How Impact-Resistant Windows Protect Your Home from Storms
These days, stormy weather seems to be growing in intensity. From torrential rains to harsh ice storms, tornadoes and hurricanes, extreme weather can put your home at risk. And one of the most vulnerable areas of your home are its windows. But it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Impact-resistant window glass is a highly effective way to ensure wind-tossed debris, large hail, and other storm-related damages bypass your home. Here’s why you should consider them when you’re ready for a window replacement.
Why Broken Glass and Stormy Weather Don’t Mix
Extreme weather and damaged windows are a dangerous combination to your home’s well-being. When window glass shatters in stormy weather, rain and ice can pour in, creating great damage from flooding, leaks and moisture damage.
In addition, gale-force wind can blow in, creating a pressure cooker between the air outside and inside your house. This pressure can be so great that it lifts your roof off and exposes your home to serious structural damage.
Impact-resistant windows are therefore essential to protecting your house, especially if you live in area of the country like Michigan, where weather extremes can create problems year-round.
Do You Need Impact-Resistant Windows?
For homeowners in storm-prone areas, it’s definitely smart to invest in impact-resistant windows. The greater Detroit area, including Ann Arbor, is prone to frequent, severe thunderstorms—which can spawn tornadoes and hail. Windy blizzard conditions can occur during the winter.
So if you live in this part of the state, choosing windows that stand up to harsh weather makes sense for preserving the integrity and value of your property.
What Makes an Impact-Resistant Window Work?
Wondering how window glass can be made to not shatter when struck by debris and hail? That’s a great question—and here’s the answer:
Unlike traditional windows, impact-resistant glass is created by a special technique that makes the glass more resilient when under pressure. These windows feature both tempered and laminated glass, with a powerfully strong polymer layer between the panes to deliver exceptional resistance to damage.
With this unique construction, the glass panes won’t easily break when struck, and they perform much better in extreme weather than traditional glass. Your windows will be much more likely to stay intact in spite of storm-tossed debris, keeping your home safe.
How Impact-Resistant Windows Benefit Your Home
We’ve already talked about how this type of weather-resilient window makeup prevents glass from breaking into shards when you’re dealing with high winds, hail, tornadoes and flying debris. But there are other benefits for using impact-resistant glass too:
Less need to storm-proof at the last minute
With impact-resistant windows, you won’t have to spend precious time before a storm rolls in to try to apply hurricane-proofing film or pieces of nailed-in plywood. That frees you up to make other preparations as needed, and shelter safely even if bad weather crops up unexpectedly.
Quieter, more peaceful home environment
When you replace old, outdated windows with today’s new window options with layers of impact protection, you get better insulation from sound too. Whether it’s noisy thundercracks during a storm, or just the everyday roar of traffic and lawncare equipment, your home will have better soundproofing—so you can relax in good weather and bad.
Better protection against unwanted intruders
Because impact-resistant windows are designed to be shatterproof when struck, they’re not only great against storms—but also against thieves. The compact, powerful construction of these windows ensures they are super difficult for intruders to use as entry points in your home, keeping you and your loved ones safer.
For lasting protection, choose Pella Windows
There are many windows on the market, but our team at John McCarter Construction prefers the impressive impact resistance offered by Pella. These windows are designed so that the interior polymer layer is extremely difficult to penetrate—so even in the rare case that the outer panes shatter, that inner layer will still be intact.
This means that Pella Windows give you super-strong resilience against extreme weather, accidental damage, and attempted break-ins.
Get Peace of Mind with Beautiful Impact-Resistant Replacement Windows
Ready to refresh your greater Detroit area home with gorgeous, lasting, impact-resistant windows? Precision installation by the right team will make all the difference. At John McCarter Construction, we know windows inside-out, and we’ll provide you with personalized, thorough service that gives you confidence in your home.
With Pella Windows, your home can find its perfect match for architecture and style, whether you own a Tudor, Victorian, Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Craftsman, Ranch, Cape Cod, or Troy Colonial. Just ask us, and we’ll guide you to a great selection to fit your home.
Reach out to us for your window replacement needs and enjoy peace of mind with Pella Impact-Resistant windows.
