If you’ve recently moved into a new home, you may be wondering whether or not its come installed with impact windows already. This is a major upgrade for any home in South Florida, so it’s only natural to wonder whether or not your new home comes with them already installed, or if you’re going to need them added yourself. That said, it may seem impossible trying to determine whether or not you have impact windows installed, as they look the exact same as typical single pane windows. Impact windows are made from a specially laminated piece of glass that has been made to withstand hurricane force winds upwards of 150 miles per hour, however fundamentally it appears identically to normal glass windows if you don’t know what to look for. Some of the telltale signs to be on the lookout for to tell whether you have hurricane windows or not include:
Listed As A Selling Feature
Before purchasing your home, the listing likely featured some of the major features of the home. Hurricane windows are a major selling point for any homeowner as it raises the value of the home significantly, so it’d likely be showcased, or mentioned during your tour of the home. Hurricane windows offer a variety of benefits on top of the protection offered against heavy storms, so it is typically worth mentioning.
Supplier’s Stamp
If impact windows weren’t mentioned in the listing for the home, you can always manually inspect the windows yourself to locate the supplier’s stamp or mark. Typically, brands will leave a sticker or mark in the corner of the glass noting important information (installer, approval date, etc.). However, keep in mind if the glass had to be custom cut for the project, it may not have this mark anymore.
Impact-Resistant Features
One last way to tell if your windows is impact-glass is to look for any obvious signs of the glass being impact-resistant rather than a standard single pane piece of glass. One way to do this is to look for your reflection. Hurricane glass is made using multiple pieces of glass to meet the requirements of hurricane resistant glass, which means when you look into a window you should have multiple instances of your reflection. Any less than one reflection likely means its standard glass.
Your new home didn’t have hurricane windows installed? No worries! The team here at The Window Guys has you covered. Simply contact us online or give us a call directly at (561) 598-6295 to learn more about how we can help you get new hurricane windows in your home!