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 next-door neighbors track tropical waves, the pre-storm rush to stock up, and the routine of carrying ladders to mount panels. After two decades defining, installing, and fixing structure envelopes from Key Largo to Palm Beach, I have actually seen what holds up and what does not. When the goal is real defense with year-round convenience, Miami-Dade authorized, energy‑efficient impact windows exceed shutters in ways that surpass storm day. They alter how a home feels in August, how peaceful your living-room stays on a Saturday night, and how positive you are when a storm line spins up quicker than predicted.
This is a practical look at why lots of South Florida property owners are moving from shutters to cyclone impact-resistant windows, how to read the requirements behind "Miami-Dade authorized," what materials matter, and how to get the installation right the first time.
Miami-Dade County's Product Control Division sets one of the toughest benchmarks in the nation for developing components exposed to windborne particles. Approval is not a marketing sticker label. It is made through specific laboratory tests that imitate real typhoon conditions.
First comes big rocket effect. A 9-pound 2x4 is contended the glass at roughly 34 miles per hour. That mimics roofing tiles, branches, or pieces of fencing that fly in the eyewall. After the impact, the exact same system faces 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 distinction in between "fulfills Florida building code windows" and "Miami-Dade authorized windows" often lives in these test limits. Miami-Dade is just stiffer, especially in High Speed Cyclone Zone requirements, that include Miami-Dade and Broward.
Wind rankings differ by opening size and design pressures, represented as PSF values. On ocean-facing homes or high-rises, I typically define units rated at +60/ -80 PSF or higher. Inland or in more secured exposures, ratings in the +45/ -60 PSF range can be adequate, however you size and specification based upon the website's wind map, building height, and surrounding structures. A professional knows that a corner exposure at the second story demands different support 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 absolutely nothing. However they ask you to do work at the worst possible time. When a watch turns to a warning and the projection track tightens up, the last thing you want is a ladder, a dead cordless drill, and a missing wing nut.
Impact windows reside in location. You get constant protection, even if a pop-up storm surprises you while you're stuck on US 1. You also get benefits every day of the year.
Noise control is the most underappreciated benefit. Laminated impact glass is basically a sandwich: two panes of glass bonded by a resilient interlayer, generally PVB interlayer glass or SentryGlas. That interlayer damps sound. On tasks along busy passages like Biscayne Boulevard or near flight paths, I have actually determined interior sound drops in the 5 to 10 decibel range, in some cases 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, stubborn membrane instead of a quick path inside. Insurance underwriters understand this, which is why policies typically provide credits for effect doors and windows. In my projects, premiums typically drop 10 to 25 percent, depending upon the carrier and how many openings are protected.
Energy performance is the third pillar. Energy-efficient effect windows with contemporary low-E impact glass and warm-edge spacers can cut solar heat gain while maintaining visible light. That means less air conditioning demand, specifically on west and south direct exposures where the afternoon sun punishes interiors. In one Coral Gables retrofit, we changed 1980s single-pane sliders with laminated low-E impact systems. Summertime afternoon peak load come by approximately a lots of cooling, and the home's yearly electricity usage fell between 12 and 18 percent. Results differ with shading, attic insulation, and HVAC efficiency, however the direction is consistent.
Laminated impact glass is the heart of the system, however not all laminated products are equal.
Most property typhoon windows use a PVB interlayer glass stack, commonly 0.030 to 0.090 inches thick in single or numerous plies. Thicker interlayers enhance impact resistance and sound control, but they add weight and cost. For oceanfront or tall openings, you may see SGP (ionoplast) interlayers, which are stiffer and stronger than PVB, permitting thinner sections to achieve greater style pressures. For noise-sensitive websites, acoustic PVB formulas modify the polymer to better take in noise in the 1,000 to 3,000 Hz range, where traffic and voices sit.
Tempered glass windows turn up frequently in discussions due to the fact that tempered glass is stronger in flexing than annealed glass. That holds true, and tempered lites are commonly used as the external or inner ply in an impact unit. However tempered alone is not impact-resistant in the typhoon sense. When it fails, it blows up into little cubes and falls out of the frame, which leaves the opening susceptible. The effect performance originates from laminated building, not tempering by itself. Numerous systems use a tempered outer lite laminated to a hardened inner lite, or both tempered, however constantly bonded through a PVB or ionoplast interlayer.
Low-E finishings matter for comfort. A soft-coat low-E tuned for South Florida normally targets a solar heat gain coefficient in the 0.25 to 0.35 variety while keeping visible light transmission around 50 percent or greater. Go too low on SHGC and the glass can look gray or green, specifically in larger openings. The sweet spot depends upon your exterior orientation and shading. On east and west elevations, I frequently tighten SHGC and accept a small tint to handle morning and afternoon blasts. On north elevations, I lean toward greater visible transmittance for daylighting.
Frames are the other half of the story. Aluminum frames dominate here because they manage large openings and won't swell. Thermal breaks and improved glazing gaskets have actually narrowed the energy gap with vinyl. Top quality vinyl effect frames, when enhanced correctly, can perform well for standard-sized openings and have better insulating worths, however I avoid them for really large sliders or tall storefront-style windows in high-wind zones. Wood-clad units look stunning in older Mediterranean Revival homes, however they demand cautious upkeep and wise flashing. The Florida sun damages cheap vinyl and chalks low-grade aluminum finishes quickly. Try to find powder-coated surfaces ranked for seaside direct exposure, and demand written service warranty details in salt-air environments.
Window setup 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 path is the core. Impact 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 concrete block building, you want stainless or hot-dipped galvanized anchors embedded into strong material. Hollow cells should be grouted or you require to hit the bond beam. Tapcons in soft, unfilled block are a failure waiting to happen. In wood-framed homes, structural screws must bite into strong 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 aesthetic. An effectively sized backer rod and high-quality polyurethane or silyl-modified polymer sealant develop a resilient, versatile seal that handles thermal expansion. Too little a bead and it tears under movement. Too big and it treatments inadequately. On seaside tasks, I never pair dissimilar metals without a barrier, and I always define corrosion-resistant fasteners. 10 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 important. If you rely on Boca Raton residential window installation sealant alone, water will discover its method. That moisture may disappoint up as a drip. It may rot a sill plate gradually, then betray itself as a buckling floor or a moldy odor two cyclone seasons later.
I have absolutely nothing versus well-designed shutters. Accordion shutters that are kept and lubed, roll-down shutters with battery backups, and even detachable panels kept thoroughly can protect homes effectively. They also help in certain cases.
Second homes or seasonal rentals where budget plan is tight often lean on shutters to meet the Florida building regulations windows requirement for secured openings. On specialized openings like a lanai that is seldom utilized in summertime, a tidy motorized roll-down can be sensible, especially if pairing with effect windows and doors elsewhere worries the spending plan. For homeowners who prepare to move within a year, shutters can be a brief bridge to compliance before a sale.
But shutters bring trade-offs. They darken your home when released, and they require action at specifically the time you are managing insurance coverage papers, gas cans, and family logistics. Throughout Cyclone Irma, I viewed a neighbor try to install steel panels hours before landfall. The ladder sank in saturated soil, a panel slipped, and we invested the next hour in the urgent care waiting room. He endured with stitches. His living room window did not. Shutters also rattle and can vibrate under sustained winds, often loosening up fasteners in time if not maintained.
For long-term owners who want to set it and forget it, impact windows offer cyclone evidence windows protection while maintaining daytime and view. The benefit grows important once you've experienced one storm season with absolutely no prep beyond locking the sash.
South Florida homes fight 2 battles: hidden load from humidity and sensible load from direct solar heat gain. Effect glass upgrades can help both if specified intelligently.
Low-E effect glass utilizes microscopically thin metal layers to reflect infrared energy while letting visible light through. With the best coating stacks, you can obstruct a big part 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, lowering fading of fabrics and floor covering. Include the low-E, and you suppress the solar heat that drives your air conditioning crazy midafternoon.
I examine glass specifications with three numbers: U-factor, SHGC, and VT. While U-factor matters more up north, it still helps here by lowering nighttime heat flow and keeping the interior glass temperature level closer to room temperature, which lowers condensation danger. SHGC drives how much solar heat goes into. VT influences how brilliant the interior feels. Balance is essential. Some property owners want the crisp, clear look of higher VT, even if it suggests accepting a few degrees more heat in late afternoon, because their landscaping and roofing overhangs already do some shading. Others prefer a stronger tint for glare control on waterfront lots that show harsh light.
In practical terms, going from clear single-pane sliders to modern low-E laminated double-glazed units can reduce peak solar gains by 30 to 50 percent on the most exposed sides. Couple that with tuned overhangs, light-colored outside surfaces, and a properly sized variable-speed HVAC, and you begin to develop strength. If the grid goes down and you change to a generator, a lower cooling load suggests a smaller generator and less gallons of fuel.
Miami-Dade Notification of Approval, or NOA, is the file you ask for. It information the approved configurations, sizes, anchors, and pressures evaluated. It is not enough to hear "these are Miami-Dade approved windows" in a display room. Validate the NOA matches the specific model and alternatives you are buying, including the glazing makeup and hardware. If you are in Broward or Miami-Dade, your permitting office will desire this paper trail.
Statewide, the Florida Product Approval system offers FL numbers that reveal code compliance. In the rest of the state outside the High Velocity Hurricane Zone, Florida building code windows can count on Florida Item Approval without Miami-Dade particular NOAs. Numerous top manufacturers carry both. Where budgets enable, I choose NOA products even outside the zone since the screening is stiffer.
NFRC labels handle energy metrics. They won't inform you effect efficiency, but they show U-factor, SHGC, VT, and air leakage. Go for air leak at or listed below 0.3 cfm/ft ². Tighter is better for humidity control, however make sure your home still has stabilized ventilation. Sealing the envelope and overlooking fresh air is a recipe for indoor air quality complaints.
Impact windows cost more in advance than shutters. There's no spin around that. Set up costs differ with size, shape, surface, and gain access to. On straightforward single-family homes, per-opening expenses frequently land between 1,200 and 3,000 dollars for basic sizes. Large multi-panel sliders, custom arches, and coastal-grade surfaces raise the numbers quickly.
Where you recover worth:
If you prepare to own the residential or commercial property for five years or more, the math often tilts in favor of impact windows, especially when you factor the intangible of peace of mind. If you plan to offer within a year and require to show compliance quickly, shutters may make more short-term sense. Context matters.
I take notice of hardware and devices. Multi-point locks on sashes and awnings improve seal compression and security. For sliders, robust tandem rollers in stainless housings slide smoother and last longer on sandy outdoor patios. Take a look at the sill design on sliding doors. Weep systems must be engineered to drain pipes heavy rains without letting wind-driven water blow back in. Ask to see a cutaway sample in the showroom.
Tint colors and reflectivity are more than style. Reflective movies can contravene of neighborhood watch or produce mirror-like glare towards surrounding homes. In coastal ecosystems, highly reflective glass can puzzle birds or sea turtles in some jurisdictions. Local pros know which coatings balance efficiency with compliance.
Color stability is best impact windows in Boca Raton a big 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 supply the best color retention and chalk resistance. I specify them for coastal exposures whenever budgets allow.
Historic districts frequently need profiles that imitate old wood sash sightlines. There are impact-rated windows that fit these requirements, however lead times lengthen and costs climb. Anticipate extra review by architectural boards, and line up a professional acquainted with these submissions.
Condos have another layer of governance. Associations sometimes specify a narrow list of authorized products for harmony. They likewise appreciate sound control in between units. If your structure sits straight on Collins Opportunity or faces a hectic beach boardwalk, push for acoustic laminated alternatives. Work with structure management on staging and lift gain access to. Weekend work windows and minimal parking can include days and dollars.
Large openings, like a 16-foot-wide slider, need unique attention in design pressure, deflection, and running hardware. Not every system that looks durable in a display room meets the wind loads on a ninth-floor balcony. Do not depend on catalog maximum sizes. Utilize the NOA tables that represent your site's zone, favorable and unfavorable pressures, and mullion mixes if any.
The finest tasks begin with a determined study and exposure analysis. You map each opening, note the substrate, and recognize any framing abnormalities or settlement cracks. Throughout proposal, the contractor reveals you the NOA and the Florida Product Approval, notes anchor types, and discusses how each opening will be flashed and sealed. They plan for stucco or drywall repair work, not pretend no damage will occur.
On set up day, they remove one opening at a time to keep the house protected. They secure floorings, draw back window treatments, and cap sprinklers. Old frames bring out care to maintain interior surfaces. New units get dry-fit, shimmed, and anchored per the schedule. The team checks squareness and diagonals before setting sealant. They photo anchors for the license file, particularly 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 mystery rattle during thunderstorms. You did not need to require a roller modification after the very first week. That is the standard.
Impact rating does not equal breakproof. Laminated glass can crack under extreme effects, but it ought to stay in the frame and hold together. After a storm that sends 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 movies do not transform non-impact windows into hurricane impact-resistant windows. They can include shatter resistance, however they do not replacement for a checked, anchored system. Your insurance company and building department will not count films as protected openings.
Interior humidity matters. Tight, energy-efficient effect windows reduce air leak. That's excellent, however it increases the value of an effectively sized a/c with excellent dehumidification. If your system is extra-large, the thermostat satisfies quickly and fails to pull enough moisture from the air. Ask your heating and cooling pro to check practical heat ratio, air flow, and run time. You want consistent, longer cycles, not short bursts.
Maintenance is simple but not optional. Tidy weep holes on sliders, wash salt spray from frames, and lube hardware yearly with a silicone-based item that will not gum up in heat. Small practices extend lifespan.
There are legitimate factors to blend services. A set of seldom utilized garage windows can keep detachable panels to shave budget. A deep-set patio with minimal sun direct exposure might do great with accordion shutters if you focus on other upgrades like a new roof deck accessory or a fortified garage door. Shutters can likewise secure outdoor kitchens or cabana openings where grease and smoke would age expensive hardware prematurely.
If you choose shutters, purchase quality. Stainless fasteners, smooth tracks, and motors with manual overrides for roll-downs make a distinction. Appoint responsibility for release and practice once beyond 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 only about making it through the big one. They reshape daily living. The living room stays 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 typhoon threatens, your preparation list gets much shorter. You lock the sashes, set storm mode on the alarm, and focus on individuals rather than panels.
For much of my clients, 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 only gets up in August. Miami-Dade approved windows give you both: a clear view of Biscayne Bay on a breezy February early morning and peaceful confidence when the spaghetti models point our way in September.
If you are weighing the choice, start with a site-specific evaluation. Match your exposures to develop pressures, choose the right laminated glass stack for wind and heat, choose frames that fit the architecture and conditions, and work with a crew that appreciates the load path. Done right, energy‑efficient effect windows provide what shutters can not: defense that never ever requests a ladder and a much better home every day of the year.