A beachfront home is a dream come true to many people, but when a hurricane or storm comes in off the water, your house can take a lot of abuse. The windows are one of the biggest concerns because the amount of impact it takes to break standard glass is not particularly high. Impact-resistant glass is becoming more common along the coasts and is required by law in some counties.

If your beachfront property doesn’t have impact-resistant glass, take a look at this information and consider making the switch.

Impact-resistant glass is a glass laminate that will withstand a much higher impact on the glass than a standard window. The glass is comprised of two sheets of glass and a film of polyvinyl butyral or plastic.

The film may be as thin as .015 inches and as thick as .1 inches depending on the specifications and impact tolerance of the glass. Thicker films offer more impact resistance, with little to no distortion when looking through the glass.

Film Tinting

One of the benefits that you get beyond the impact resistance with this glass is that the film inside the glass is available in many different tints and colors. Blocking the UV (ultraviolet) rays from the home will lower the temperature inside during the summer months and reduce damage like fading of fabrics in the home.

The window frames in your home are most likely made from wood. While wood is suitable for standard windows, it is not nearly strong enough for impact-resistant glass windows. The sashes for these windows are typically made from extruded aluminum and have a vinyl covering over the metal for corrosion resistance and aesthetics.

For homes that originally had standard windows, the window frames will need to be reinforced so they can support the weight of impact-resistant glass and the new aluminum sashes.

People often wonder about the ability of impact-resistant glass to replace the storm or hurricane shutters on their beach house. Some of the windows currently being made aim to do just that.

The lamination improves the durability of the glass so much that the glass can sometimes rate higher than the shutters for impact resistance. If you want to remove the shutters in an area that is required to have them under the building code, you need to install windows that have a high enough rating to show more performance than the shutters.

If you replace all of the windows in your home with impact-resistant glass, would it not make sense to also replace doors that have glass in them? Sliding glass patio doors are available with impact-resistant glass. Again, the frame is heavy and strong but the house may need some support added to bear the weight of the door and avoid sagging.

The door styles you can choose from are almost as diverse as they are for a standard door. If you want something specific, you can order a custom made door to fit your needs.

When you own a home on the beach, the insurance cost is always higher than a home in a nice residential neighborhood with little exposure to weather or storms. Impact-resistant windows may help reduce that cost a little.

Talk to your insurance agent about the potential discount you could receive for using this glass on your home and to learn if there are other ways to further save with specialty glass, doors, or skylights in the home.

At Monterey Glass Specialists Inc. we can install impact-resistant class that is rated to withstand a category 5 hurricane and winds near 150 miles an hour. If you live along the Florida coast and are concerned about storm damage to your home, give us a call and let's talk about how to best protect your home and get you through the storm.