Architectural impact windows
Arches, half rounds, circles and trapezoids — the shapes that make a Miami elevation look like itself.
Specifications
How it works
- Shapes
- Half round, segment arch, circle, oval, octagon, triangle, trapezoid
- If it is in your elevation, it can usually be made. What it cannot be is ordered from a shelf.
- Operation
- Almost always fixed
- Shaped units rarely open, so plan the ventilation of that room around the rectangular openings.
- Lead time
- Longer than standard units
- Non-standard manufacturing takes longer, and if one shaped unit is holding up your job we will tell you at the quote rather than at the end.
- Cost
- The highest per unit of any type
- Curved frames, and curved grids or curved glass if you want them, add up quickly. Worth knowing before you specify three of them.
What to ask for
- Impact rating
- Large Missile — TAS 201, 202 and 203
- The Miami-Dade test protocol.
- Design pressure (DP)
- On the NOA, per model and per size
- The pressure the unit is approved to take.
- Product approval
- Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance
- The document that makes the unit legal here.
The exact figures come from the Notice of Acceptance of your model at your size. We give you yours with the quote.
Why these are worth doing properly
Resolves the gables, entrances and pediments that a rectangle cannot
Combines with rectangular units into one composition
Frequently the last unprotected opening left in an otherwise finished house
Available impact rated, which many homeowners assume it is not
Made to the exact geometry of your opening rather than approximated
High aesthetic return on a small number of units
About architectural shapes
Can an arched window really be impact rated?
Yes. Shaped units are made and approved like any other, and the fact that many homeowners assume otherwise is why so many arches are still the weak point of an otherwise protected house.
Why is the lead time longer?
Because nothing about it is standard. The frame is made to your geometry, and if you want curved grids or curved glass, that is a further step. We build the wait into the schedule we give you instead of discovering it later.
Do I have to replace the arch if I replace the window below it?
For safety and for the insurance credit, yes: an unprotected opening is an unprotected opening whatever its shape. It is also the moment when replacing it is cheapest, since it goes on the same permit and the same order as the rest of the house.
Other types in the same line
If this is not the one you were after, these are the ones next to it.
Get a price for your openings
Every quote is measured. That is the only way the numbers mean anything.
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