If you live in Florida, you want to look for hurricane proof homes as much as possible. Hurricanes are a consistent threat for Florida homeowners every hurricane season, which runs from June 1st through November 30th for our state.
This is the time of year when ocean waters are warm enough to make hurricane formation easy. According to the Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), “these dates were selected to encompass the majority of Atlantic tropical cyclone activity (over 97%).”
That’s right, tropical cyclones do happen outside of the official hurricane season, but they’re rare.
While the Florida Building Code (FBC) sets forth structural requirements for homes to ensure that they’re hurricane resistant, some older homes might be missing key hurricane protection measures.
Or, a home may have aging windows that are in dire need of replacement because the old windows have faults that keep them from opening or closing easily.
In either case, impact windows can be the perfect solution for creating a hurricane proof home.
Why Should I Upgrade for a Hurricane Proof Home Now?
If Hurricane Season doesn’t start until June, why should you upgrade your home with impact windows now? As of the time of this writing, it’s still January: there’s still February, March, April, and May to go before Hurricane Season begins.
First, as noted by AOML, the majority of tropical cyclones happen during hurricane season, not all cyclones. There’s always the chance of an out-of-season storm, though a very small one.
Second, hurricanes aren’t the only hazards that impact windows can protect you from. Making a hurricane proof home with impact windows can also help you prevent damage from other hazards such as:
- Flying objects. Flying objects like golf balls, baseballs, or even basketballs are a common sight in neighborhoods that frequently end up hitting people’s homes. Impact windows can shrug off these minor accidental impacts with ease, preventing the need to call for window replacement every time Billy down the street hits a window-shattering home run,
- Hail. Believe it or not, but hailstorms do happen in Florida from time to time. In 2025, there was a YouTube video posted showcasing a major hailstorm that hit central Florida. Impact windows are able to deflect hits from hail without breaking. This prevents needing to replace your windows and can protect the inside of your home from water damage and impacts by hail, too.
- Break-ins. One of the biggest dangers a home can face is break-in attempts by a would-be criminal. According to data cited by Safehome, there are roughly 35,652 burglaries in Florida every year, or one per 153 people in Florida. While that’s below the national average, it’s still cause for concern. A common entry point for burglars is by breaking windows or glass doors. Impact windows are more resistant to breaking, requiring much more time and effort to breach than non-impact windows. This can buy valuable time or even make a would-be intruder quit.
These are just a few of the potential hazards that a more hurricane-proof home would be better protected from.
A final consideration of why you should make the switch to impact windows and doors for your home sooner rather than later is that it can take weeks or even months to get new windows and doors installed.
Why Can It Take Months for Impact Windows & Doors to Get Installed?
In any impact window or door installation project, there are several key hurdles to getting the work done:
- Measuring the project. The installer needs to take precise measurements of your home to ensure that they can get the right size windows for your home.
- Signing an agreement. The installer needs to get a written agreement in place for your window installation before they can put in window orders.
- Permit submission. The contractor/installer submits a permit with your local municipality describing the planned work in detail so the installation can happen without interruption.
- Order placement. The installer places an order for windows and doors to be made by the manufacturer you chose.
- Product manufacturing. The manufacturer begins making your windows to the specifications provided. This step may be delayed if the manufacturer has a long production queue when they receive the order.
- Quality control checks. The manufacturer checks the windows to ensure that they’re free of any major defects that would impact their viability or appearance. The installer will likely repeat these checks on receiving the windows and doors. Any major defects may require the windows/doors to be remade from the beginning.
- Shipment of the products. The finished windows and doors are packed up and loaded for delivery to the installer (or directly to your home, in some cases).
- Arrangement of labor to complete the work. The installer needs to provide a work crew to handle the installation.
- Weather delays. Inclement weather conditions may cause a delay in installation, as workers need good weather conditions to do the work safely and prevent potential issues.
Some of these steps take longer to clear than others. The measurements, agreement signing, permit submission, and order placement often get done on the same day or within a day or two of each other. Meanwhile, manufacturing the windows and doors is often the longest step of the process, especially for some of the more popular window brands with a high business volume.
To prevent delays, some window installers use outsourced labor to handle their installation work. However, Karoly Windows uses 100% in-house labor instead. While outsourcing may be faster, it makes quality control nearly impossible. So, we only use our own employees to put in windows, because that lets us ensure strict quality control for our customers.
When you talk to a window installation specialist about getting a quote for new impact windows to hurricane proof your home, they should be able to give you a rough estimate of how long it should take to get your new windows installed.
How Do Impact Windows Make a Home Hurricane Proof?
While impact windows alone won’t make a home hurricane proof, they are vital for completing your home’s hurricane protection. This is because of how wind pressure acts on the structure of your home.
As noted by McGill University’s Office for Science and Society warning against opening windows during major storms, “research showed those blasted apart houses were the result of wind blowing into open or broken windows.”
When wind enters your home, it starts pushing against the interior walls and ceiling of your home. One a day with a gentle breeze, this is a non-issue. However, when wind speeds are at hurricane-force levels, it quickly becomes dangerous.
With nowhere to go, high-speed winds would press against your interior walls and ceiling while the low-pressure zone opposite the direction of the oncoming wind would pull on your exterior walls and roof. This dramatically increases the risk of total structural collapse compared to the wind merely pressing against the outside walls of your home.
By replacing your exterior windows with impact-rated windows that won’t break during a storm, you can make your home much more hurricane proof than it would be with standard, non-impact windows.
Trying to Make a Hurricane Proof Home? Reach Out to Karoly Windows!
If you’re looking to hurricane-proof your home with impact windows, Karoly Windows & Doors is your best choice in Tampa Bay!
Beyond simply offering the best impact window brands, Karoly does something truly special: we focus on creating the best possible installation experience for our customers. At every step of the process, our guiding principle is: “Do Things the RIGHT Way.”
This is why we put so much effort into creating highly accurate price quotes that break down your window installation costs in a clear, easy to understand way. It’s why we only use our own employees to handle installation work. It’s why we make sure we cross every proverbial ‘t’ and dot every ‘i’ when putting in windows to ensure a smooth install that maximizes the benefits of your new windows.
If you’re looking for reliable impact windows to finish your hurricane proof home, reach out to Karoly Windows & Doors to request an impact window installation quote!
