Hurricane Impact Doors
Impact-rated entry, French, and sliding glass doors, installed by our own crews and covered by a lifetime guarantee.
Hurricane impact doors are reinforced entry, French, and sliding glass door systems built with laminated impact glass and multipoint locking hardware. Every door we install is tested to ASTM E1996 large-missile standards, fitted by our own crews rather than subcontractors, and backed by a lifetime guarantee. Most projects pass final inspection within six to ten weeks of the estimate.
The Largest Openings on the House
Where Impact Doors Matter Most
Doors are usually the largest and weakest openings on the house. A sliding glass door can be the single biggest sheet of glass in the building, a double French door has two moving leaves meeting in the middle, and an entry door takes the most daily wear of any opening. When wind breaches one of these, internal pressure can lift the roof and push out walls, which is why the building code treats doors as opening protection just like windows.
Impact doors fix the weak point permanently. The laminated glass stays in its frame even when the outer layer cracks, the reinforced frame is anchored to the structure per the engineering specs, and multipoint locks pull the door tight against its seals at three or more points instead of one. Homeowners upgrading a house one opening at a time often start here, because the largest opening is the one a storm finds first.
Every Style, Impact-Rated
Types of Hurricane Impact Doors We Install
Entry & Front Doors
Impact-rated fiberglass and glass-panel entry doors with multipoint locking, available in single and double configurations with sidelites and transoms.
French Doors
Double French doors with laminated impact glass, reinforced astragals where the leaves meet, and hardware that anchors both the active and inactive leaf.
Sliding Glass & Patio Doors
Impact-rated patio doors and sliders for lanai and pool openings, including tall three and four panel layouts that stack to one side or meet in the center, with heavy-duty rollers and interlocking stiles.
Material matters as much as style in coastal air. Fiberglass entry doors resist humidity without the upkeep wood demands, aluminum frames carry the highest ratings on sliders and French doors, and steel offers rigidity but needs intact coating near salt water. We will match the material to the exposure during the estimate.
Less common openings have impact-rated answers too. Side doors, cabana doors, bifold doors, and pivot designs are all manufactured in impact-rated assemblies; ask during the estimate and we will confirm the right product for the opening. Storm doors and screen doors are a separate product: a secondary door mounted in front of the entry for weather protection and airflow. We install those too, and the comparison further down explains when each makes sense.
Four Steps, Permits Handled
From Estimate to Final Inspection
Exterior door replacement and installation follow the same four steps whether it is one entry door or every opening in the house:
- Measurement and Quote
We measure each opening, review door style, glass, and hardware options, and prepare a written line-item quote per opening.
- Ordering and Permitting
Each door is manufactured to your opening's dimensions, which typically takes four to eight weeks. We file the permit with your municipality along with the product approval documents inspectors require.
- Installation
A single entry or French door usually takes one day on site; large sliders and multi-door projects take two to three. Old doors come out, new frames are anchored to spec, and everything is sealed and finished inside and out.
- Inspection and Closeout
The municipal inspector verifies the work against the permit. We stay on the job until it passes, then register your warranty.
Most projects run six to ten weeks from signed contract to passed inspection, with manufacturing lead time the largest variable.
The Engineering Behind the Rating
Inside an Impact-Rated Door
Impact doors earn their rating from the same engineering as impact windows, scaled up for a moving panel. Laminated glass bonds two panes to a tough interlayer, so a debris strike may crack the outer layer but the glass stays in the frame and the opening stays sealed. Around the glass, the door adds what windows do not need: a reinforced slab or stile-and-rail structure, hinges and rollers rated for the panel weight, corrosion-resistant hardware that stands up to coastal salt air, and multipoint locking that secures the door at the top, middle, and bottom.
Every door we install carries the paperwork inspectors check:
You will see these products sold as hurricane proof doors, hurricane-rated doors, and impact-resistant doors. No door is truly hurricane-proof; the accurate term is impact-rated, and the DP rating plus the product approval tell you exactly what the assembly is certified to take. Compared with a standard exterior door, an impact door differs in three places: the glass is laminated rather than tempered alone, the frame is anchored to the structure per the engineering in the approval, and the locking is multipoint instead of a single latch. A standard door behind a shutter meets code only while the shutter is up; the impact door meets it around the clock. Maintenance is minimal: rinse the frame and glass a few times a year, keep slider tracks clear, and lubricate hinges, rollers, and lock points annually.
Impact Doors vs Storm Doors: What Sets Them Apart
| Dimension | Impact Doors | Storm Doors |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Full replacement exterior door with laminated impact glass | Secondary door mounted in front of the existing entry |
| Code compliance | Meets the opening-protection requirement on its own | Does not substitute for impact protection |
| Glass | Laminated impact glass, DP-rated assembly | Tempered glass or screen panels |
| Locking | Multipoint hardware at three or more points | Standard latch and closer |
| Best for | Primary storm protection and security | Ventilation, weather shielding, and protecting the entry door itself |
People often shop for hurricane impact storm doors as if they were one product; in practice these are two products that solve different problems, and many homes use both: an impact entry door as the protected opening, with a storm or screen door in front for airflow. If your goal is passing inspection and dropping the shutters routine, the impact door is the one the code counts.
Doors Are Half the Picture
Complete the Building Envelope
Doors are half of the opening-protection picture. We also handle:
Hurricane Impact Windows
The full window side of the envelope, covered on our hurricane impact windows page.
Storm Doors
Secondary doors for ventilation and entry protection, with dedicated pages for each city we serve.
Choosing Between French & Sliding Doors
Our guide comparing impact-rated French doors and sliding patio doors walks through layout, ventilation, and space trade-offs.
If you are not sure which opening to protect first, call (561) 517-9399 and we will walk the property with you.
Wind Mitigation Credits
Insurance Credits and Everyday Benefits
Impact doors count as opening protection under Florida law, which requires insurers to offer premium credits for wind mitigation. Full opening protection, doors included, is what the wind mitigation inspection documents for your carrier; an impact window project that leaves an unprotected slider misses part of the credit. An aging non-rated entry door is one of the most common reasons homes lose those credits at inspection. State programs supporting wind-mitigation upgrades and Florida's home-hardening sales-tax exemption have also applied to impact doors; we will confirm which currently apply to your project during the estimate.
The daily benefits are the same ones that sell impact windows, concentrated on the busiest opening in the house. Multipoint locks and laminated glass resist forced entry at the door burglars actually try first. Low-E impact glass on sliders cuts the biggest solar heat load in most floor plans. The interlayer quiets street noise through the thinnest part of the wall, and UV filtering slows fading on the floors that face the slider.
Opening Protection by Law
What the Building Code Says About Exterior Doors
Florida's windborne debris regions require opening protection on exterior doors the same way they do windows: every glazed door in new construction or replacement work must be impact-rated or protected by an approved covering. Palm Beach County follows the standard Florida Building Code rather than the stricter High-Velocity Hurricane Zone rules of Miami-Dade and Broward, but the requirement stands, and inspectors check door assemblies against their product approvals just as closely.
The local history explains why. When Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jeanne crossed Palm Beach County three weeks apart in 2004, failed sliding glass doors and blown-in entry doors caused much of the interior damage in homes built before the 2002 code updates. Our crews install impact doors across West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Jupiter, and the surrounding communities, and we handle permitting directly with each municipality's building department. When you compare hurricane door contractors, ask each one for the product approval paperwork on the exact assembly they quote; the paperwork, not the sales pitch, is what the inspector checks.
FAQ
Common Questions About Impact Doors
What is the difference between impact doors and hurricane doors?
Are French doors safe in a hurricane?
Do impact doors need shutters?
Can sliding glass doors be impact-rated?
Do hurricane-rated doors improve home security?
Will impact doors lower my insurance premium?
How long does impact door installation take?
How long do impact doors last?
Protect the Biggest Opening in the House First
Call (561) 517-9399 or send the contact form and we will schedule your free on-site measurement.
Impact-rated entry, French, and sliding glass doors installed by Innovative Storm Defense's own licensed crews, permits handled with your municipality, and every project covered by our lifetime guarantee.