drain paths and seals. The inspector sees a neat jobsite, clear labels, and documents in order.
Six months later, your windows still close with two fingers, locks bite smoothly, and there is no secret rattle during thunderstorms. You did not need to require a roller change after the first week. That is the standard.
Impact rating does not equivalent breakproof. Laminated glass can crack under serious effects, but it ought to remain in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends particles into the glass, you might see star cracks or spidering. The window did its job. Change the sash or IGU after the event.
Window films do not transform non-impact windows into cyclone impact-resistant windows. They can include shatter resistance, however they do not substitute for a tested, anchored system. Your insurance company and structure department will not count films as secured openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient effect windows reduce air leakage. That's fantastic, however it increases the value of an effectively sized a/c with excellent dehumidification. If your system is large, the thermostat satisfies rapidly and fails to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your HVAC pro to examine practical heat ratio, airflow, and run time. You desire constant, longer cycles, not brief bursts.
Maintenance is uncomplicated however not optional. Clean weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and lubricate hardware annually with a silicone-based product that will not gum up in heat. Little practices extend lifespan.
There are legitimate factors to blend solutions. A set of hardly ever used garage windows can keep removable panels to shave budget. A deep-set deck with very little sun direct exposure may do great with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a new roof deck accessory or a fortified garage door. Shutters can also secure outdoor kitchen areas or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age expensive hardware prematurely.
If you choose shutters, purchase quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with handbook bypasses for roll-downs make a difference. Appoint responsibility for deployment and practice once 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 only about making it through the big one. They reshape daily living. The living-room stays cooler and quieter. The air conditioning 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 typhoon threatens, your preparation list gets shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and concentrate on people rather than panels.
For much of my customers, that intangible is the deciding aspect. They understand storms will come. They also know life in South Florida is too excellent to live inside a fortress that only wakes up in August. Miami-Dade approved windows provide you both: a clear view of Biscayne Bay on a breezy February early morning and peaceful self-confidence when the spaghetti designs point our way in September.
If you are weighing the option, start with a site-specific assessment. Match your exposures to design pressures, select the ideal laminated glass stack for wind and heat, choose frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and insulated laminated glass work with a crew that appreciates the load path. Done right, energy‑efficient effect windows provide what shutters can not: protection that never requests a ladder and a better home every day of the year.