Hurricane-rated windows, entry doors and sliding glass doors - measured, permitted, installed and inspected by a licensed Florida general contractor.
Visions to Reality Inc. replaces windows and exterior doors with hurricane-rated impact units across Fort Lauderdale and South Florida. As a Florida certified general contractor, licence CGC1539602, the same company measures the openings, pulls the permit, installs the units and stands in front of the inspector - no subcontracted middle layer to chase.
Most of our work is residential - homes, townhouses and condominium units where the original aluminium windows have reached the end of their life. We also take on commercial work: storefronts, offices, rental portfolios and association-managed buildings. Our licence covers both, though commercial and association projects carry an extra approval step before a permit can be pulled.
If you are weighing this up for a property outside Fort Lauderdale, we work throughout Broward County, Miami-Dade County and Palm Beach County.
A house is only as protected as its weakest opening, so we quote the building as a whole.
Laminated glass bonded to an interlayer in a reinforced frame - single hung, horizontal roller, casement, awning, picture and fixed units, sized to your openings. The glass may crack under a debris strike, but the interlayer holds the pane in the frame. That is what keeps the envelope sealed and the roof from lifting under pressure change.
Front and back doors built to the same impact standard, with reinforced frames, multi-point hardware and the usual glazing options. On most houses the entry door is both the most visible upgrade and one of the more vulnerable openings.
For patios, courtyards and rear elevations, where a wide glazed opening runs straight into the question of how it performs in a storm. Impact-rated units keep the look without leaving that opening dependent on shutters.
The largest opening on a great many South Florida homes, and the one most often left original when the windows get replaced. This is where anchoring matters most: a large slider carries a serious wind load into the surrounding structure.
The point of an impact assembly is to stop the building envelope being breached. Once wind gets inside through a broken window or a failed door, internal pressure rises sharply and the damage stops being about the opening - it becomes about the roof. Impact units are tested to resist wind-borne debris and to stay in their frames when struck.
The same laminated construction that resists a flying roof tile also resists a crowbar. Breaking the outer pane does not produce an opening, because the interlayer stays bonded to the frame - a benefit that applies every day, not only during a named storm.
The interlayer damps sound transmission as a side effect of how it is built. Customers on arterial roads or near flight paths usually notice within the first week. It will not make a house silent, but it is the benefit people mention most often once the job is done.
Insulated frames and modern glazing reduce heat transfer, so the cooling system cycles less. In a climate where air conditioning runs most of the year that is a meaningful difference - though how much you save depends on your existing windows and system, so we will not put a number on it.
Permitted work everywhere in South Florida, and the three counties do not handle it identically. Knowing which rules apply at your address is part of the job.
Broward enforces some of the strictest wind-load requirements in the state, and every opening must be engineered and permitted to meet them. More on impact windows and doors in Broward County.
Miami-Dade runs its own product-approval system on top of the Florida Building Code, so every unit needs a valid Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance. A window approved elsewhere in Florida is not automatically approved here - an expensive thing to discover late. More on impact windows and doors in Miami-Dade County.
From beachfront West Palm Beach to inland Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach, wind-load requirements vary with distance from the coast. We permit to whatever applies. More on impact windows and doors in Palm Beach County.
On site, most homes are finished in one to three days. The longer part of the schedule happens before anyone arrives: manufacturing and permitting typically add six to ten weeks, because impact units are built to your openings rather than taken off a shelf.
What moves that timeline:
Practical advice: order well ahead of the season. Lead times are at their worst exactly when everyone decides they want the work done.
We do not publish prices - a genuine number depends on your openings, and quoting one without seeing them would be guesswork. What actually moves an estimate:
The estimate is free and itemised, so you can see which openings drive the number and decide whether to phase the work. Book a free estimate.
Code-approved impact windows and doors may support eligibility for wind mitigation credits. Claiming one needs a wind mitigation inspection, and that inspector needs documentation showing what was installed and what approvals it carries.
We hand that over at completion with the closed permit. What we cannot do is tell you what it will be worth. Availability and savings depend on the property, the insurer, the policy and the completed wind mitigation inspection - not on us. A contractor who quotes you a guaranteed premium reduction is telling you something they cannot know.
Based in Fort Lauderdale, working across all three South Florida counties. We are a service-area business - we come to you.
Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Parkland, Coral Springs, Plantation, Davie, Pembroke Pines, Sunrise, West Park
Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Hialeah, Aventura, Kendall
West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Jupiter, Wellington
Our own completed installations, not stock imagery. More work across every trade is on the project gallery.
Yes. Permit expediting is handled completely in-house. All hurricane-rated impact window and door installations are fully permitted and inspected as required by your local South Florida building department.
Most homes are completed in one to three days once the windows arrive on-site. However, manufacturing and engineering permits typically add six to ten weeks before installation, so we always recommend ordering well ahead of hurricane season.
Code-approved impact windows and doors frequently make you eligible for wind mitigation credits. Actual financial savings depend on your specific carrier, policy, and a completed wind mitigation inspection. We provide all documentation your inspector will need right after installation.
Impact windows are permanent - the glass and frame are the protection, so there is nothing to put up when a storm is forecast and nothing to store afterwards. Shutters cost less up front but must be deployed each time, which is a real problem if you travel or rent the property out.
Yes - impact-rated entry doors, French doors and sliding glass doors. Doors are often the weakest opening on a house, so replacing windows while leaving an original slider in place leaves the obvious gap unaddressed.
Yes. Our Florida certified general contractor licence CGC1539602 covers commercial as well as residential work - storefronts, offices, condominium associations and rental properties. These usually involve an extra approval step before permitting.
We measure every opening and give you an itemised estimate, no obligation. Licensed, insured and permitted - licence CGC1539602.
Prefer to read up on us first? Here is who we are, and here is our work.
