STS Impact Windows, Doors & Roofing is a veteran-owned company based in South Florida that specializes in premium hurricane protection solutions, including impact windows, doors, custom storefronts, and roofing. Combining over 25 years of industry experience with military precision, STS provides expert installation, full transparency, and outstanding customer service, backed by a leading 3-year installation warranty. Their comprehensive services ensure security and peace of mind for both residential and commercial clients, with a strong focus on quality, reliability, and efficiency.
View on Google MapsSTS Impact Windows and Doors specializes in hurricane protection solutions, offering high-quality impact windows, storm-resistant doors, custom storefronts, and professional roofing services. With expert installation, full transparency, and outstanding customer service, the company ensures homes and businesses stay secure and energy-efficient.
STS Impact Windows and Doors is located at 1000 Holland Dr Suite 10, Boca Raton, FL 33487, United States. The company proudly serves residential and commercial clients across Florida and throughout the United States, delivering reliable storm protection solutions. View their location on Google Maps.
Yes, STS Impact Windows and Doors is a veteran-owned company recognized for its dedication, integrity, and service to the community. This background adds an extra level of trust and reliability for homeowners and businesses seeking storm protection solutions.
STS Impact Windows and Doors provides a wide range of services including the installation of hurricane impact windows, impact doors, custom commercial storefronts, and roofing services. Each project is backed by expert craftsmanship, a 3-year installation warranty, and over 25 years of industry experience.
The company proudly serves both residential homeowners and commercial property owners. From protecting family homes to fortifying businesses with hurricane-rated storefronts, STS Impact Windows and Doors delivers customized solutions that ensure safety, durability, and efficiency.
Clients benefit from the company’s focus on quality, reliability, and efficiency. Their impact-resistant windows and doors not only enhance security and hurricane protection but also improve energy efficiency, reduce noise, and increase property value. With a 3-year installation warranty, customers can trust in long-term performance and peace of mind.
STS Impact Windows and Doors has been recognized with multiple industry honors, including the South Florida Veteran Owned Business Excellence Award, Best Hurricane Protection Provider 2023 Florida, and the Angi’s Super Service Award for Window Installation. These awards highlight their commitment to excellence, customer satisfaction, and industry leadership.
You can reach STS Impact Windows and Doors by phone at 561-600-1018 or visit their website at stswindows.com. They are open Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm and are available on Facebook and Instagram for updates and project showcases.
Business Name: STS Impact Windows & Doors
Address: 1000 Holland Dr #10, Boca Raton, FL 33487, United States
Phone: (561)-600-1018
Hurricane season shapes life along Florida's coasts. You feel it in the method next-door neighbors track tropical waves, the pre-storm rush to stock up, and the ritual of transporting ladders to install panels. After 20 years defining, setting up, and repairing structure envelopes from Key Largo to Palm Beach, I have actually seen what holds up and what does not. When the objective is real defense with year-round comfort, Miami-Dade approved, energy‑efficient effect windows exceed shutters in ways that exceed storm day. They alter how a house feels in August, how peaceful your living-room remains on a Saturday night, and how confident you are when a storm line spins up quicker than predicted.
This is a useful take a look at why numerous South Florida house owners are moving from shutters to typhoon impact-resistant windows, how to read the standards behind "Miami-Dade authorized," what materials matter, and how to get the setup right the very first time.
Miami-Dade County's Product Control Department sets one of the toughest standards in the nation for developing parts exposed to windborne particles. Approval is not a marketing sticker. It is earned through specific laboratory tests that simulate real cyclone conditions.
First comes big rocket impact. A 9-pound 2x4 is contended the glass at approximately 34 miles per hour. That imitates roofing system tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the impact, the very same unit deals with cyclic pressure loading, countless 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 between "meets Florida building regulations windows" and "Miami-Dade authorized windows" often lives in these test limits. Miami-Dade is just stiffer, particularly in High Speed Typhoon Zone requirements, which include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind scores differ by opening size and design pressures, denoted as PSF worths. On ocean-facing residential or commercial properties or high-rises, I typically define systems ranked at +60/ -80 PSF or greater. Inland or in more protected exposures, rankings in the +45/ -60 PSF range can be adequate, 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 2nd story demands different support than a protected 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 nothing. But they ask you to do operate at the worst possible time. When a watch turns to a caution and the projection track tightens, the last thing you desire is a ladder, a dead cordless drill, and a missing wing nut.
Impact windows reside in place. You get continuous defense, even if a pop-up storm surprises you while you're stuck on United States 1. You likewise get advantages every day of the year.
Noise control is the most underappreciated advantage. Laminated impact glass Boca Raton hurricane proof window installation is essentially a sandwich: 2 panes of glass bonded by a resistant interlayer, normally PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps sound. On tasks along busy passages like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight paths, I have actually 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 resists required entry. A robber can shatter the outer lite with a hammer, but the interlayer holds the shards. They fulfill a sticky, persistent membrane instead of a quick course inside. Insurance underwriters understand this, which is why policies frequently use credits for impact doors and windows. In my projects, premiums typically drop 10 to 25 percent, depending upon the carrier and the number of openings are protected.
Energy performance is the third pillar. Energy-efficient impact windows with modern low-E impact glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while preserving noticeable light. That suggests less cooling need, particularly 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. Summertime afternoon peak load come by approximately a ton of cooling, and the home's annual electrical energy use fell in between 12 and 18 percent. Outcomes differ with shading, attic insulation, and heating and cooling effectiveness, however the direction is consistent.
Laminated impact glass is the heart of the system, however not all laminated items are equal.
Most residential typhoon windows use a PVB interlayer glass stack, frequently 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or numerous plies. Thicker interlayers improve effect resistance and sound control, however they include weight and cost. For oceanfront or high openings, you might see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and stronger than PVB, allowing thinner areas to attain higher design pressures. For noise-sensitive websites, acoustic PVB formulas modify the polymer to better absorb noise in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows turn up typically in discussions because tempered glass is stronger in bending than annealed glass. That's true, and tempered lites are typically utilized as the outer or inner ply in an effect system. However tempered alone is not impact-resistant in the typhoon sense. When it stops working, it explodes into little cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening vulnerable. The impact performance comes from laminated building and construction, not tempering by itself. Numerous systems use 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 usually 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 low on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, especially in bigger openings. The sweet spot depends on your façade orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I typically tighten SHGC and accept a slight tint to manage morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I lean toward greater noticeable transmittance for daylighting.
Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames control here since they manage large openings and won't swell. Thermal breaks and enhanced glazing gaskets have actually narrowed the energy gap with vinyl. High-quality vinyl effect frames, when strengthened effectively, can carry out well for standard-sized openings and have better insulating values, however I prevent them for extremely large sliders or high storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad systems look gorgeous in older Mediterranean Revival homes, but they require careful upkeep and clever flashing. The Florida sun damages inexpensive vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum surfaces quickly. Try to find powder-coated finishes rated for seaside direct exposure, and request composed service warranty details in salt-air environments.
Window installation can make or break performance. A costly system installed like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's tension test. The load course is the core. Effect forces have to take a trip from the glass through the frame, to the anchors, into the substrate, and then into the structure's framing or masonry.
In cinder block building, you want stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into solid product. Hollow cells need to be grouted or you need to hit the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to occur. In wood-framed homes, 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 visual. An appropriately sized backer rod and premium polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant produce a resilient, versatile seal that handles thermal growth. Too small a bead and it tears under motion. Too big and it cures poorly. On coastal tasks, I never ever combine dissimilar metals without a barrier, and I always specify 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 heads, and integration with the water-resistive barrier are important. If you count on sealant alone, water will find its way in. That wetness may disappoint up as a drip. It may rot a sill plate gradually, then betray itself as a buckling flooring or a musty odor 2 cyclone seasons later.
I have nothing versus properly designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are preserved and lubed, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even detachable panels saved carefully can protect homes successfully. They likewise help in certain cases.
Second homes or seasonal rentals where spending 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 best hurricane proof windows available is rarely utilized in summer season, a clean motorized roll-down can be sensible, especially if coupling with impact windows and doors elsewhere worries the budget plan. For homeowners who plan to move within a year, shutters can be a brief bridge to compliance before a sale.
But shutters bring compromises. They darken your house when released, and they need action at precisely the time you are handling insurance documents, gas cans, and family logistics. Throughout Cyclone Irma, I viewed a next-door neighbor attempt to install steel panels hours before landfall. The ladder sank in saturated soil, a panel slipped, and we spent the next hour in the immediate care waiting room. He made it through with stitches. His living room window did not. Shutters also rattle and can vibrate under continual winds, often loosening fasteners in time if not maintained.
For long-lasting owners who want to set it and forget it, effect windows give cyclone proof windows protection while preserving daylight and view. The convenience grows valuable once you have actually experienced one storm season with zero prep beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes combat two fights: hidden load from humidity and practical load from direct solar heat gain. Effect glass upgrades can assist both if specified intelligently.
Low-E impact glass uses microscopically thin metal layers to reflect infrared energy while letting visible light through. With the best finish stacks, you can block a large portion of convected heat and UV. UV blockage in laminated units comes mainly from the interlayer itself, which typically filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, reducing fading of materials and flooring. Include the low-E, and you curb the solar heat that drives your air conditioning crazy midafternoon.
I evaluate glass specifications with three numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still assists here by minimizing nighttime heat flow and keeping the interior glass temperature level closer to space temperature, which lowers condensation threat. SHGC drives how much solar heat gets in. VT affects how brilliant the interior feels. Balance is key. Some house owners want the crisp, clear look of higher VT, even if it means accepting a couple of degrees more heat in late afternoon, since their landscaping and roofing overhangs already do some shading. Others choose a more powerful tint for glare control on waterside lots that show extreme light.
In useful terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to modern-day low-E laminated double-glazed units can minimize peak solar gains by 30 to half on the most exposed sides. Couple that with tuned overhangs, light-colored outside surfaces, and a properly sized variable-speed heating and cooling, and you start to develop resilience. If the grid goes down and you switch to a generator, a lower cooling load implies a smaller generator and less gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notification of Acceptance, or NOA, is the document you request for. It details the approved setups, sizes, anchors, and pressures checked. It is insufficient to hear "these are Miami-Dade authorized windows" in a display room. Verify the NOA matches the exact model and choices you are purchasing, including the glazing makeup and hardware. If you remain in Broward or Miami-Dade, your allowing workplace will desire this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Item Approval system provides FL numbers that reveal code compliance. In the remainder of the state outside the High Speed Cyclone Zone, Florida building code windows can depend on Florida Item Approval without Miami-Dade specific NOAs. Lots of leading makers carry both. Where budget plans enable, I prefer NOA items even outside the zone since the screening is stiffer.
NFRC labels deal with energy metrics. They will not tell you effect performance, however they reveal U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leakage. Go for air leakage at or listed below 0.3 cfm/ft TWO. Tighter is much better for humidity control, but ensure your home still has stabilized ventilation. Sealing the envelope and disregarding fresh air is a dish for indoor air quality complaints.
Impact windows cost more upfront than shutters. There's no spin around that. Set up expenses vary with size, shape, surface, and gain access to. On uncomplicated single-family homes, per-opening costs frequently land in between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for standard sizes. Big multi-panel sliders, customized arches, and coastal-grade finishes raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recover worth:
If you prepare to own the property for five years or more, the math often tilts in favor of effect windows, particularly when you factor the intangible of peace of mind. If you prepare to sell within a year and need to show compliance quickly, shutters may make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I pay attention to hardware and devices. Multi-point locks on casements and awnings improve seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless housings glide smoother and last longer on sandy patios. Look at the sill style on sliding doors. Weep systems ought 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 films can contravene of neighborhood associations or produce mirror-like glare toward neighboring residential or commercial properties. In coastal ecosystems, highly reflective glass can puzzle birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Local pros understand which coverings balance performance with compliance.
Color stability is a huge offer. 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 best color retention and chalk resistance. I define them for coastal 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 extend and costs climb. Anticipate extra review by architectural boards, and line up a professional knowledgeable about these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations in some cases specify a narrow list of approved items for uniformity. They likewise appreciate noise control in between units. If your structure sits directly on Collins Opportunity or deals with a busy beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated options. Deal with structure management on staging and lift access. Weekend work windows and restricted parking can add days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, require unique attention in style pressure, deflection, and running hardware. Not every unit that looks strong in a showroom fulfills the wind loads on a ninth-floor terrace. Do not rely on brochure maximum sizes. Use the NOA tables that represent your website's zone, favorable and unfavorable 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 determine any framing abnormalities or settlement cracks. Throughout proposition, the professional shows you the NOA and the Florida Product Approval, lists anchor types, and explains 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 remove Boca Raton residential window installation one opening at a time to keep your house protected. They protect floors, draw back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames come out with care to preserve interior surfaces. New systems get dry-fit, shimmed, and anchored per the schedule. The buy impact windows crew checks squareness and diagonals before setting sealant. They picture anchors for the authorization file, particularly if they will be hidden. After glazing, they water-test with a regulated spray to verify drainage paths and seals. The inspector sees a cool jobsite, clear labels, and documentation in order.
Six months later, your windows still close with 2 fingers, locks bite smoothly, and there is no secret rattle throughout 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 break under extreme effects, but it must remain in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends debris into the glass, you may 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 typhoon impact-resistant windows. They can include shatter resistance, however they do not replacement for an evaluated, anchored system. Your insurance provider and structure department will not count films as protected openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows decrease air leakage. That's great, but it increases the value of a properly sized heating and cooling with great dehumidification. If your system is large, the thermostat pleases rapidly and fails to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your HVAC pro to inspect reasonable heat ratio, air flow, and run time. You desire stable, longer cycles, not short bursts.
Maintenance is simple but not optional. Clean weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and lubricate hardware annually with a silicone-based item that will not gum up in heat. Small practices extend lifespan.
There are genuine reasons to blend services. A set of rarely used garage windows can keep detachable panels to shave budget. A deep-set deck with minimal sun direct exposure might do great with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a new roofing system deck accessory or a fortified garage door. Shutters can also safeguard outside kitchens or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age elegant hardware prematurely.
If you choose shutters, buy quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with handbook overrides for roll-downs make a difference. Designate duty for implementation and practice as soon as outside of a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you require 32 wing nuts is not the early morning you want to discover you have 29.
Impact windows are not only about enduring the big one. They improve daily living. The living room stays 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 shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and focus on people instead of panels.
For much of my clients, that intangible is the choosing aspect. They understand storms will come. They also know life in South Florida is too good to live inside a fortress that just wakes up in August. Miami-Dade authorized windows give you both: a clear view of Biscayne Bay on a breezy February morning and peaceful self-confidence when the spaghetti models point our way in September.
If you are weighing the choice, begin with a site-specific assessment. Match your exposures to design pressures, select the ideal laminated glass stack for wind and heat, select frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and work with a team that respects the load course. Done right, energy‑efficient effect windows provide what shutters can not: protection that never ever requests a ladder and a better home every day of the year.