As a homeowner in South Florida, you have several options when it comes to protecting your home from damaging hurricane winds and flying debris. While plywood may be an inexpensive way to protect your windows during a storm, there are better – and more convenient, attractive, and technologically sound – methods to safeguard your home. Installing impact resistant glass windows is one of them.

Impact windows are becoming more commonplace across South Florida not only because they’re extremely effective, but also because of building codes that stipulate new constructions be equipped with hurricane shutters or impact windows. Impact windows also do more than just protect your home from storms. They help reduce energy costs, noise pollution and add value to your home. In fact, there are quite a few things that are not as well-known about Impact Windows that may help you as you decide whether to add them to your home.

Impact windows and hurricane windows are not the same thing

While the terms may be used interchangeably by some, impact windows and hurricane windows differ in some key ways, namely the level of resistance they offer. Hurricane windows offer less insulation and their primary function is to resist wind damage. They do little in the way of protecting against projectiles (or other unwanted intruders for that matter, including noise intrusion). Read: not as hurricane proof as you may want when storm season gets near.

Impact window types are differentiated by their laminate procedure

There are several types of impact windows on the market, which are identified by the way the laminated glass panes are bonded together with the interlayer. The two most common types consist of either multiple layers of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) sandwiched between sheets of glass, which handle smaller projectile impacts very well, or PET laminated glass combined with PVB-treated glass. This option makes for very strong glazing but also comes at a higher price tag.

Impact windows must be paired with stronger window frames

If you’re installing impact windows, it’s better to replace the entire window system rather than try to retrofit. Impact windows will not work as designed if they are not secured to equally strong window frames to help ensure stability.

Installing impact windows in your home is a great way to protect and add immediate value to your property. If you’re interested in talking further about adding impact windows to your home, give us a call today. We’d be happy to do a site visit and provide an estimate.