We talk mostly about high security doors in our office. After all, that’s what our clients are primarily interested in. And to be fair, they offer the most options for customization, from covering options to state-of-the-art technology to larger than life pivot doors. There’s no shortage of ways we can create one-of-a-kind security doors for our clients.
What is sometimes overlooked in the initial discussion with potential clients is custom security windows.
It doesn’t seem nearly as exciting or enticing to discuss windows. To most homeowners, windows are merely a necessity — something to keep the weather out and let light into the house. They’re just panes of glass, right? Why bother putting much thought into them?
While that’s a perfectly understandable thought process, we don’t entirely agree. Windows vary greatly in terms of features, energy efficiency, functionality, and of course, security.
Here’s why you should consider custom security windows for your home.
Reducing Risk with Custom Security Windows
Some of our clients are very concerned about security, while others are mostly concerned about the beauty of the actual product. The reasons behind each of these scenarios are very different for everyone, but we’ve always been able to accommodate our clients no matter what the case may be.For those who are primarily concerned about their security (or most importantly: their family’s security), we begin the discussion with custom security doors. This makes the most sense because that’s where intruders typically start. 
The Front Door
Statistically speaking, someone who is illegally trying to enter your home will do so in the easiest way possible, and most of the time, that’s through an unlocked door (they often start at the front door). Whether the intruder is interested in your valuables or has more sinister intentions of finding you, they’re not going to want to draw attention to themselves and alert you to their presence. Therefore, they’ll probably do something simple like check the doorknob first to see if they can turn it.If the door is locked, they might consider kicking it in, which isn’t actually that difficult to do in many cases. Most regular residential doors aren’t very fortified — they can either be easily picked, or penetrated with a couple hard kicks with the sole of your shoe. Not that we expect all intruders to be able to kick in a door, but depending on how determined they are, they might try.Intruders are actually far more likely to attempt to kick in the door than to try and break a window. For starters, neighbors are typically less concerned with one loud thud than they are with glass shattering. The other major concern for the intruder is that they could injure themselves on the glass shards, which can either impair their ability to commit the crime, or leave behind DNA evidence that they were there. However, this is all assuming that the intruder who is trying to gain access to your home is there to simply rob you. And maybe if you’re not concerned with your own personal safety in the way that others have to be, sticking to security doors is fine. But if you’re a person who has been threatened in the past, or lives in the public eye and travels with a security team, custom security windows are the next step in turning your home into a stress-free Sanctuary™.
Impenetrable Glass in a Steel Frame
Some of our clients fly under the radar, or have managed to live relatively sane, normal lives even though they’ve achieved a degree of fame. Sometimes, they’re doing their best to shield their families from the chaos and allow them to live normally, even though they cannot partake in it themselves. Many others haven’t been afforded that particular luxury. Actresses, musicians, and elite sports stars who have become household names must often take extra security measures to ensure their safety. These people aren’t worried about someone trying to steal their “stuff.” Perhaps on the periphery, they’re as concerned as anyone else would be about such things, but some of our clients have been stalked, received actual death threats, and themselves and their families have been hounded by paparazzi.These particular clients are not only interested in high security doors and convenient technology options we can add to them, but with custom security windows to prevent anyone from trying to get into the house in any fashion. They already know an intruder can’t break in through the door — we’ve made sure of that — but if the next step is trying to break a window, they want to make sure that’s not possible either.
Security glass is only designed to stop man-made intrusions, and of course, anyone trying to break into your home can change the method as he deems it necessary. If he can’t drill through the lock, maybe he’ll start hitting it with a hammer, or try and shoot through the glass. If he tries to break the glass itself, he’ll probably hit it repeatedly in the same location in an attempt to weaken it to the point of completely breaking. Without getting into the technical details of it, our highest grade security glass actually gets harder as you hit it, which makes it more difficult (if not impossible) to get through. Installing impenetrable security windows into your luxury home means that you don’t have to be concerned with someone taking a blunt object to the glass, trying to drill through the lock, or bust apart the frame.
Why Our Security Windows Beat the Competition
We’re not the only company in the country who manufactures custom security windows. There are hundreds of companies selling products they call “security” windows — but we can guarantee you that there’s no one else making what we’re making. Here’s what sets our security windows apart from the competition.
Hurricane Certified
Given our primary location — South Florida — hurricane preparedness is of particular interest for us. Both the state of Florida and Miami-Dade County are very invested in making sure that structures are able to withstand the gale force winds, flying objects, and flooding that come with hurricanes. Therefore, they’ve created standards for hurricane windows and doors that help homeowners rest just a bit easier. These tests are meant to check the rigidity of the glass under three major types of pressure: wind, water, and physical force of objects. Hurricane certified windows must pass the following tests:
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- Wind: They must be able to withstand up to 75 feet per square inch of air pressure.
- Water: They must withstand prolonged and forceful water pressure, which cannot allow seepage through the glazing.
- Flying Objects: They must be able to withstand a two-by-four (2×4) hitting them at 50 feet per second in two different places.
Hurricane certified windows are required in South Florida. We wouldn’t be able to sell a single window in our hometown if we hadn’t obtained hurricane certification. However, in order to obtain said certification, we only had to make a few adjustments in the glazing to waterproof it. The window itself was able to pass the wind and flying object tests on its own. There are very few companies creating hurricane certified windows that are also custom security windows. Sometimes, we speak to clients who purchased hurricane certified windows believing that they’d also be security windows, and we have to inform them that that’s not necessarily the case. The hurricane certification test only requires the window to withstand one hit with a two-by-four, but security windows need to be much tougher. Security windows must be able to stay intact with far more force coming at it — like a hammer, an axe, or a drill.
Furthermore, humans who are determined to break into a residential space in this manner will be constantly trying to find a new way to get around the roadblocks. His methods will evolve as he tries and fails. By contrast, a hurricane isn’t an intelligent being. It’s just going to pick up whatever is in its path and throw it indiscriminately. All of our windows are hurricane certified because we need them to be, but everything we make is still rooted in security standards. The major difference is that our custom security windows will also stand up to a hurricane.
Ballistic Properties
When we say impenetrable glass, we really mean it. Nothing is going to get through them. (Check out our windows page for a demonstration involving two fully grown men, an axe, and a sledgehammer. Spoiler alert: the security window doesn’t break.)Many of our clients bristle at the idea of bulletproof windows for their home, and we understand that. We don’t want to believe that anything like that could happen to us — that anyone would come around with a firearm and try to shoot at us. The reality of the situation is that some people do have to worry about it. As stated previously, some of our clients have received threats of physical violence and have been stalked. For them, having bulletproof security windows is non-negotiable.But for the vast majority of people, the ballistic properties of our residential security windows are simply a bonus. They’re glad to know that they have the protection, and assume they’ll never actually need it. Like the security features of our windows, the properties that make them bulletproof are of higher quality than most ballistic windows on the market. Bulletproof glass is often very thick and tinted green. To put it frankly, bulletproof security windows are typically ugly. No one would want to have them installed in their luxury home. Our bulletproof windows look the same as any other window — of course, they’re more expensive than the thicker, greener variety, but they’re elegant, sleek, and finished any way you want them to be. Whether you’re looking for fixed or casement windows, we can make whatever you’re looking for to fit the space. Most clients like to keep their security measures a secret, and our windows will fit that description nicely.
Italian Craftsmanship
The final differentiator that sets our custom security windows apart from our competition is the skilled craftsmanship of the Italian artisans who make them. One of the reasons we chose Italy as our home base for manufacturing is that they have an appreciation for designing luxury goods that we just can’t seem to master in the U.S. — and that’s not to say that Americans can’t make luxury goods. We obviously do. It’s just that Italians have been doing it for centuries. Italians are also used to custom jobs because everything there is a custom job. They don’t have “standard” sizes on their buildings because all the structures are old. One window opening might be 36 inches wide, and the one next to it might be 36.5 inches. That’s just the way it is for them. 
So when we ask them to create odd sizes (and shapes) of custom security windows, they don’t bat an eye. They’re totally on board.They take great pride in their work and are constantly striving to create the best product they can for our clients. In fact, they test and retest every single custom security window they make so they can ensure that it’s completely perfect before they ship it to its permanent home (wherever that may be — we ship all over the world).
Creating a Relaxing Sanctuary™
Custom security windows are the second piece of the trifecta in creating a completely fortified luxury home (doors being the first piece). And for those who want to complete it by fortifying the walls, we can do that too. If you’re in the state of Florida, our products will fulfill your need for hurricane certified windows (and doors, of course), and will in fact, provide better protection against flying objects than a regular hurricane certification would — even in High Velocity Hurricane Zones (HVHZs).And because of the nature of our triple layer impenetrable glass, your house will be quieter than you would have believed possible. You’ll be able to create a Sanctuary™ right in your own home, covered with Platinum Level Service to ensure that your custom security windows are always in optimal working order.To see how we can help you create the relaxing luxury home of your dreams, call us today! If you’re in the area, we’d love for you to make an appointment to visit our showroom. In the meantime, check out our common questions page for answers to questions we receive frequently. We look forward to hearing from you!
