Impact Doors & Windows in Coral Gables

Coral Gables calls itself "The City Beautiful," and it enforces that title more rigorously than almost any other municipality in Florida. Founded by George Merrick in the 1920s as a planned community with a unified Mediterranean architectural vision, Coral Gables maintains some of the most exacting aesthetic standards in the state. For homeowners replacing doors and windows, this means that the approval process goes far beyond the standard building permit. Every exterior modification visible from the street must pass through the Coral Gables Board of Architects, a design review body that evaluates the appearance, proportions, materials, and colors of proposed changes to ensure compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood character.

This dual-approval requirement, building code compliance through the building department and aesthetic compliance through the Board of Architects, makes Coral Gables impact door and window projects more involved than projects in most other Miami-Dade municipalities. But the result is a community where architectural integrity is preserved even as homes are upgraded with modern hurricane protection. Understanding both tracks of the approval process before you begin will save you significant time and frustration.

Mediterranean Revival Architecture and Impact Products

Mediterranean Revival is the predominant architectural style in Coral Gables, and it presents specific challenges for impact product selection. These homes feature arched door and window openings, decorative surrounds, barrel tile roofs, wrought-iron balconies, and thick stucco walls. The doors and windows are often deeply recessed into the wall, with reveals of four to eight inches that create distinctive shadow lines that the Board of Architects expects to be maintained.

Impact entry doors for Mediterranean Revival homes often feature decorative glass inserts with wrought-iron patterns sandwiched between the laminated glass layers. This construction maintains the traditional ironwork aesthetic while meeting full HVHZ impact testing requirements. Wood-clad aluminum frames are another popular choice in Coral Gables because they present a warm wood interior that complements the traditional architecture while the aluminum exterior resists the elements.

The Coral Gables Historic Preservation Board must approve changes to designated properties, and the standards are more stringent than for non-historic buildings.

For historically designated homes, the preservation approach generally requires that replacement windows and doors match the original units as closely as possible in profile, operation type, material appearance, and proportions. This does not mean you cannot install impact products. It means you must select products that replicate the look of the originals while meeting modern performance requirements. Several manufacturers produce historically sensitive impact product lines specifically for this purpose, with slim aluminum profiles that approximate the sight lines of original wood or steel windows.

Investment Considerations for Coral Gables Homes

Coral Gables homes are among the most valuable in Miami-Dade County, with median sale prices well above the county average. The homes tend to be larger, with more doors and windows per property, and the openings themselves are often larger than those in more modest neighborhoods. Arched tops, sidelites, transoms, and custom configurations add to the per-unit cost. A full-home impact door and window replacement in Coral Gables typically ranges from $40,000 to well over $100,000 depending on the size and complexity of the property.

While the investment is significant, the return is equally strong. Impact products protect a high-value asset, and Coral Gables buyers expect them. Real estate agents in the area consistently report that homes with full impact protection sell faster and command higher prices than comparable homes with hurricane shutters or no protection. For a detailed breakdown of costs by product type, see our cost guide.