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 transporting ladders to install panels. After two decades defining, installing, 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 genuine defense with year-round convenience, Miami-Dade approved, energy‑efficient effect windows exceed shutters in manner ins which exceed storm day. They change how a house feels in August, how peaceful your living room remains 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 why numerous South Florida house owners are moving from shutters to hurricane impact-resistant windows, how to check out the requirements behind "Miami-Dade approved," what products matter, and how to get the installation right the very first time.
Miami-Dade County's Item Control Division sets one of the toughest benchmarks in the country for constructing elements exposed to windborne debris. Approval is not a marketing sticker label. It is earned through particular lab tests that replicate genuine typhoon conditions.

First comes large rocket effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is shot at the glass at roughly 34 miles per hour. That simulates 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 mimic rapid wind gusts over hours. If the glass remains in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The difference in between "fulfills Florida building regulations windows" and "Miami-Dade authorized windows" typically lives in these test limits. Miami-Dade is just stiffer, particularly in High Speed Hurricane Zone requirements, which include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind rankings differ by opening size and style pressures, denoted as PSF worths. On ocean-facing homes or high-rises, I frequently define systems ranked at +60/ -80 PSF or higher. Inland or in more safeguarded direct exposures, ratings in the +45/ -60 PSF variety can be sufficient, however you size and specification based on the site's wind map, building height, and surrounding structures. An expert understands that a corner exposure at the second story needs various support than a sheltered window under a deep porch.

Hurricane shutters vs effect windows is not a one-to-one comparison. Shutters can meet 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 up, the last thing you desire is a ladder, a dead cordless drill, and a missing wing nut.
Impact windows live in place. You get continuous security, even if a pop-up storm surprises you while you're stuck on United States 1. You also get benefits every day of the year.
Noise control is the most underappreciated advantage. Laminated effect glass is basically a sandwich: two panes of glass bonded by a resilient interlayer, usually PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps noise. On tasks along busy corridors like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight paths, I've measured interior noise drops in the 5 to 10 decibel range, sometimes more when coupled with insulated glass units.
Security enhances due to the fact that laminated glass withstands required entry. An intruder can shatter the outer lite with a hammer, however the interlayer holds the fragments. They meet a sticky, stubborn membrane instead of a quick course inside. Insurance coverage underwriters know this, which is why policies often use credits for impact windows and doors. In my projects, premiums normally drop 10 to 25 percent, depending on the provider and how many openings are protected.
Energy efficiency is the third pillar. Energy-efficient impact windows with modern low-E effect glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while preserving visible light. That implies less a/c need, especially on west and south direct exposures where the afternoon sun punishes interiors. In one Coral Gables retrofit, we changed 1980s single-pane sliders with laminated low-E impact systems. Summertime afternoon peak load dropped by approximately a lots of cooling, and the home's annual electrical energy use fell in between 12 and 18 percent. Results vary with shading, attic insulation, and heating and cooling effectiveness, but the direction is consistent.
Laminated effect glass is the heart of the system, but not all laminated products are equal.
Most domestic typhoon 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 add weight and expense. For oceanfront or high openings, you might see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and more powerful than PVB, enabling thinner areas to accomplish higher design pressures. For noise-sensitive sites, acoustic PVB formulas tweak the polymer to better take in noise in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz variety, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows show up often in conversations due to the fact that tempered glass is more powerful in bending than annealed glass. That holds true, and tempered lites are frequently utilized as the outer or inner ply in an effect unit. However tempered alone is not impact-resistant in the cyclone sense. When it stops working, it blows up into little cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening susceptible. The effect performance originates from laminated building, not tempering by itself. Lots of systems use a tempered external lite laminated to an annealed inner lite, or both tempered, however constantly bonded through a PVB or ionoplast interlayer.
Low-E coatings matter for comfort. 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 visible light transmission around half or greater. Go too low on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, specifically in bigger openings. The sweet area depends on your exterior orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I typically tighten SHGC and accept a slight tint to manage early morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I lean toward higher noticeable transmittance for daylighting.
Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames control here because they manage large openings and will not swell. Thermal breaks and improved glazing gaskets have narrowed the energy space with vinyl. High-quality vinyl effect frames, when strengthened properly, can carry out well for standard-sized openings and have better insulating worths, however I prevent them for really wide sliders or tall storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad systems look gorgeous in older Mediterranean Revival homes, but they demand cautious maintenance and wise flashing. The Florida sun destroys inexpensive vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum surfaces rapidly. Search for powder-coated surfaces ranked for seaside exposure, and request written guarantee information in salt-air environments.
Window installation can make or break performance. An expensive system set up like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's stress test. The load course 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 concrete block building, you desire stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into solid product. Hollow cells should be grouted or you need 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 solid trimmers, not simply sheathing. Shimming and plumb positioning matter so the locks engage cleanly and the weatherstripping compresses evenly.
The sealant joint is not just aesthetic. An effectively sized backer rod and top quality polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant develop a long lasting, flexible seal that handles thermal growth. Too small a bead and it tears under movement. Too big and it remedies improperly. On coastal jobs, I never ever combine different metals without a barrier, and I always 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 tempered glass replacement heads, and combination with the water-resistive barrier are essential. If you depend on sealant alone, water will discover its way in. That moisture might disappoint up as a drip. It may rot a sill plate slowly, then betray itself as a buckling floor or a musty odor two hurricane seasons later.
I have nothing versus properly designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are maintained and lubricated, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even detachable panels kept carefully can safeguard homes efficiently. They also assist in certain cases.
Second homes or seasonal rentals where budget plan is tight in some cases lean on shutters to fulfill the Florida building regulations windows requirement for secured openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is rarely utilized in summer season, a tidy motorized roll-down can be sensible, particularly if pairing with effect windows and doors in other places worries the spending plan. For homeowners who prepare to move within a year, shutters can be a brief bridge to compliance before a sale.
But shutters bring trade-offs. They darken the house when deployed, and they require action at exactly the time you are handling insurance documents, gas cans, and household logistics. During 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 invested 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, sometimes loosening fasteners with time if not maintained.
For long-lasting owners who want to set it and forget it, effect windows give hurricane proof windows protection while protecting daytime and view. The convenience grows important once you've experienced one storm season with absolutely no prep beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes fight 2 fights: hidden load from humidity and practical load from direct solar heat gain. Effect glass upgrades can help both if specified intelligently.
Low-E effect glass utilizes microscopically thin metal layers to reflect infrared energy while letting noticeable light through. With the best finishing stacks, you can obstruct a large portion of convected heat and UV. UV obstruction in laminated systems comes largely from the interlayer itself, which normally filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, lowering fading of fabrics and floor covering. Include the low-E, and you curb the solar heat that drives your air conditioner insane midafternoon.
I assess glass specs with 3 numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still assists here by reducing nighttime heat circulation and keeping the interior glass temperature level closer to space temperature, which minimizes condensation risk. SHGC drives how much solar heat gets in. VT affects how bright the interior feels. Balance is key. Some property owners want the crisp, clear look of greater VT, even if it means accepting a couple of degrees more heat in late afternoon, because their landscaping and roof overhangs currently do some shading. Others choose a stronger tint for glare control on waterfront lots that show severe light.
In practical terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to contemporary low-E laminated double-glazed units can decrease 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 HVAC, and you start to develop resilience. If the grid decreases and you switch to a generator, a lower cooling load indicates a smaller generator and fewer gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notification of Approval, or NOA, is the file you request for. It details the approved configurations, sizes, anchors, and pressures tested. It is not enough to hear "these are Miami-Dade authorized windows" in a display room. Verify the NOA matches the precise model and options you are buying, consisting of the glazing makeup and hardware. If you remain in Broward or Miami-Dade, your permitting workplace will desire 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 Hurricane Zone, Florida building code windows can rely on Florida Item Approval without Miami-Dade specific NOAs. Lots of leading manufacturers carry both. Where budget plans allow, I prefer NOA items even outside the zone since the screening is stiffer.
NFRC labels handle energy metrics. They won't tell you effect efficiency, however they show U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leakage. Go for air leak at or listed below 0.3 cfm/ft ². Tighter is much better for humidity control, but make sure your home still has actually stabilized ventilation. Sealing the envelope and overlooking 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 differ with size, shape, surface, and gain access to. On simple single-family homes, per-opening costs often land in 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 recover value:
If you prepare to own the residential or commercial property for 5 years or more, the math typically tilts in favor of impact windows, especially when you factor the intangible of assurance. If you plan to sell within a year and require to reveal compliance quickly, shutters might make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I take note of hardware and accessories. Multi-point locks on casements and awnings improve seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless real estates slide smoother and last longer on sandy patio areas. Take a look at the sill style on sliding doors. Weep systems need to be crafted to drain heavy rainfall without letting wind-driven water blow back in. Ask to see a cutaway sample in the showroom.
Tint colors and reflectivity are more than fashion. Reflective movies can run afoul of neighborhood associations or produce mirror-like glare toward surrounding properties. In coastal communities, extremely reflective glass can puzzle birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Local pros understand which coatings balance performance with compliance.
Color stability is a huge offer. Dark bronze or black frames look fantastic on modern homes, but in Florida sun low-cost finishes chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated coatings provide the best color retention and chalk resistance. I define them for seaside direct exposures whenever budget plans allow.
Historic districts frequently 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 evaluation by architectural boards, and line up a contractor familiar with these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations often define a narrow list of approved products for harmony. They also care about noise control between systems. If your structure sits directly on Collins Opportunity or deals with a hectic beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated alternatives. Deal with building 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 running hardware. Not every unit that looks sturdy in a display room satisfies the wind loads on a ninth-floor veranda. Do not depend on catalog optimum sizes. Utilize the NOA tables that represent your site's zone, favorable and unfavorable pressures, and mullion mixes if any.
The best tasks begin with a determined study and exposure analysis. You map each opening, keep in mind the substrate, and determine any framing irregularities or settlement fractures. Throughout proposal, the specialist reveals you the NOA and the Florida Item Approval, notes 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 set up day, they eliminate one opening at a time to keep your house safe. They secure floors, draw back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames come out with care to protect 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 permit file, especially if they will be concealed. After glazing, they water-test with a controlled spray to validate drain paths and seals. The inspector sees a cool jobsite, clear labels, and paperwork 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 very first week. That is the standard.
Impact rating does not equivalent breakproof. Laminated glass can crack under severe effects, but it must stay in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends out debris into the glass, you might see star cracks or spidering. The window did its job. Change the sash or IGU after the event.
Window movies do not transform non-impact windows into cyclone impact-resistant windows. They can include shatter resistance, however they do not alternative to a tested, anchored system. Your insurer and structure department will not count films as protected openings.

Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows decrease air leakage. That's fantastic, but it increases the importance of an appropriately sized a/c with great dehumidification. If your system is extra-large, the thermostat pleases quickly and stops working to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your HVAC pro to check practical heat ratio, air flow, and run time. You desire constant, longer cycles, not brief bursts.
Maintenance is simple but not optional. Clean weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and oil hardware annually with a silicone-based product that will not gum up in heat. Small routines extend lifespan.
There are genuine factors to mix solutions. A set of hardly ever utilized garage windows can keep detachable thermal break aluminum frames panels to shave budget. A deep-set porch with minimal sun exposure might do fine with accordion shutters if you prioritize other upgrades like a new roofing deck accessory or a prepared garage door. Shutters can also secure outside kitchens or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age expensive hardware prematurely.
If you pick shutters, buy quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with handbook overrides for roll-downs make a distinction. Appoint obligation for deployment and practice once outside of a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you require 32 wing nuts is not the early morning you want to find 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 rather of Impact windows 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 individuals rather than panels.
For many of my customers, that intangible is the deciding element. They know storms will come. They also know life in South Florida is too excellent to live inside a fortress that only awakens in August. Miami-Dade authorized windows provide you both: a clear view of Biscayne Bay on a breezy February morning and peaceful confidence when the spaghetti models point our method September.
If you are weighing the choice, start with a site-specific assessment. Match your exposures to create pressures, choose the ideal laminated glass stack for wind and heat, choose frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and work with a team that respects the load path. Done right, energy‑efficient impact windows provide what shutters can not: defense that never ever asks for a ladder and a much better home every day of the year.