What we install · Sliding Glass Doors
The Biggest Opening in the House Is the One Most Often Guessed At
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.
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
A product line that holds the number at eight feet and not at sixteen
Approvals are granted up to a maximum size. A slider that comfortably satisfies the pressure at a modest width may fall outside its own approval at a wide multi-panel span, and this is the single most common quiet substitution in the trade. The quote names a product family, the family is genuinely approved, and the specific unit going into the largest opening in the house is not covered at that size. Nobody notices until an inspector does, or until nobody notices at all.
What has to be established before a slider is ordered
- The clear span and panel configuration, measured rather than assumed.
- Whether the approval covers that configuration at that width.
- What is carrying the load above the opening.
- Whether the track and sill can be set to drain correctly.
- Floor level and threshold height, which decide the sill detail.
Why sliders behave differently from windows
A slider is a large, relatively flexible assembly held at its perimeter. Deflection across a wide span matters in a way it does not on a small fixed unit, and the anchoring schedule at the jambs is doing more work. That is why the approval limits tighten as the span grows rather than staying flat.
It is also the opening most exposed to water. Wind-driven rain against a wide rear elevation finds a poorly set sill quickly, and a slider that passed its pressure test can still leak if the pan and the drainage path were improvised on site. We treat the sill detail as part of the specification, not as a finishing step.
How we handle it
- 01Measure the structural opening, not the existing frame.
- 02Confirm the approval covers the actual width and panel count.
- 03Check the header and the substrate at the jambs before ordering.
- 04Set the sill for drainage and finish both sides of the opening.
Large sliders are the openings where we most often slow a job down. If the header is questionable or the jamb substrate will not take the anchoring schedule, that is a structural conversation before it is a window conversation, and having it after the units are on a truck is the expensive order of operations. On a Palm Beach house with a wide rear elevation onto a pool deck, this is usually the single largest line on the quote and it deserves the extra day.
Said plainly
Where we stop
We do not fit a slider into an opening we do not believe will carry it. If a structural repair is needed first, we will say so, and on some jobs that means an engineer before a window.
FAQ
Common questions
- Can I widen the opening while replacing the slider?
- Sometimes, and it is a structural question rather than a window question. Widening changes what the header carries and usually needs an engineer and a permit for the structural work as well as the glazing. It is worth asking early, because doing it during the replacement is far cheaper than doing it afterwards.
- Are impact sliders much heavier than what I have?
- Yes, noticeably. The laminated glass and heavier frames add weight, which is part of why the header and the anchoring are checked rather than assumed. It also affects how the panels roll, which is why the track has to be set properly rather than shimmed into approximate level.
- Will a wide slider still open easily?
- A correctly set impact slider rolls well. A badly set one does not, and the usual cause is a track that was not brought to true level across the full span. That is an installation quality issue, not a product limitation, and it is one of the reasons we do not subcontract the fitting.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 →
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 →
Impact Garage Doors
A double garage door is usually the biggest single opening in the building envelope. It is also the one clients most often leave off a window quote, because it does not feel like a window.
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.