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 stockpile, and the ritual of hauling ladders to install panels. After twenty years specifying, installing, and troubleshooting structure envelopes from Key Largo to Palm Beach, I've seen what holds up and what doesn't. When the goal is real security with year-round comfort, Miami-Dade approved, energy‑efficient impact windows outshine shutters in manner ins which go beyond storm day. They alter how a house feels in August, how quiet your living room stays on a Saturday night, and how confident you are when a storm line spins up faster than predicted.
This is a useful take a look at why numerous South Florida homeowners are moving from shutters to cyclone impact-resistant windows, how to check out the requirements behind "Miami-Dade approved," what materials matter, and how to get the installation right the first time.
Miami-Dade County's Product Control Division sets among the toughest standards in the country for building elements exposed to windborne debris. Approval is not a marketing sticker label. It is made through particular lab tests that simulate genuine cyclone conditions.
First comes large rocket effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is contended the glass at approximately 34 miles per hour. That imitates roof tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the impact, the same unit deals with cyclic pressure loading, thousands of pressurization and depressurization cycles that mimic fast wind gusts over hours. If the glass stays in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The distinction between "meets Florida building regulations windows" and "Miami-Dade approved windows" typically lives in these test limits. Miami-Dade is simply stiffer, particularly in High Speed Typhoon Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind ratings vary by opening size and design pressures, signified as PSF values. On ocean-facing residential or commercial properties or high-rises, I often specify units rated at +60/ -80 PSF or greater. Inland or in more safeguarded exposures, rankings in the +45/ -60 PSF variety can be adequate, but you size and specification based on the website's wind map, building height, and surrounding structures. An expert understands best impact windows available that a corner exposure at the second story demands various 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 better than absolutely nothing. But they ask you to do operate 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 live in place. You get constant protection, even if a pop-up storm surprises you while you're stuck on US 1. You likewise get advantages every day of the year.
Noise control is the most underappreciated benefit. Laminated effect glass is basically a sandwich: two panes of glass bonded by a durable interlayer, generally PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps sound. On tasks along hectic passages like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight paths, I have actually measured interior sound drops in the 5 to 10 decibel variety, often more when coupled with insulated glass units.
Security improves since laminated glass withstands required entry. An intruder can shatter the external lite with a hammer, but the interlayer holds the shards. They satisfy a sticky, persistent membrane instead of a quick course inside. Insurance underwriters know this, which is why policies frequently use credits for effect windows and doors. In my projects, premiums usually drop 10 to 25 percent, depending on the carrier and the number of openings are protected.
Energy performance is the 3rd pillar. Energy-efficient impact windows with contemporary low-E impact glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while maintaining noticeable light. That indicates less a/c demand, especially on west and south direct exposures where the afternoon sun punishes interiors. In one Coral Gables retrofit, we replaced 1980s single-pane sliders with laminated low-E impact systems. Summer season afternoon peak load come by roughly a lots of cooling, and the home's annual electrical energy usage fell in between 12 and 18 percent. Outcomes vary with shading, attic insulation, and heating and cooling performance, however the instructions is consistent.
Laminated impact glass is the heart of the system, however not all laminated products are equal.
Most domestic cyclone windows utilize a PVB interlayer glass stack, typically 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or several plies. Thicker interlayers enhance impact resistance and sound control, but they include weight and cost. For oceanfront or high openings, you might see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and stronger than PVB, permitting thinner sections to achieve higher design pressures. For noise-sensitive sites, acoustic PVB formulations fine-tune the polymer to better take in noise in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows come up often in conversations because tempered glass is stronger in bending than annealed glass. That's 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 fails, it takes off into small 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 utilize a tempered outer lite laminated to an annealed inner lite, or both tempered, but always bonded through a PVB or ionoplast interlayer.
Low-E coverings matter for comfort. A soft-coat low-E tuned for South Florida typically targets a solar heat gain coefficient in the 0.25 to 0.35 variety while keeping noticeable light transmission around 50 percent or greater. Go too low on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, specifically in bigger openings. The sweet area depends upon your exterior orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I frequently tighten SHGC and accept a minor tint to handle early 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 because they handle large openings and will not swell. Thermal breaks and improved glazing gaskets have actually narrowed the energy space with vinyl. Top quality vinyl effect frames, when reinforced effectively, can perform well for standard-sized openings and have much better insulating worths, but I avoid them for very large sliders or tall storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad units look gorgeous in older Mediterranean Revival homes, however they demand careful maintenance and wise flashing. The Florida sun destroys low-cost vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum finishes quickly. Try to find powder-coated finishes ranked for coastal exposure, and demand composed guarantee details 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 tension test. The load course is the crux. Impact forces need to travel from the glass through the frame, to the anchors, into the substrate, and then into the structure's framing or masonry.
In concrete block building, you want stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into solid material. Hollow cells must be grouted or you require to strike the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to take place. In wood-framed homes, structural screws must bite into solid trimmers, not just sheathing. Shimming and plumb positioning matter so the locks engage easily and the weatherstripping compresses evenly.
The sealant joint is not just visual. A correctly sized backer rod and high-quality polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant develop a durable, flexible seal that handles thermal growth. Too small a bead and it tears under motion. Too big and it cures badly. On seaside jobs, I never ever combine dissimilar metals without a barrier, and I always 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 combination with the water-resistive barrier are vital. If you depend on sealant alone, water will find its way in. That wetness may not show up as a drip. It may rot a sill plate slowly, then betray itself as a buckling flooring or a musty smell 2 typhoon seasons later.
I have nothing against well-designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are preserved and lubricated, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even removable panels saved carefully can safeguard homes successfully. They likewise help in specific cases.
Second homes or seasonal leasings where budget is tight sometimes lean on shutters to satisfy the Florida building regulations windows requirement for protected openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is seldom utilized in summer, a tidy motorized roll-down can be reasonable, specifically if pairing with impact windows and doors elsewhere worries the budget plan. For homeowners 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 need action at precisely the time you are managing insurance documents, gas cans, and family logistics. Throughout Cyclone Irma, I enjoyed a next-door neighbor try to mount 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 survived with stitches. His living-room window did not. Shutters also rattle and can vibrate under continual winds, sometimes loosening fasteners gradually if not maintained.
For long-lasting owners who wish to set it and forget it, impact windows provide typhoon proof windows protection while protecting daylight and view. The convenience grows valuable once you have actually experienced one storm season with no preparation beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes combat 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 metal layers to show infrared energy while letting visible light through. With the best covering stacks, you can obstruct a large part of radiant heat and UV. UV blockage in laminated units comes mostly from the interlayer itself, which typically filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, minimizing fading of materials and floor covering. Include the low-E, and you curb the solar heat that drives your air conditioning crazy midafternoon.
I assess glass specs 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 space temperature level, which reduces condensation threat. SHGC drives how much solar heat gets in. VT affects how brilliant the interior feels. Balance is crucial. Some house owners want the crisp, clear look of higher VT, even if it indicates accepting a few degrees more heat in late afternoon, because their landscaping and roof 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 low-E laminated double-glazed units can lower peak solar gains by 30 to half on the most exposed sides. Couple that with tuned overhangs, light-colored exterior surfaces, and a properly sized variable-speed heating and cooling, and you begin to construct durability. If the grid goes down 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 document you request. It details the approved configurations, sizes, anchors, and pressures checked. It is insufficient to hear "these are Miami-Dade approved windows" in a showroom. Confirm the NOA matches the precise model and options you are buying, consisting of the glazing makeup and hardware. If you are in Broward or Miami-Dade, your allowing workplace will desire this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Item Approval system provides FL numbers that reveal code compliance. In the remainder of the state outside the High Speed Hurricane Zone, Florida building regulations windows can depend on Florida Item Approval without Miami-Dade particular NOAs. Numerous leading producers carry both. Where budget plans permit, I choose NOA products even outside the zone due to the fact that the screening is stiffer.
NFRC labels manage energy metrics. They won't tell you effect performance, but they reveal U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leak. Go 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 stabilized ventilation. Sealing the envelope and neglecting fresh air is a dish for indoor air quality complaints.
Impact windows cost more in advance than shutters. There's no spin around that. Set up costs vary with size, shape, 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. Big multi-panel sliders, custom arches, and coastal-grade surfaces raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recover worth:
If you plan to own the residential or commercial property for five years or more, the math typically tilts in favor of effect windows, especially when you factor the intangible of peace of mind. If you plan to sell within a year and need to show compliance quickly, shutters may make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I take notice of hardware and accessories. Multi-point locks on casements and awnings enhance seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless real estates move smoother and last longer on sandy patios. Take a look at the sill style on moving 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 watch or produce mirror-like glare towards neighboring residential or commercial properties. In coastal environments, extremely reflective glass can confuse birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Local pros understand which finishes balance efficiency with compliance.
Color stability is a huge deal. Dark bronze or black frames look great on modern-day homes, however in Florida sun inexpensive surfaces chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated coverings provide the best color retention and chalk resistance. I specify them for seaside exposures whenever budgets allow.
Historic districts often 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 contractor knowledgeable about these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations often define a narrow list of approved items for uniformity. They also care about sound control in between systems. If your building sits directly on Collins Opportunity or faces a hectic beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated options. Deal with building management on staging and lift access. Weekend work windows and restricted parking can include days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, require special attention in style pressure, deflection, and running hardware. Not every unit that looks sturdy in a display room meets the wind loads on a ninth-floor balcony. Do not count on brochure optimum sizes. Utilize the NOA tables that represent your website's zone, positive and negative pressures, and mullion mixes if any.
The best projects begin with a measured survey and direct exposure analysis. You map each opening, note the substrate, and determine any framing abnormalities or settlement fractures. During proposal, the professional shows you the NOA and the Florida Product Approval, lists anchor types, and discusses how each opening will be flashed and sealed. They prepare for stucco or drywall repair work, not pretend no damage will occur.
On install day, they eliminate one opening at a time to keep your house secure. They safeguard floors, draw back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames come out with care to maintain interior finishes. New systems get dry-fit, shimmed, and anchored per the schedule. The team checks squareness and diagonals before setting sealant. They photograph anchors for the authorization file, specifically if they will be concealed. After glazing, they water-test with a controlled spray to validate drainage courses and seals. The inspector sees a cool jobsite, clear labels, and paperwork in order.
Six months later on, your windows still close with two 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 rating does not equivalent breakproof. Laminated glass can crack under serious effects, but it must stay in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends out particles into the glass, you may see star fractures or spidering. The window did its job. Change the sash or IGU after the event.
Window films do not convert non-impact windows into hurricane impact-resistant windows. They can include shatter resistance, but they do not alternative to a checked, anchored system. Your insurance company and structure department will not count movies as protected openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows reduce air leak. That's terrific, however it increases the importance of a correctly sized HVAC with good dehumidification. If your system is large, the thermostat satisfies quickly and stops working to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your a/c pro to inspect reasonable heat ratio, air flow, and run time. You desire constant, longer cycles, not short bursts.
Maintenance is straightforward but not optional. Clean weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and lube hardware each year with a silicone-based product that will not gum up in heat. Little habits extend lifespan.
There are genuine factors to blend solutions. A pair of hardly ever used garage windows can keep detachable panels to shave budget. A deep-set porch with minimal sun exposure may do great with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a new roofing system deck attachment or a prepared garage door. Shutters can also secure outdoor cooking areas or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age fancy hardware prematurely.
If you select shutters, purchase quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with handbook bypasses for roll-downs make a difference. Appoint responsibility for deployment and practice when outside of a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you require 32 wing nuts is not the early morning you wish to find you have 29.
Impact windows are not only about making it through the huge one. They improve daily living. The living room remains cooler and quieter. The AC cycles calmly instead of racing at 4 p.m. You sleep without freight trains of wind noise when a squall line passes at 2 a.m. When a hurricane threatens, your preparation list gets much shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and focus on people instead of panels.
For much of my customers, that intangible is the choosing element. They know storms will come. They also understand life in South Florida is too excellent to live inside a fortress that just wakes up in August. Miami-Dade approved windows provide you both: a clear view of Biscayne Bay on a breezy February morning and quiet self-confidence when the spaghetti designs point our method September.
If you are weighing the option, begin with a site-specific evaluation. Match your direct exposures to develop pressures, choose the best laminated glass stack for wind and heat, choose frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and work with a crew that respects the load course. 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.