How Does An Impact Window Work?

During a storm, the atmospheric pressure inside your home remains constant because the windows and doors remain closed. Outside, the pressure rises in relationship to the storm’s strength. The differential in pressure is what can become dangerous.

Any piece of flying debris can penetrate the window and when this happens (even with just one window) your entire residence is at risk for catastrophic damage.

This is why impact windows are constructed with laminated glass and sealed to an aluminum frame with structural adhesive. Impact windows and doors are designed to withstand flying debris. Laminating involves combining two pieces of annealed glass with a special resin sandwiched between. Unless you are looking at the glass from the side, an untrained person would not be able to tell that it’s laminated.

The next important element of the window or door is the frame design. Florida’s Best uses a reinforced meeting rail (see diagram) to prevent the sash from being blown in or out. A sash failure would cause the same amount of damage that could occur from a glass penetration.

The final key element impacting the window performance is the weather stripping. Significant amount of water damage can occur even if a window or door remains intact during a bad storm. There are two ways this can occur: First, in a severe storm with high winds, the window frame and glass will bend and create small exposed openings where water can penetrate. With storms that have high winds sustained for several hours, a home can literally take on hundreds of gallons of water.

The best line of defense for this type of problem is weather stripping. The type of weather stripping and whether it’s done on one side or two is very important. TM Window uses a top quality weather stripping material and seals both sides of all moveable parts.

In addition, how weather stripping materials hold up over time in Florida’s harsh environment is another factor to consider. Lower quality materials will shrink and crack and expose the window to failure. Good weather stripping also makes for a smoother opening and closing of the window and door.

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