Storm Protection

Hurricane Floyd, just off our coast.

Surfside Construction and Development Corp. has been actively involved in storm protection long before the storms of 2004 and 2005 hit.

We were one of the first contractors to be certified by FLASH (Federal Alliance For Safe Homes). The FLASH program has many informative links and helps for the home and business owner. They can be found at Flash.org/.

Combining FLASH technology and years of previous experience,  we performed over 100 storm related projects after our fall hurricanes in 2004 and 2005.

At Surfside, we provide complete storm protection needs including accordion shutters and Surfside Hurricane Resistant Impact Windows.

Are Impact Windows Only For Storm Protection?

It seems like so long ago we were picking up after the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005. With 2010 just around the corner, it’s easy to think hurricanes were just a fluke that will never happen again. Most of us don’t even think about storm protection any more.

But, impact windows still selling! After talking to a few of our clients, I found out why they were making this investment.

• They hate the look of shutters and panel brackets. And if they have panels they don’t have the desire or time to put them up at a moments notice.
• They are tired of hearing every noise from the street. Impact glass is the same type of glass used in most airports. Think how loud it would be inside an airport terminal with regular glass.
• Protection to them met a lot more than just storms. They want 24 hour, 7 day protection from break-ins. Impact glass is virtually impossible to break the window and unlock. The only way to get through impact glass is with special saws the fire department now uses specifically for this purpose.
• They dread the idea of being inside a dark, closed in cave with no power when they close accordions or have storm panels up during a storm.
• They got tired of their drapes, furniture and floor covering being faded from the hot sun. Impact glass eliminates 99% of the sun’s ultraviolet rays.
• They want to reduce their insurance premium, or found their insurance company reluctant to insure them with no window protection. Most insurance companies will reduce your premium when you install impact windows.

What is Impact Glass anyway?

To make a long story short, impact glass is two pieces of glass bonded together with a thick plastic membrane in the center. This glass needs a special frame because of it’s weight and thickness. I compared the original frames on the windows and doors in my home in Jupiter, in the Bluffs. The old windows had a 1 ½ inch wide jamb. The impact windows had a jamb almost double that size at 2 ¾ inches. On the sliding doors, the frames were 3 ½ inches. The impact jambs were over 5” wide.

Can you feel any difference?

Yes, without a doubt. We put a porch addition on a few years ago and left the original sliding doors up.  When you bump them, even with a vacuum, they shake around like a rock in a tin can.

The impact sliding doors close like a bank vault. Its no wonder these impact products are so burglar proof. If you can’t break the glass, and you can’t pry open the frame because it’s so thick, you can’t get in, pure and simple.

A story of windows on the beach

Right after the hurricanes, a fellow General Contractor asked me to meet him on a condominium job site on Singer Island. On one side of the building, many of the condo units were in pretty good shape. On the other side, they were in bad shape. Most of them had the entire door and window assembly blown out and were lying on the beach.  In many cases the glass was still intact, looking like they were ready to be put right back in. The window and door assemblies had blown out. The fasteners were not anchored in the concrete, but only into the wood framing (called a “buck”) surrounding the window or door. One inch wood screws held the entire assembly into place. No fastener went into the concrete. Also, being on the ocean, some of the screws were rusted to practically powder. In other words, the only thing holding the windows and sliding doors in place was the caulking around the edge of the window.

I live in the Bluffs in Jupiter and when I got home from this job, I got a screwdriver and took out one of the screws holding my windows in place. It was only 1 inch long! I have a 16 foot long sliding door on the back of my home and it was the same. My home was built in 1986. I have been a contractor all my working life, and my father before me, but I never done work like that. We always drilled through the framing and anchored to the concrete. I guess storms and break-ins were never considered.

How can you tell good from bad in a window investment?

More challenging economic times sometimes lead to a lot of corners to be cut, and there are always people willing to cut them to their benefit.

Here are two quick tips-
• Always ask to see the job permit before the job is started and never make final payment till the final inspection has been signed off by the municipality. Also, no reputable contractor charges extra for permitting. That is as much part of their job as the truck to get him to the worksite.
• If the salesperson wants you to make a decision immediately, walk away. A licensed contractor is a professional and understands you are making an investment. Ask for references.   You can click on WHAT OTHERS SAY here on this site to see comments from some of our customers who have been kind enough to tell others about us. Almost all of our business comes from referrals.

At Surfside, we have certain guidelines for our window and doors. I know we could lower our cost by eliminating some of these things, but then I could never count on you for referrals, which have kept our family busy for over 50 years through all the economies, good and bad.

How to do the job correctly

• All Surfside impact windows and doors are special ordered from the factory with stainless steel frame couplers. 90% of the windows installed, even close to the ocean, are still being ordered and built using standard zinc coated screws by other companies. This is not what you want in your home.

• All entrance (swinging doors) are ordered with steel bracing inside the door itself that exceeds Miami Dade requirements. The door frame (jamb) is constructed with rot-resistant materials and composite bases. This guards against rot problem at the base of most swinging doors after a few years. If your entry door will have a glass panel, it will impact glass.

• We carefully examine and bring the framing bucks around all windows and doors to CURRENT CODE. If changes are needed, we use only pressure treated materials.

• EVERY fastener anchoring your window or door is high-performance 410 stainless steel masonry a Crete-Flex® SS4 fasteners. These screws are the most resistant to rust available on the market today. They are expensive, but worth the money in piece of mind.

• Every fastener anchoring your door or window is embedded through the framing and into the concrete with at least 1 ½ inches penetration into masonry structure. Nothing is anchored only to the surrounding frame buck.

• All final inspections are completed and signed off before final payment is expected.

• All exterior fasteners are covered with a poly coating in the window color to prevent or moisture from getting to the fastener.

• All jobs are left as clean as when we started the job.

• All stucco, drywall and paint touch up is included.

• We use only professional grade sealant on the exterior edges, no paint grade caulk.

Look through the list of what we include with each and every job. If this type of quality is what you want for your family, give our family a call.  Before the next storm hits, contact our family at Surfside Construction and Development Corp. at 561-741-1338 about the protection you need for your family.