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Impact doors are exterior doors tested as one complete unit, glass, frame and hardware together, to resist flying debris and hurricane wind pressure, so they protect the opening without shutters. This impact doors FAQ gives short, direct answers on approvals, replacement, cost, insurance, grants, installation and care for South Florida homes.
Each answer points to the page that covers the topic in depth. For the full overview in one place, start with our impact door guide for South Florida homes.
Impact Door Basics: What They Are and Which Type You Need
What are impact doors?
Impact doors, also called hurricane impact doors, are exterior doors built and tested as one system to stay closed when hit by wind-borne debris and then pushed and pulled by hurricane winds. They count as opening protection on their own.
USA Home Improvement installs impact doors for South Florida homes in entry, French, sliding, pivot and garage styles.
How do impact doors work?
Impact doors work because laminated glass and a reinforced frame act together. The glass is two or more layers bonded to a tough clear interlayer, usually PVB, that holds the broken pieces in place if debris cracks it.
The frame, locks, hinges or rollers, threshold and anchors keep the panel in the wall, so wind and rain stay out.
Is an impact door the same as a hurricane-rated door?
Not always. “Hurricane-rated” is used loosely and can mean a door rated only for wind pressure. An impact door has also passed a missile impact test.
A solid door may need only a pressure rating, but any glass in a door must be impact rated. Here is how to tell if your doors are hurricane rated.
What types of impact doors are there?
The main types are front entry doors, French doors, sliding glass doors, pivot doors and garage doors. The right type depends on how wide the opening is, how often you use it and how much glass you want. Our side-by-side comparison helps you choose the right impact door type for each opening in your home.
What is the best hurricane front door?
The best hurricane front door is an impact-rated door whose approval covers your opening size and the design pressure your home needs. Fiberglass, steel and aluminum impact entry doors are all available. Fiberglass resists dents and salt air, while steel is strong but can rust where its coating is damaged.
Glass inserts and sidelites must be impact rated too.
Approvals, Testing and Permits for Impact Doors
Do impact doors need Miami-Dade approval?
In Miami-Dade and Broward, yes. Both counties are in the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ), where a door needs a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance (NOA) or a Florida Product Approval valid in the HVHZ. Palm Beach County uses Florida Product Approval.
For the permit and inspection steps, read our guide to Miami-Dade impact door requirements.
How can I look up a door’s product approval?
Ask your installer for the approval number of every door quoted, then look it up. USA Home Improvement gives you the Florida Product Approval number for each door on request. Miami-Dade NOAs are published by Miami-Dade Product Control, and Florida Product Approvals are searchable by FL number on floridabuilding.org.
Check that the listing covers your door type, size and design pressure, and the HVHZ if you live in Miami-Dade or Broward.
How are impact doors tested?
Impact doors in the HVHZ pass three lab tests. TAS 201 fires a 9-pound 2×4 at the glass at 50 feet per second, as described in Intertek’s TAS 201 test overview.
TAS 202 sets the design pressure and checks air and water; TAS 203 cycles the door through thousands of pressure swings. Learn what impact door tests and ratings mean.
Are impact doors required in South Florida?
The Florida Building Code requires opening protection in the wind-borne debris region, which covers much of South Florida. Impact doors meet that rule with no work before a storm; approved shutters are the other option. Existing doors that were legal when installed can stay, but new and replacement doors must meet the current code.
Do I need a permit to install impact doors?
Yes. Replacing an exterior door with an impact door in South Florida needs a building permit and a final inspection. The contractor applies with the product approval documents, installs the door to the approval drawings, and the building department inspects the work and closes the permit.
Keep the closed permit with your approval and invoice for insurance.
Replacing Your Doors: Frames, Phases and Who Installs Them
Can I replace the door without replacing the frame?
Usually not. An impact door is approved as a complete system: panel, frame, hardware, threshold and anchoring, as shown in the approval drawings. Putting a new impact panel in an old frame normally matches no approval and is unlikely to pass inspection.
Plan on replacing the door and frame together, as one unit installed to its approval.
Can I replace one door now and the rest later?
Yes. Many homeowners start with the most exposed door, often a large sliding glass door or the garage door, and replace the rest over time. Keep in mind that a wind mitigation inspection rates the home by its weakest opening, so the full insurance credit usually comes only when every window and door is protected.
Do I need an impact garage door?
If your garage door has no impact rating, it is often the weakest opening on the house. It is the widest opening most homes have, and wind mitigation inspectors rate it with every other opening. A label that shows only a wind pressure rating is not an impact rating.
Compare our impact garage doors built for hurricanes.
Can I install impact doors myself?
Florida allows an owner-builder permit for your own home, but you then carry the responsibility for matching the approval and passing inspection. Anchors must follow the approval drawings exactly, and laminated panels are heavy to set plumb and seal. Most homeowners hire a licensed contractor; here is what to check before hiring a door installer.
Do impact doors come in custom sizes, styles and colors?
Yes. Impact doors are made to measure, with choices of frame color, tinted or Low-E glass, grids and hardware inside the approval. Ask before swapping locks or handles, because the approval covers the hardware that was tested.
Browse impact French doors for patios, impact sliding glass doors for pool decks and impact pivot doors for wide entrances.
Impact Door Cost, Insurance, Grants and Financing
How much do impact doors cost?
Impact door prices depend on the door type, the size and number of panels, the glass and hardware, the design pressure your opening needs, and any repairs to the opening.
A single entry door and a wide multi-panel slider are very different jobs, so one price for every door is not useful. See installed impact door prices by door type.
Do impact doors lower homeowners insurance?
They can. Section 627.0629 of the Florida Statutes requires insurers to offer credits for wind mitigation features, including opening protection. The credit is based on a wind mitigation inspection that rates every window, door and the garage door, so one unprotected opening can hold the rating back.
See other upgrades that can cut your insurance premium.
Can My Safe Florida Home help pay for impact doors?
It may. The state’s My Safe Florida Home program has offered eligible homeowners a free wind mitigation inspection and grants toward upgrades that include exterior doors and garage doors. Only work the program approves after the inspection qualifies, so do not sign a contract first.
Funding and eligibility change, so check the program site before you plan around a grant.
Can I finance impact doors?
Yes. Financing, if available, comes through independent third-party providers that may offer qualified homeowners $0 down options, 0% interest plans and loans up to $100,000, with fast approval and a soft credit check. PACE is also available for eligible projects as long-term, fixed-rate financing; rates and terms vary by program and location.
Review our payment plans for impact door projects to see what is available.
Impact Door Installation: Timing and Install Day
How long does impact door installation take?
Install day is short: on USA Home Improvement projects, installation averages 1 to 2 days. Manufacturing comes first and takes about 6 to 8 weeks, depending on the project scope, and the whole process takes about 3 months from start to finish, though it can vary.
Most of the project time comes before install day: permit review in your city and fabrication, because impact doors are made to your measurements. Plan the work well before hurricane season, when installer schedules fill up.
What happens on installation day?
The crew removes the old door and frame and checks the opening for rot or damage. The new frame is set, anchored and sealed following the approval drawings, then the panels, locks and weatherstripping are adjusted so the door closes and seals properly. Afterward, the building department inspects the work and closes the permit.
Living With Impact Doors: Noise, Energy, Security and Care
Do impact doors reduce outside noise?
Yes, compared with standard glass doors. Laminated glass and its interlayer dampen traffic, lawn equipment and aircraft noise, and good seals help too.
How much quieter a room gets depends on the glass package, the door type and the walls around it, so compare doors by their STC or OITC ratings rather than by a percentage.
Are impact doors energy efficient?
Impact doors can be, if you choose the right glass and frame. Low-E coatings reduce the heat coming through the glass, which matters in a Florida summer, and tight seals cut drafts.
Laminated glass alone is not automatically efficient, so check the NFRC label for the U-factor and solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC). Lower numbers mean less heat gets in.
Do impact doors stop break-ins?
Impact doors make forced entry much harder. Laminated glass may crack when struck, but the interlayer holds it together, so an intruder cannot simply smash the glass and reach the lock. Reinforced frames and multi-point locks add strength.
No door is burglar-proof, though, and an impact door only helps when it is closed and locked.
Do impact doors keep water out during a hurricane?
Impact doors are tested for wind-driven rain as well as impact, and the approval shows the water rating. Sliding doors facing open water benefit most from a higher water rating and clear weep holes.
Impact doors are not designed or tested to hold back flood water or storm surge, which needs its own plan, such as flood insurance.
Can I open impact doors during bad weather?
Yes, impact doors open and close like standard doors for everyday use. When a storm is coming, keep every impact door closed and fully latched, because the door is tested and rated in its closed and locked position.
Lock both panels of a French pair, set every slider lock, and leave them closed until the storm passes.
Do impact doors block UV rays?
Mostly, yes. The interlayer in laminated glass filters most ultraviolet light, which slows the fading of floors, rugs and furniture. Eastman, maker of Saflex interlayers, explains this on its interlayer UV performance page.
Visible light and heat still cause some fading, which Low-E glass helps reduce.
How do I clean and maintain impact doors?
Clean the glass and frame with mild soap, water and a soft cloth, and rinse off salt if you live near the coast. Vacuum sliding door tracks so rollers do not grind on sand, keep the weep holes clear so water can drain, and lubricate locks, hinges and rollers only with what the manufacturer recommends.
When should an impact door be replaced?
Replace or repair an impact door when the glass is cracked, even if the interlayer still holds it, when seals have failed and water gets in, or when locks and rollers no longer work properly.
Cracked impact glass has lost much of its strength for the next storm, so have it replaced to the product’s approval.
Do impact doors come with a warranty?
Most impact doors come with two warranties: a manufacturer warranty on the door, glass and hardware, and an installer’s workmanship warranty on the installation. Terms and lengths differ by brand and company, so get both in writing with your quote and keep them with your product approval and closed permit.
Most USA Home Improvement jobs carry a 15-year warranty and a 1-year labor warranty, plus a transferable warranty.
Not sure where to start? Begin with the door you worry about most before a storm, usually the sliding glass door or the garage door, and plan the rest around it.
Call USA Home Improvement at (877) 554-6373 or request an estimate, and we will measure your openings and quote an approved door for each one.
USA Home Improvement is licensed (CGC1526707) and insured and has served Florida homeowners for more than 15 years.