What makes a opening more energy efficient is the glass option you choose. If you use low-e it will block 85% of the heat but if you choose gray it only blocks 70%.
Options are: 1. Clear (blocks no heat), 2. Gray (blocks 70% of heat), and 3. Low E (blocks 85% of heat) (slight green hue color) none of these options will make your house look dark inside. They still let in plenty of natural daylight.
Low E is a chemical sprayed on to the interior non exposed area of the glass that has its own tint color (slight green hue) to it and repels 85% of the direct sunlight heat away from the home.
Insulated glass is for cold climates. This is the glass that has the air gap inside that eventually fogs up from a seal going bad. We don’t use it much at all in South Florida because there is no benefit for using it in a hot climate. Also the way that insulated impact glass is made is that the non impact piece of glass faces the outside so it is easy to shatter the same as a regular non impact window. The impact part is on the inside so the single layer of glass on the outside cannot shatter into the home as projectiles. If you want maximum energy efficiency, make sure you get low e on your glass to ensure maximum heat blockage.
No you really don’t. Low E does not really help if it is just hot outside. It performs and helps when you have excessive sun exposure of more than 2 hours of direct sun hitting the glass.
It is not necessary. The standard impact glass is already rated for above category 5 hurricane standards. It is definitely not necessary for hurricanes or break in’s. The inner-layer between the glass is what prevents hurricanes and break in’s. If you get thicker glass, the inner-layer stays the same.
Effortless hurricane protection, insurance reductions, energy savings, noise reduction, burglar resistant, and adds value to your home.
Regular old style windows don’t have any of the benefits of impact windows. Additionally, building codes will only allow old fashioned windows to be installed on your home if you have had shutters installed after September 1st 1994 with a permit on record. If you don’t have existing permitted shutters then you would have to have shutters installed at the same time that you have non-impact windows installed. Once you look at the cost of this double installation we think you’ll find the cost savings as well as the many other benefits will be found by installing impact windows.
Florida Impact Windows and Doors is able to offer more competitive pricing over our competitors by keeping our overhead low and extending our volume discounts from the manufacturers to our customers. We set high standards in our employees and it shows in the finished products we install in your home or condo.
Our staff of installers guided by our designer and General Contractor will point out the features and benefits of each type of window and door that may be suitable for your particular application. Additionally, we have different grades of windows to meet your budget and the style of your home. We will be able to provide samples to show how each type of window looks and operates.
In order to perform the impact window and/or door installation we will need about 2.5 feet in front of each window and/or door on the inside for access. If you have heavy furniture within this area our window installation team will move these items for you. Window treatments will need to be taken down until the installation of your new energy efficient, storm products are completed. If you have any shrubbery on the outside that would block access to the windows that will need to be trimmed away before we arrive for the installation.
The caulking around the window frame will need around 24-48 hours to cure depending upon temperature. During this time please don’t clean the windows. You will see a sticker on every new impact window and door; please leave them in place until the final inspection by your municipality has been completed. After the final inspection and 48 hours has passed then rest assured that all of our impact windows and doors will give you many years of maintenance free service.
Our sliding glass doors can be ordered with or without screens. All our operable windows come with screens.
Impact windows are made with a special type of glass composed of two layers of glass with a tough, transparent plastic inner layer between the two sheets of glass. This cannot be penetrated to gain access without special tools made for this purpose which firemen carry. In order to penetrate this type of glass firemen would use a special chainsaw which makes a tremendous amount of noise. Therefore it seems logical that a burglar would not be likely to have this specific type of chainsaw or the desire to create the tremendous amount of attention getting noise that a chainsaw makes.
Yes, Florida Impact Windows and Doors is a General Contractor that has other divisions within the company that handle other remodeling services.
Everything sold by Florida Impact Windows and Doors meets or exceeds the latest building code requirements. These new code requirements actually require that all impact windows and doors perform in storms stronger than a category five hurricane. What this means is that there has not been a reported failure of one of the doors or windows sold by Florida Impact Windows and Doors.
Although there are two layers of glass joined by a transparent sheet of very tough plastic all three layers are 100% transparent and do not cause any obstruction of your view.
Impact windows are more than just stronger glass. They are fastened to your home or condo in an entirely different way than old fashioned windows. Impact windows are securely attached to the structure of your home and not lightly fastened the way your old windows are.
Actually the opposite, if you were to purchase the strongest storm shutters in the world they may resist flying debris just as well as an impact window but shutters offer absolutely no protection from the sudden pressure changes caused by hurricanes. With storm shutters in place ordinary windows are subject to powerful pressure changes that they are not made to withstand. Old fashioned windows can pop out as the eye of the hurricane passes and the pressure drops. Since impact windows become a part of the structure of your home or condo they cannot be popped out by pressure changes.
The most expensive impact windows and the least expensive impact windows are all still going to live up to the very rigorous testing of the Florida building codes. The difference in the price has to do with the cosmetic appearance of the windows and the type of hardware used such as the window opening handles.
