Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Fort Lauderdale area
 [Register]
Fort Lauderdale area Broward County
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-06-2016, 04:36 PM
 
443 posts, read 895,311 times
Reputation: 441

Advertisements

After having to put heavy shutters on our 3700 sf house yesterday in the heat and humidity, I have to say that the main advantage of impact windows is NOT having to deal with shutters! I wish we had them!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-07-2016, 07:25 AM
 
515 posts, read 623,832 times
Reputation: 713
Quote:
Originally Posted by griffon652 View Post
Its not worth it if you have a house that was built post hurricane Andrew. I pay only $2K for insurance for my house that's 3200 sq feet. I asked them how much I would save if I upgraded to impact windows and the amount came to a pitiful $500/year. I have 14 windows (including 4 over sized huge windows, 2 french doors and 1 windowed bathroom door). I never got an exact quote but asked for a ball park estimate over the phone and multiple contractors said that it would cost $25K+ minimum. So its completely not worth it for me. Most of your insurance savings on a modern house will come from the roof. I cant remember the exact amount but I know that the amount I'm saving on my insurance premium is over $3K.

I completely agree with BNBR on the security aspect being worth it. So if you want to get it for that reason then it makes sense for a modern house.
If you have an older home with no shutters and old windows and no insurance discount what they say is that it's a 40% insurance discount. That's what the sales people say at least.

A new roof with a wind mitigation study helps. I have the hurricane impact windows and like the look and security and it helps with energy efficiency. However, I have a neighbor with a similar house and the quote was roughly $36k. 17k for the windows around the house and 19k for the large sliding glass door (96 inches). Even more for doors instead of sliders. I doubt the insurance discount and energy savings would be enough of a reason to justify the cost. Accordion shutters would be the better buy for hurricane protection. Putting up the manual shutters is a chore.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-07-2016, 02:38 PM
 
Location: Davie, FL
2,747 posts, read 2,631,226 times
Reputation: 2461
Quote:
Originally Posted by shamrockfisher View Post
If you have an older home with no shutters and old windows and no insurance discount what they say is that it's a 40% insurance discount. That's what the sales people say at least.

A new roof with a wind mitigation study helps. I have the hurricane impact windows and like the look and security and it helps with energy efficiency. However, I have a neighbor with a similar house and the quote was roughly $36k. 17k for the windows around the house and 19k for the large sliding glass door (96 inches). Even more for doors instead of sliders. I doubt the insurance discount and energy savings would be enough of a reason to justify the cost. Accordion shutters would be the better buy for hurricane protection. Putting up the manual shutters is a chore.
I have a 120" slider on one of my places and the brand name impact slider was less than half of that $19k price.

One thing about impact, is you have to be very careful with the companies selling it. Get MANY quotes. The prices aren't listed because they can just make them up as they go along and feel out whether they can get people to pay obscene prices for certain things.

I think I spent around $25k for 4 sliders - 3 were standard and one was the 120", we also removed another slider, built a wall and converted it to a window. On that 120" slider we reinforced the wall above it and added a big header, too. Plus 8 or so other windows and some misc stuff. And we used quality well known brand name materials. This includes professional labor.

The materials are nowhere near as expensive as the installers lead you to believe....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-07-2016, 08:11 PM
 
Location: Boca Raton, FL
6,883 posts, read 11,237,132 times
Reputation: 10807
Smile Question about the French door sliders?

We have 4 sliding glass doors now and would love to have the impact windows. Always have wanted that.

So many people have mentioned that the French door look would look so good on our home. My issue would be security.

If you have French doors with the impact glass, aren't these easier to break into or not?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-07-2016, 08:36 PM
 
Location: Fort Liquordale, Florida
240 posts, read 261,978 times
Reputation: 238
Give up the Company Name if you are satisfied please. Thanks.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-08-2016, 07:52 AM
 
Location: Davie, FL
2,747 posts, read 2,631,226 times
Reputation: 2461
Quote:
Originally Posted by ben barbosa View Post
give up the company name if you are satisfied please. Thanks.
pgt
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-08-2016, 10:52 AM
 
Location: Fort Liquordale, Florida
240 posts, read 261,978 times
Reputation: 238
PGT is a good brand of window. Why not also post the company that installed your windows? Again lets give credit where credit is deserved. Have a great weekend BNBR!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-10-2016, 06:47 AM
 
Location: Northeast and Near the Gulf
95 posts, read 289,926 times
Reputation: 50
Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Skool Florida View Post
as we speak i am in the process of installing impact windows. 4 large windows and 1 sun room. I'm going with Home Depot. total cost: $16k. my advice go with lowes or Home Depot because ma and pop wont come back if u have a problem.
Thank U Old Skool this is very good insight. Also I have 3 windows but only one that needs to be replaced right now. Lowes & Home Depot give the Veterans Discount and also have 6 or 12 month repayment plans.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-10-2016, 09:48 AM
 
Location: Pompano Beach, FL
389 posts, read 662,130 times
Reputation: 493
Quote:
Originally Posted by vigo View Post
After having to put heavy shutters on our 3700 sf house yesterday in the heat and humidity, I have to say that the main advantage of impact windows is NOT having to deal with shutters! I wish we had them!
This. Had we had to put up the old aluminum sheets, it would have been a sweaty, grueling job that would have taken at least three or four hours, even on our modestly-sized home. Was a hard job at our first house 20 years ago and even harder now at my advancing age. Would have taken valuable time away from other pre-storm preparations. Not to mention the fact my employer required me to work the day before Matthew arrived, as well as through the storm itself.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-11-2016, 11:46 AM
 
Location: Vero Beach, Fl
2,976 posts, read 13,370,597 times
Reputation: 2265
Bette - No French doors are not easier to break into.

I posted on this thread some years ago. Since then we moved from Weston to Vero Beach. I will share our experience with hurricane impact windows in our old house with our current regular windows and shutters in our newer home in Vero Beach.

1. Hurricane impact windows and French Doors. Loved them. Great protection. Good soundproofing. Beautiful. Didn't change our electric bill one iota. Down side is possibility of water leaking in during high winds. Windows may be vulnerable to certain projectiles during high winds. High cost. Also, if your window fractures and it's a custom size, the replacement cost could be prohibitive.

Note to DIYers: Yes you can buy impact windows at a home improvement store and install them yourself. BUT before doing so, check with your insurance company and a county code inspector. If you do not perform the installation correctly, it is possible you may not receive insurance credits. I am not 100% certain about this, but do your homework.

See https://www.fema.gov/media-library-d.../chapter10.pdf

2. Regular windows with shutters. - Mathew made us believers that shutters are great protection and made me feel just a tad more secure than just having impact windows. Our one story home came with the perquisite metal shutters which my husband put up and took down by himself with only a little help from me. Never again. Difficult to put up. Made the house dark. Easy to take down. Takes up garage space. We will be pricing accordion shutters.

I am not suggesting not to get impact windows. I love them. However, check with your insurance company as you may be spending money on those windows unnecessarily. Get quotes on windows and shutters - the insurance credits will be the same, but the actual cost of impact windows versus shutters will reveal what you are willing to spend.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Fort Lauderdale area
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top