Impact Doors in Port St. Lucie, FL

Impact doors close the gap that many storm-protected houses still have. Owners in Port St. Lucie often install impact windows or shutters and leave the original front door, a hollow or lightly built unit that was never tested against wind pressure. During a hurricane, a door is pushed inward by the wind for hours. If it bows, the latch lets go, or the glass in its sidelite breaks, the house is open to the storm just as surely as through a broken window.

What makes a door impact rated

An impact door is tested as a complete system: slab, frame, hinges, lock points and glass together. Most use multi-point locks that engage at the top and bottom of the door as well as at the handle, so the slab cannot flex away from the frame. Any glass in the door or sidelites is laminated. The whole assembly carries a Florida Product Approval listing its design pressure and whether it is rated for inswing or outswing.

Door types

• Single entry doors in fiberglass or steel, with or without decorative impact glass.
• Entry systems with sidelites or a transom, where every glass panel is laminated and tied into one frame.
• French doors, in pairs, opening to a lanai or pool area.
• Side and utility doors into the garage or laundry, often the forgotten opening.

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Inswing or outswing

Outswing doors are pushed into their frame by storm pressure, so they tend to reach higher ratings. Inswing doors are what most homes already have and what most people expect. Changing direction affects the porch, the landing and sometimes the threshold height, so we look at the approach before recommending one.

Insurance credit for solid doors

The wind mitigation form treats solid doors differently from glass. The top opening protection rating asks for every opening, doors included, to be impact rated. If the glass openings are protected but the solid entry and garage doors cannot be verified as wind-rated, the house drops to a lower level. A rated door with paperwork you can hand to the inspector removes that question.

Permit

In Port St. Lucie a door replacement goes on the same exterior door and window permit as windows, with a layout plan and product approval. If you are widening the opening, for example to fit double doors where a single door was, that is a structural opening permit with plans signed and sealed by a Florida-licensed engineer or architect.