Florida Keys Impact Windows

Impact Windows by Island

The Keys are one county but not one market. Each island permits, weathers, and builds differently, and our crews and materials come down US-1 the same way everything else does, so measure visits and installations are grouped into island-by-island trips. The notes below cover what changes at each stop; for frames, glass packages, and marine specs at full depth, read our Florida Keys hurricane protection guide.

Key West

In Key West's Old Town historic district, window replacement starts with HARC. Any exterior change, even one not visible from the street, needs a Certificate of Appropriateness, and staff first assess whether the existing windows are historic: original wood windows are expected to be repaired unless too deteriorated to save, while non-historic openings can take impact units in a period-appropriate profile. We prepare the HARC submission and spec the narrow sightlines Conch-house proportions call for. New Town and Stock Island homes skip the HARC step, and City of Key West permits go through the city's own building department, separate from Monroe County's.

Key Largo

Key Largo and Tavernier are unincorporated Monroe County, so permits file with the county building department rather than a city hall. The exception worth knowing is Ocean Reef: the private community at the island's north end runs its own architectural review, with plans approved by its committee alongside the county permit and outside contractors registered with the community before work begins. We handle both layers and schedule around community rules. Elsewhere, wide oceanfront glass — dive lodges, waterfront picture walls — rides on marine-grade hardware; our salt-air corrosion guide explains why the hardware spec matters as much as the glass.

Islamorada

Islamorada is incorporated — the Village of Islands, spanning Plantation Key and the Matecumbes — and issues its own building permits through the village's building services, not the county. Sport-fishing homes here favor big glass on both exposures, Atlantic on one side and Florida Bay on the other, and a product's design-pressure rating drops as the opening grows, so the rating that counts is the one at your actual opening size. We verify that number from the approval documents before anything is ordered, then file with the village and see the inspections through.

Marathon

Marathon runs its own building department, so city addresses permit through Marathon rather than Monroe County. Much of the Mid-Keys housing stock is mid-century and ground-level, where jalousie and awning openings are still common and an impact retrofit is the standard upgrade; Irma rebuilding drove wide impact window adoption across Marathon, so this is the project your neighbors have already done. We serve the full Mid-Keys around Marathon, including Duck Key and Grassy Key, and confirm which permit counter each address files through before your quote goes out.

Big Pine Key & the Lower Keys

Irma came ashore at Cudjoe Key, Mile Marker 23, as a Category 4 hurricane with 130 mph sustained winds, and the Lower Keys — Big Pine, Summerland, Cudjoe, Sugarloaf — still carry the rebuilt, elevated housing stock to show for it. These islands are unincorporated, so permits run through Monroe County. On stilt and elevated homes, openings sit up where wind exposure is most severe, exactly the conditions impact-rated windows and doors are pressure-tested for. For ground-level homes the bigger threat is storm surge, which windows do not address; the FAQ below covers that distinction honestly.

Impact Doors for the Florida Keys

We install all 6 impact door styles — choose the best fit for your home: