What we install · Glazing Into Existing Frames
Sometimes the Frame Stays and Only the Glass Changes
Where the existing frames are structurally sound and an approval exists for glazing into them, replacing only the glass is cheaper, faster and less disruptive than a full replacement.
Give us the address. In this county the address decides the pressure, the review, and often the price — before the window does.
Not HVHZ
Palm Beach uses statewide approval, not a Miami-Dade NOA
Still required
The county sits in the wind-borne debris region
Our crews
We measure, we schedule, and our own people install
Licensed
A licensed Florida general contractor
The option that is rarely mentioned because it is the smaller sale
Retrofit glazing genuinely does not suit every building, and the honest reason it is under-offered is not always technical. It is a smaller job. A full replacement is the larger sale, and a contractor with no reason to raise a cheaper alternative frequently does not raise it. Where the frames are sound and an approval exists, it is the right answer and it is worth asking any contractor directly why it has not been mentioned.
What has to be true for this to work
- The existing frames are sound, square and properly anchored.
- An approval exists for that glazing in that frame system.
- The frame can take the thickness and weight of laminated glass.
- The perimeter seal and drainage still function.
- Corrosion has not compromised the anchoring.
Where it comes up most in this county
Palm Beach County has a large stock of mid-century and later apartment and low-rise condominium buildings, particularly through the coastal corridor. Many were built with aluminum frame systems that are still perfectly sound even though the glazing in them is original and unrated.
On those buildings retrofit is often the practical answer, and it has a second advantage: the exterior changes far less. Where an association or a municipal reviewer is resistant to a visible change across a whole elevation, glazing that leaves the frames in place is a much easier proposal to get approved.
How we handle it
- 01Inspect the frames honestly before proposing this at all.
- 02Confirm an approval covers the specific retrofit.
- 03Reglaze, reseal and confirm drainage still works.
- 04Say plainly where it does not apply rather than stretching it.
We inspect first and tell you which it is. On some buildings it applies across the whole elevation, on some across part of it, and on plenty it does not apply at all. A mixed answer is the most common one and it is perfectly workable — retrofit where the frames are good, replace where they are not.
Said plainly
Where we stop
This is not a cheaper route around bad frames. Where the frames are corroded, out of square or poorly anchored, retrofit glazing is not a lesser option, it is not an option, and we will not present it as one.
FAQ
Common questions
- Is retrofit a compromise?
- For protection, where the approval applies and the frames are sound, no. It is a different scope, not a lesser standard. Where the frames are not sound it is not a compromise either — it is simply the wrong solution.
- Will it save much?
- It varies by building, but it removes the frame, the anchoring, the stucco returns and the interior finishing from the job. That is a large share of the cost and most of the disruption.
- Can it be mixed with full replacement?
- Yes, and on a building that is not uniform that is usually the sensible plan. Applying one approach across a mixed building is how money gets wasted at one end and quality gets compromised at the other.
Palm Beach specifics
You Are Not in the HVHZ
The High Velocity Hurricane Zone is Miami-Dade and Broward. It is not Palm Beach. Your openings are governed by statewide Florida Product Approval, which is a wider field, and knowing that changes what you should be quoted.
Read more →
The Debris Region
The second mistake in this county is the opposite of the first. Being outside the High Velocity Hurricane Zone is not being outside the requirement — Palm Beach County sits in the wind-borne debris region, and openings need protecting.
Read more →
Design Review on the Island
The Town of Palm Beach reviews the appearance of exterior work, and several other municipalities in the county run their own review. Where that applies, the design question is settled before the code question, and the order is not negotiable.
Read more →
The Western Communities
Move inland from the coast and the calculated pressures fall while the houses get larger. That combination changes the economics of a job here more than anything else in the county.
Read more →
How We Work Here
We are based in Broward and we work throughout Palm Beach County. That is worth stating plainly, along with what it does and does not mean for how a job runs.
Read more →
More what we install
Impact Windows
The core product, and in this county the one most often over-specified. Palm Beach is outside the High Velocity Hurricane Zone, so the approved field is wide — and the job is choosing correctly inside it rather than defaulting to the most expensive label.
Read more →
Sliding Glass Doors
Sliders are the largest glazed openings in most Palm Beach homes and the ones where a size-based approval limit is most likely to be exceeded. They are also where the structural question above the opening gets skipped.
Read more →
Impact Entry Doors
An approved entry door is an assembly. The slab, frame, hinges, lock, threshold and glazing are approved together, and changing one part outside the approval invalidates the whole thing.
Read more →
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.