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 routine of transporting ladders to install panels. After 20 years defining, setting up, and fixing building 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 approved, energy‑efficient impact windows outperform shutters in ways that go beyond storm day. They alter how a home 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 useful look at why many South Florida homeowners are moving from shutters to typhoon impact-resistant windows, how to check out the requirements behind "Miami-Dade authorized," what materials matter, and how to get the setup right the first time.
Miami-Dade County's Item Control Department sets one of the toughest standards in the country for developing components exposed to windborne particles. Approval is not a marketing sticker label. It is earned through specific laboratory tests that mimic real typhoon conditions.
First comes big missile effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is contended the glass at approximately 34 miles per hour. That simulates roof tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the impact, the very same unit deals with cyclic pressure loading, thousands of pressurization and depressurization cycles that mimic quick wind gusts over hours. If the glass remains in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The difference in between "meets Florida building regulations windows" and "Miami-Dade approved windows" often lives in these test thresholds. Miami-Dade is just stiffer, particularly in High Speed Typhoon Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind ratings differ by opening size and style pressures, represented as PSF worths. On ocean-facing homes or high-rises, I often specify units rated at +60/ -80 PSF or greater. Inland or in more protected direct exposures, scores in the +45/ -60 PSF range can suffice, but you size and specification based on the site's wind map, building height, and surrounding structures. A professional knows that a corner direct exposure at the second story needs different reinforcement than a sheltered window under a deep porch.
Hurricane shutters vs impact windows is not a one-to-one contrast. Shutters can meet 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 warning and the forecast track tightens, the last thing you want is a ladder, a dead cordless drill, and a missing wing nut.
Impact windows reside in place. You get constant protection, even if a pop-up storm surprises you while you're stuck on United States 1. You likewise get benefits every day of the year.
Noise control is the most underappreciated advantage. Laminated effect glass is essentially a sandwich: two panes of glass bonded by a resilient interlayer, normally PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps noise. On jobs along hectic corridors like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight paths, I've determined interior noise drops in the 5 to 10 decibel range, in some cases more when coupled with insulated glass units.
Security improves due to the fact that laminated glass resists required entry. An intruder can shatter the outer lite with a hammer, however the interlayer holds the fragments. They meet a sticky, stubborn membrane rather of a fast path inside. Insurance underwriters understand this, which is why policies frequently offer credits for impact doors and windows. In my tasks, premiums generally drop 10 to 25 percent, depending on the carrier and how many openings are protected.
Energy efficiency is the 3rd pillar. Energy-efficient effect windows with contemporary low-E effect glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while protecting noticeable light. That suggests less a/c demand, especially on west and south exposures where the afternoon sun penalizes interiors. In one Coral Gables retrofit, we changed 1980s single-pane sliders with laminated low-E impact systems. Summer afternoon peak load come by approximately a lots of cooling, and the home's yearly electrical power use fell between 12 and 18 percent. Results differ with shading, attic insulation, and HVAC performance, however the instructions is consistent.
Laminated impact glass is the heart of the system, however not all laminated products are equal.
Most property hurricane windows utilize a PVB interlayer glass stack, frequently 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or multiple plies. Thicker interlayers enhance impact resistance and sound control, however they include weight and expense. For oceanfront or tall openings, you may see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and stronger than PVB, allowing thinner areas to achieve higher design pressures. For noise-sensitive sites, acoustic PVB formulas modify the polymer to much better soak up sound in the 1,000 hurricane resistant windows solutions to 3,000 Hz variety, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows turn up frequently in conversations due to the fact that tempered glass is more powerful in flexing than annealed glass. That's true, and tempered lites are commonly utilized as the outer or inner ply in an effect unit. But tempered alone is not impact-resistant in the typhoon sense. When it fails, it blows up into small cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening vulnerable. The impact efficiency originates from laminated building and construction, not tempering by itself. Many systems use a tempered external lite laminated to a hardened inner lite, or both tempered, but always bonded through a PVB or ionoplast interlayer.
Low-E finishes 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 visible light transmission around half or higher. Go too short on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, particularly in larger openings. The sweet area depends on your exterior orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I often tighten SHGC and accept a minor tint to manage early morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I favor greater noticeable 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 improved glazing gaskets have narrowed the energy space with vinyl. High-quality vinyl effect frames, when strengthened effectively, can perform well for standard-sized openings and have better insulating worths, however I prevent them for extremely large sliders or tall storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad systems look gorgeous in older Mediterranean Revival homes, however they demand cautious maintenance and wise flashing. The Florida sun ruins cheap vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum surfaces rapidly. Search for powder-coated surfaces ranked for coastal direct exposure, and request composed service warranty details in salt-air environments.
Window installation can make or break efficiency. A costly unit set up like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's tension test. The load course is the crux. Impact forces have 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 and construction, you want stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into solid product. Hollow cells should be grouted or you need to strike the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to happen. In wood-framed homes, structural screws should bite into strong 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 visual. An effectively sized backer rod and premium polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant develop a long lasting, versatile seal that handles thermal expansion. Too little a bead and it tears under motion. Too huge and it treatments inadequately. On seaside jobs, I never ever match dissimilar metals without a barrier, and I always 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 combination with the water-resistive barrier are vital. If you count on sealant alone, water will discover its method. That wetness might not show up as a drip. It might rot a sill plate gradually, then betray itself as a buckling floor or a moldy odor two typhoon seasons later.
I have absolutely nothing against well-designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are kept and oiled, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even removable panels stored carefully can protect homes effectively. They likewise assist in particular cases.
Second homes or seasonal leasings where spending plan is tight sometimes lean on shutters to fulfill the Florida building code windows requirement for safeguarded openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is rarely utilized in summer, a tidy motorized roll-down can be affordable, specifically if pairing with impact doors and windows somewhere else stresses the budget plan. For property owners who plan to move within a year, shutters can be a short bridge to compliance before a sale.
But shutters bring trade-offs. They darken the house when released, and they require action at precisely the time you are managing insurance coverage documents, gas cans, and household logistics. Throughout Cyclone Irma, I saw a next-door 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 urgent care waiting space. He survived with stitches. His living room window did not. Shutters also rattle and can vibrate under sustained winds, sometimes loosening fasteners in time if not maintained.
For long-lasting owners who wish to set it and forget it, effect windows offer hurricane evidence windows coverage while preserving daylight and view. The benefit grows valuable once you have actually experienced one storm season with absolutely no prep beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes battle 2 fights: latent load from humidity and sensible load from direct solar heat gain. Effect glass upgrades can help both if defined intelligently.
Low-E effect glass uses microscopically thin metal layers to show infrared energy while letting visible light through. With the ideal finishing stacks, you can obstruct a big part of radiant heat and UV. UV blockage in laminated units comes mostly from the interlayer itself, which normally filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, reducing fading of fabrics and floor covering. Include the low-E, and you suppress the solar heat that drives your air conditioning insane midafternoon.
I examine glass specifications with 3 numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still assists here by minimizing nighttime heat circulation and keeping the interior glass temperature level closer to space temperature level, which decreases condensation danger. SHGC drives how much solar heat gets in. VT influences how brilliant the interior feels. Balance is essential. Some homeowners desire the crisp, clear appearance of higher VT, even if it suggests accepting a couple of degrees more heat in late afternoon, since their landscaping and roofing system overhangs currently do some shading. Others prefer a stronger tint for glare control on waterside lots that reflect severe 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 half on the most exposed sides. Couple that with tuned overhangs, light-colored outside finishes, and a correctly sized variable-speed heating and cooling, and you begin to construct strength. If the grid decreases and you change to a generator, a lower cooling load implies a smaller sized generator and fewer gallons of fuel.

Miami-Dade Notification of Acceptance, or NOA, is the file you ask for. It details the authorized setups, sizes, anchors, and pressures checked. It is not enough to hear "these are Miami-Dade approved windows" in a showroom. Confirm the NOA matches the exact model and options you are purchasing, consisting of the glazing makeup and hardware. If you are in Broward or Miami-Dade, your allowing office will desire this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Item Approval system provides FL numbers that show code compliance. In the rest of the state outside the High Velocity Hurricane Zone, Florida building regulations windows can depend on Florida Product Approval without Miami-Dade particular NOAs. Lots of leading manufacturers carry both. Where budgets permit, I prefer Boca Raton window protection NOA products even outside the zone since 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 leak at or listed below 0.3 cfm/ft ². Tighter is much better for humidity control, but make sure your home still has 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. Installed expenses differ with size, shape, surface, and gain access to. On straightforward single-family homes, per-opening costs often land between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for basic sizes. Large multi-panel sliders, customized arches, and coastal-grade finishes raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recoup worth:
If you prepare to own the residential or commercial property for 5 years or more, the mathematics frequently tilts in favor of effect windows, especially when you factor best impact windows Boca Raton the intangible of assurance. If you plan to offer within a year and need to reveal 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 slide smoother and last longer on sandy outdoor patios. Look at the sill design on sliding doors. Weep systems must be engineered 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 films can contravene of neighborhood watch or produce mirror-like glare towards surrounding homes. In coastal communities, highly reflective glass can puzzle birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Regional pros understand which finishes balance performance with compliance.
Color stability is a big offer. Dark bronze or black frames look wonderful on modern-day homes, however in Florida sun inexpensive finishes chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated finishes provide the best color retention and chalk resistance. I define them for coastal exposures whenever budget plans allow.
Historic districts frequently need profiles that imitate old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, but lead times extend and costs climb. Expect extra local window installation experts review 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 authorized items for harmony. They also appreciate sound control between systems. If your structure sits straight on Collins Opportunity or faces a hectic beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated choices. 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 design pressure, deflection, and operating hardware. Not every system that looks tough in a showroom meets the wind loads on a ninth-floor balcony. Do not depend on catalog maximum sizes. Utilize the NOA tables that correspond to your website's zone, favorable and negative pressures, and mullion mixes if any.
The finest jobs begin with a determined study and direct exposure analysis. You map each opening, keep in mind the substrate, and identify any framing abnormalities or settlement fractures. During proposition, the contractor shows 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 repair work, not pretend no damage will occur.
On set up day, they eliminate one opening at a time to keep your house safe and secure. They safeguard floorings, draw back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames bring out care to maintain interior surfaces. New systems get dry-fit, shimmed, and anchored per the schedule. The team checks squareness and diagonals before setting sealant. They picture anchors for the permit file, particularly if they will be concealed. After glazing, they water-test with a controlled spray to validate drain courses and seals. The inspector sees a cool jobsite, clear labels, and documents in order.
Six months later on, your windows still close with 2 fingers, locks bite smoothly, and there is no mystery rattle throughout thunderstorms. You did not have to require a roller change after the first week. That is the standard.
Impact score does not equivalent breakproof. Laminated glass can break under extreme effects, however it should stay in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends out particles into the glass, you might see star cracks or spidering. The window did its task. Change the sash or IGU after the event.
Window films do not transform non-impact windows into typhoon impact-resistant windows. They can add shatter resistance, however they do not alternative to an evaluated, anchored system. Your insurer and structure department will not count movies as secured openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows lower air leak. That's great, however it increases the value of a correctly sized heating and cooling with great dehumidification. If your system is large, the thermostat satisfies rapidly and stops working to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your a/c pro to check reasonable heat ratio, air flow, and run time. You want steady, longer cycles, not short bursts.
Maintenance is simple but not optional. Clean weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and lube hardware yearly with a silicone-based product that will not gum up in heat. Small habits extend lifespan.
There are genuine reasons to mix solutions. A set of rarely used garage windows can keep detachable panels to shave budget plan. A deep-set patio with minimal sun direct exposure may do fine with accordion shutters if you prioritize other upgrades like a brand-new roofing deck accessory or a fortified garage door. Shutters can also safeguard outside cooking areas or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age elegant hardware prematurely.
If you pick shutters, purchase quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with manual bypasses for roll-downs make a difference. Assign duty for deployment 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 want to find you have 29.
Impact windows are not just about enduring the big one. They improve daily living. The living-room remains cooler and quieter. The a/c cycles calmly rather of racing at 4 p.m. You sleep without freight trains of wind sound when a squall line passes at 2 a.m. When a typhoon threatens, your preparation list gets much shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and concentrate on people rather than panels.
For a lot of my clients, that intangible is the choosing element. They understand storms will come. They also know life in South Florida is too excellent to live inside a fortress that just wakes up in August. Miami-Dade authorized windows provide you both: a clear view of Biscayne Bay on a breezy February morning and peaceful self-confidence when the spaghetti designs point our way in September.
If you are weighing the option, begin with a site-specific assessment. Match your direct exposures to design pressures, choose the best laminated glass stack for wind and heat, choose frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and hire a team that appreciates the load path. Done right, energy‑efficient effect windows provide what shutters can not: security that never ever requests a ladder and a better home every day of the year.