STS Impact Windows, Doors & Roofing is a veteran-owned company based in South Florida that specializes in premium hurricane protection solutions, including impact windows, doors, custom storefronts, and roofing. Combining over 25 years of industry experience with military precision, STS provides expert installation, full transparency, and outstanding customer service, backed by a leading 3-year installation warranty. Their comprehensive services ensure security and peace of mind for both residential and commercial clients, with a strong focus on quality, reliability, and efficiency.
View on Google MapsSTS Impact Windows and Doors specializes in hurricane protection solutions, offering high-quality impact windows, storm-resistant doors, custom storefronts, and professional roofing services. With expert installation, full transparency, and outstanding customer service, the company ensures homes and businesses stay secure and energy-efficient.
STS Impact Windows and Doors is located at 1000 Holland Dr Suite 10, Boca Raton, FL 33487, United States. The company proudly serves residential and commercial clients across Florida and throughout the United States, delivering reliable storm protection solutions. View their location on Google Maps.
Yes, STS Impact Windows and Doors is a veteran-owned company recognized for its dedication, integrity, and service to the community. This background adds an extra level of trust and reliability for homeowners and businesses seeking storm protection solutions.
STS Impact Windows and Doors provides a wide range of services including the installation of hurricane impact windows, impact doors, custom commercial storefronts, and roofing services. Each project is backed by expert craftsmanship, a 3-year installation warranty, and over 25 years of industry experience.
The company proudly serves both residential homeowners and commercial property owners. From protecting family homes to fortifying businesses with hurricane-rated storefronts, STS Impact Windows and Doors delivers customized solutions that ensure safety, durability, and efficiency.
Clients benefit from the company’s focus on quality, reliability, and efficiency. Their impact-resistant windows and doors not only enhance security and hurricane protection but also improve energy efficiency, reduce noise, and increase property value. With a 3-year installation warranty, customers can trust in long-term performance and peace of mind.
STS Impact Windows and Doors has been recognized with multiple industry honors, including the South Florida Veteran Owned Business Excellence Award, Best Hurricane Protection Provider 2023 Florida, and the Angi’s Super Service Award for Window Installation. These awards highlight their commitment to excellence, customer satisfaction, and industry leadership.
You can reach STS Impact Windows and Doors by phone at 561-600-1018 or visit their website at stswindows.com. They are open Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm and are available on Facebook and Instagram for updates and project showcases.
Business Name: STS Impact Windows & Doors
Address: 1000 Holland Dr #10, Boca Raton, FL 33487, United States
Phone: (561)-600-1018
Hurricane season shapes life along Florida's coasts. You feel it in the way neighbors track tropical waves, the pre-storm rush to stockpile, and the routine of transporting ladders to install panels. After twenty years defining, installing, and troubleshooting structure envelopes from Secret Largo to Palm Beach, I've seen what holds up and what doesn't. When the goal is genuine security with year-round convenience, Miami-Dade approved, energy‑efficient effect windows outperform shutters in ways that surpass storm day. They alter how a home feels in August, how quiet your living-room stays on a Saturday night, and how confident you are when a storm line spins up much faster than predicted.
This is a useful take a look at why numerous South Florida homeowners are moving from shutters to cyclone impact-resistant windows, how to read the requirements behind "Miami-Dade approved," what materials matter, and how to get the setup right the very first time.

Miami-Dade County's Product Control Department sets among the toughest criteria in the country for constructing components exposed to windborne debris. Approval is not a marketing sticker label. It is earned through particular lab tests that replicate genuine cyclone conditions.
First comes large missile effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is contended the glass at approximately 34 miles per hour. That mimics roofing tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the effect, the exact same unit faces cyclic pressure loading, countless pressurization and depressurization cycles that imitate rapid wind gusts over hours. If the glass stays in the frame without letting the envelope breach, it passes. The distinction between "fulfills Florida building regulations windows" and "Miami-Dade approved windows" often resides in these test thresholds. Miami-Dade is simply stiffer, particularly in High Speed Hurricane Zone requirements, which include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind scores differ by opening size and style pressures, signified as PSF worths. On ocean-facing residential or commercial properties or high-rises, I typically specify units ranked at +60/ -80 PSF or higher. Inland or in more safeguarded exposures, scores in the +45/ -60 PSF variety can be adequate, however you size and specification based upon the site's wind map, building height, and surrounding structures. A professional understands that a corner direct exposure at the second story needs various support than a protected window under a deep porch.
Hurricane shutters vs effect windows is not a one-to-one comparison. Shutters can satisfy code, and they're much better than nothing. But they ask you to do work at the worst possible time. When a watch turns to a warning and the forecast track tightens up, the last thing you want is a ladder, a dead cordless drill, and a missing wing nut.
Impact windows live in location. 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 benefit. Laminated effect glass is essentially a sandwich: two panes of glass bonded by a resistant interlayer, typically PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps noise. On tasks along hectic passages like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight courses, I have actually determined interior noise drops in the 5 to 10 decibel variety, often more when coupled with insulated glass units.
Security enhances because laminated glass resists required entry. A robber can shatter the external lite with a hammer, however the interlayer holds the shards. They satisfy a sticky, stubborn membrane instead of a quick course inside. Insurance coverage underwriters know this, which is why policies often offer credits for impact windows and doors. In my projects, premiums generally drop 10 to 25 percent, depending on the provider and how many openings are protected.
Energy performance is the 3rd pillar. Energy-efficient impact windows with modern low-E impact glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while protecting noticeable light. That suggests less a/c need, specifically 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 impact windows features units. Summertime afternoon peak load visited approximately a lots of cooling, and the home's annual electricity use fell in between 12 and 18 percent. Outcomes differ with shading, attic insulation, and a/c efficiency, however the direction is consistent.
Laminated impact glass is the heart of the system, however not all laminated items are equal.
Most residential hurricane windows utilize a PVB interlayer glass stack, commonly 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or numerous plies. Thicker hurricane proof windows in Boca Raton interlayers enhance impact resistance and sound control, however they include weight and expense. For oceanfront or high openings, you might see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and stronger than PVB, permitting thinner areas to achieve higher style pressures. For noise-sensitive websites, acoustic PVB formulas tweak the polymer to better soak up sound in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows come up often in conversations due to the fact that tempered glass is stronger in flexing than annealed glass. That holds true, and tempered lites are typically used as the external 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 susceptible. The effect performance 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 coatings 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 visible light transmission around 50 percent or higher. Go too low on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, specifically in larger openings. The sweet spot depends on your façade orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I typically tighten up SHGC and accept a slight tint to manage morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I lean toward higher visible transmittance for daylighting.
Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames control here since they handle big openings and won't swell. Thermal breaks and enhanced glazing gaskets have narrowed the energy gap with vinyl. Top quality vinyl impact frames, when enhanced correctly, can perform well for standard-sized openings and have better insulating values, but I prevent them for really large sliders or tall storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad systems look stunning in older Mediterranean Revival homes, but they require careful maintenance and smart flashing. The Florida sun destroys cheap vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum finishes rapidly. Try to find powder-coated finishes ranked for coastal exposure, and request composed warranty information in salt-air environments.
Window installation can make or break efficiency. A pricey unit installed like a handyman swap-out will not pass a storm's stress test. The load course is the crux. Effect forces need to take a trip from the glass through the frame, to the anchors, into the substrate, and after that into the structure's framing or masonry.
In cinder block building, you desire stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into strong product. Hollow cells need to be grouted or you need to strike the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to take place. In wood-framed homes, structural screws need to bite into solid trimmers, not just sheathing. Shimming and plumb alignment matter so the locks engage cleanly and the weatherstripping compresses evenly.
The sealant joint is not just aesthetic. An appropriately sized backer rod and high-quality polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant develop a long lasting, flexible seal that handles thermal expansion. Too little a bead and it tears under movement. Too huge and it remedies poorly. On coastal tasks, I never ever match different 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 integration with the water-resistive barrier are vital. If you depend on sealant alone, water will find its method. That moisture might not show up as a drip. It may rot a sill plate slowly, then betray itself as a buckling floor or a moldy odor 2 typhoon seasons later.
I have absolutely nothing versus properly designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are kept and lubricated, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even detachable panels stored thoroughly can safeguard homes efficiently. They likewise assist in particular cases.
Second homes or seasonal rentals where budget plan is tight often lean on shutters to satisfy the Florida building code windows requirement for secured openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is rarely utilized in summer, a clean motorized roll-down can be affordable, particularly if pairing with impact windows and doors somewhere else stresses the spending plan. For house owners who plan to move within a year, shutters can be a brief bridge to compliance before a sale.
But shutters bring compromises. They darken the house when deployed, and they require action at exactly the time you are juggling insurance coverage papers, gas cans, and family logistics. During Hurricane Irma, I enjoyed a neighbor attempt to mount steel panels hours before landfall. The ladder sank in saturated soil, a panel slipped, and we invested the next hour in the immediate care waiting room. He survived with stitches. His living-room window did not. Shutters likewise rattle and can vibrate under continual winds, sometimes loosening fasteners over time if not maintained.
For long-lasting owners who want to set it and forget it, impact windows provide typhoon evidence windows coverage while maintaining daytime 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 combat two fights: hidden load from humidity and sensible weather-resistant impact windows Boca Raton load from direct solar heat gain. Impact glass upgrades can help both if specified intelligently.
Low-E effect glass utilizes microscopically thin metal layers to show infrared energy while letting visible light through. With the best finish stacks, you can block a big portion of radiant heat and UV. UV clog in laminated systems comes mostly from the interlayer itself, which generally filters 95 to 99 percent of UV, minimizing fading of materials and flooring. Include the low-E, and you curb the solar heat that drives your AC crazy midafternoon.
I assess glass specifications with 3 numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still helps here by minimizing nighttime heat flow and keeping the interior glass temperature level closer to room temperature level, which decreases condensation threat. SHGC drives how much solar heat enters. VT influences how brilliant the interior feels. Balance is key. Some homeowners want the crisp, clear appearance of higher VT, even if it implies 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 useful terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to modern low-E laminated double-glazed units can reduce peak solar gains by 30 to half on the most exposed sides. Couple that with tuned overhangs, light-colored exterior finishes, and an appropriately sized variable-speed HVAC, and you start to build resilience. If the grid decreases and you switch to a generator, a lower cooling load indicates a smaller sized generator and less gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance, or NOA, is the file you request. It details the authorized setups, sizes, anchors, and pressures checked. It is not enough to hear "these are Miami-Dade approved windows" in a display room. Verify the NOA matches the specific model and alternatives you are purchasing, consisting of the glazing makeup and hardware. If you remain in Broward or Miami-Dade, your allowing workplace will desire this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Product Approval system offers FL numbers that reveal code compliance. In the remainder of the state outside the High Speed Cyclone Zone, Florida building regulations windows can rely on Florida Product Approval without Miami-Dade particular NOAs. Many leading manufacturers bring both. Where budget plans permit, I prefer NOA items even outside the zone since the screening is stiffer.
NFRC labels manage energy metrics. They won't tell you impact efficiency, however they show U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leakage. Aim for air leak at or below 0.3 cfm/ft ². Tighter is much better for humidity control, however make sure your home still has stabilized ventilation. Sealing the envelope and ignoring fresh air is a recipe 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, finish, and gain access to. On uncomplicated single-family homes, per-opening expenses frequently 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 value:
If you plan to own the home for five years or more, the mathematics often tilts in favor of effect windows, especially when you factor the intangible of comfort. If you prepare to offer within a year and need to reveal compliance rapidly, shutters may make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I take note of hardware and devices. 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 outdoor patios. Take a look at the sill style on moving doors. Weep systems need to be crafted to drain pipes 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 toward neighboring homes. In seaside communities, extremely reflective glass can confuse birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Local pros understand which finishings balance efficiency with compliance.
Color stability is a big offer. Dark bronze or black frames look fantastic on modern homes, but in Florida sun cheap finishes chalk and fade. AAMA 2605-rated coverings offer the very best color retention and chalk resistance. I define them for coastal direct exposures whenever budgets allow.
Historic districts often need profiles that mimic 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 in some cases specify a narrow list of approved items for harmony. They likewise appreciate noise control between units. If your structure sits directly on Collins Avenue or deals with a busy beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated choices. Deal with building 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, need special attention in style pressure, deflection, and operating hardware. Not every system that looks strong in a showroom satisfies the wind loads on a ninth-floor terrace. Do not count on catalog optimum sizes. Utilize the NOA tables that represent your site's zone, favorable and unfavorable pressures, and mullion combinations if any.
The best projects start with a determined survey and direct exposure analysis. You map each opening, note the substrate, and determine any framing irregularities or settlement fractures. Throughout proposal, the specialist reveals you the NOA and the Florida Product Approval, notes anchor types, and describes how each opening will be flashed and sealed. They plan for stucco or drywall repairs, not pretend no damage will occur.
On set up day, they remove one opening at a time to keep your home secure. They secure floorings, 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 crew checks squareness and diagonals before setting sealant. They picture anchors for the license file, specifically if they will be concealed. After glazing, they water-test with a regulated spray to validate drainage courses and seals. The inspector sees a neat jobsite, clear labels, and documents in order.
Six months later, your windows still close with two fingers, locks bite smoothly, and there is no secret rattle throughout thunderstorms. You did not have to require a roller modification after the very first week. That is the standard.
Impact ranking does not equivalent breakproof. Laminated glass can crack under severe impacts, however it needs to remain in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends out debris into the glass, you may see star fractures or spidering. The window did its task. Replace the sash or IGU after the event.
Window movies do not transform non-impact windows into typhoon impact-resistant windows. They can include shatter resistance, however they do not replacement for a tested, anchored system. Your insurance provider and structure department will not count movies as secured openings.

Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient impact windows decrease air leak. commercial window installation That's terrific, but it increases the value of a correctly sized heating and cooling with good dehumidification. If your system is oversized, the thermostat pleases rapidly and fails to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your a/c pro to examine practical heat ratio, air flow, and run time. You desire constant, longer cycles, not short bursts.
Maintenance is straightforward however not optional. Tidy weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and lubricate hardware every year with a silicone-based item that will not gum up in heat. Small routines extend lifespan.
There are genuine reasons to blend options. A set of hardly ever used garage windows can keep detachable panels to shave budget plan. A deep-set deck with minimal sun direct exposure may do fine with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a brand-new roofing system deck accessory or a fortified garage door. Shutters can also protect outdoor kitchens or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age expensive hardware prematurely.
If you pick shutters, invest in quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with manual bypasses for roll-downs make a distinction. Designate obligation for release and practice as soon as beyond a storm watch. Inventory your hardware. The day you need 32 wing nuts is not the early morning you wish to find you have 29.
Impact windows are not only about enduring the huge one. They improve daily living. The living-room stays cooler and quieter. The air conditioner cycles calmly rather 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 affordable hurricane proof windows preparation list gets shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and concentrate on individuals instead of panels.
For much of my customers, that intangible is the deciding factor. They understand storms will come. They likewise understand life in South Florida is too excellent to live inside a fortress that only gets 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 way in September.
If you are weighing the option, start with a site-specific evaluation. Match your exposures to design pressures, select the best laminated glass stack for wind and heat, choose frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and employ a team that appreciates the load course. Done right, energy‑efficient impact windows deliver what shutters can not: protection that never ever requests a ladder and a better home every day of the year.