Do Hurricane Impact Windows Add Value to Your Home?

Thinking about replacing your home’s windows with impactresistant windows, commonly referred to as hurricane-impact windows? Well, if you are anything like me you probably have a lot of questions. There is no question that hurricane-impact windows have a lot of great benefits, but are they worth the investment?

Before you pull the trigger and commit to spending tens of thousands of dollars you’ll want to take a deeper look into these benefits. You may be surprised to find out some of the benefits you’ve been told or read about impact-resistant windows are false.

Hurricane impact windows are designed to offer year-round protection from high winds, water intrusion, and intruders. They are capable of withstanding wind speeds up to 200 miles per hour. To put it into perspective a category 5 hurricane has wind speeds of 157 mph and higher. Much like auto safety glass, impact windows are made with laminated glass. When this type of glass breaks it produces spider web cracking instead of large shards of glass that can be sent flying. Impact windows are created with two panels of glass that are bonded with a clear ultra-strong interlayer of either polyvinyl butyral or ethylene-vinyl acetate. They are combined with a heavy-duty frame and have a special silicone glazing process to keep the glass from breaking away from its frame.

Benefits of Hurricane Impact Windows

Increased Protection

The most popular reason people take the plunge and have impact windows installed is for added protection. Whether it’s flying debris during a hurricane or a burglar attempting to break in impact windows are difficult to penetrate. Therefore, they add an additional layer of protection that standard windows cannot provide.

Ultraviolet Protection

In addition to making your home more energy-efficient hurricane impact windows can block up to 99% of UV rays penetrating your home. In turn, impact windows will protect your furniture, floors, walls and artwork from being affected by sunlight.

Appearance

Hurricane impact windows are just that, windows, they are clean, sleek and streamline. So there is no need to have accordion shutters flanking your windows year-round or having to keep the ugly metal hurricane panels up for extended periods of time. Plus, the days of sitting in a pitch-black home while a hurricane approaches and you lose power will be long gone.

Noise Reduction

There is no such thing as noise-canceling windows, but hurricane impact windows can greatly decrease the level of noise from the outside. So if your home backs to a busy road, business or school you can reduce the amount of outside noise by having impactresistant windows installed.

Final Thoughts

Hurricane impact windows have so many great benefits, but they are very costly. As a homeowner, it’s important to make sound decisions when investing any amount of money into your home.

Hurricane impact windows will certainly add value to a home, but that value may not be monetary.

If you decide to take the plunge and install hurricane impact windows make sure to hire a reputable company. Hiring a fly by night company that is “cheap” compared to the competition can turn into a nightmare. If you’re going to do it you want to make sure to do it right the first time.