Impact Windows in Miami Gardens, FL

Impact Windows replace a home's ordinary glass with laminated units that stay intact when something hits them. In a Miami Gardens block house, that usually means taking out original aluminum awning windows, jalousies or single-hung windows and setting new, made-to-size impact units into the same masonry openings. Once they are in, there is nothing to hang, close or store before a hurricane.

How laminated glass works

Each pane is built like a sandwich: glass, a thick plastic interlayer, then glass again. A hit from a branch or roof tile may crack the outer layer in a spiderweb pattern, but the pieces stay bonded to the interlayer and the window stays shut. That matters because a broken window lets wind into the house, and wind inside pushes up on the roof. Most impact units also have an insulated version with an air space and a Low-E coating, which helps with heat and glare.

Styles that fit block openings

• Single-hung: the bottom sash slides up. A common, budget-friendly choice for bedrooms and kitchens.
• Horizontal roller: one panel slides sideways. Good for wide, short openings and for bedrooms that need an easy egress window.
• Casement: hinged and cranked open, so the full opening ventilates. Useful where an old awning window was.
• Picture or fixed: no moving parts, the largest glass for the money, often paired with operable windows beside it.
• Mulled units: two or more windows joined by a structural mullion, which needs its own approval.

Get a Free Estimate

What the approval really covers

An NOA or Florida Product Approval is not a single yes or no. It lists the maximum sizes the window was tested at, the positive and negative design pressures it can hold, the glass makeup, and exactly how it must be anchored into concrete block or wood buck. Corner windows and openings on upper floors face higher pressures than a window in the middle of a wall, so the same model may pass in one opening and not another. Before ordering, we match each opening's required pressure against the approval. Miami-Dade will not accept an expired approval.

Bedrooms and the egress rule

A bedroom window is also an emergency exit. Miami-Dade's rules call for a clear opening of at least 5.7 square feet (5 square feet at ground level), at least 24 inches high and 20 inches wide, operable without keys or tools. Old awning windows sometimes fall short. We pick a style and size that keeps the bedroom legal.

Signs it is time

• Jalousie or awning windows that never seal fully
• Aluminum frames pitted from salt and sun, or cranks that strip
• Rooms that stay hot near the glass in the afternoon
• Fogged or cracked panes, or water inside the sill after rain
• Plans to stop putting up shutters every storm season