Impact Entry Doors Miami: Front Door Hurricane Protection
Your front door is the first thing visitors see and one of the strongest components of your building envelope. Hurricane-rated entry doors combine curb appeal with Category 5 performance.
Your front door is the first thing visitors see and the primary access point to your home. In South Florida, it also needs to be one of the strongest components of your building envelope. An impact-rated entry door combines the aesthetic appeal of a traditional front door with the structural performance required to survive a direct hurricane strike. It protects your family, secures your home against break-ins, and qualifies you for meaningful insurance premium reductions.
This guide covers the full range of impact entry door options available to homeowners in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. You will learn how hurricane-rated front doors are built, what styles and configurations are available, how they meet the Florida Building Code, and what you should expect to pay for a quality product and installation.
How Impact Entry Doors Work
An impact entry door is engineered to keep the building envelope intact during a hurricane. Unlike a standard front door that can be blown in or torn off its hinges by extreme wind pressure, an impact entry door is built as a complete system where the door panel, frame, hardware, and anchoring all work together to resist wind loads and flying debris.
Entry doors with glass panels use the same laminated glazing technology found in all impact products: two panes of tempered or heat-strengthened glass bonded to a PVB or SGP interlayer. If a piece of wind-borne debris strikes the glass, the outer pane may crack, but the interlayer holds the broken fragments in place. The glass does not blow through into your home, and the pressure seal of the building envelope is maintained. This is critical because once wind enters a structure through a breached opening, the internal pressure can blow out walls and lift the roof off the building.
Entry doors must resist both positive and negative wind pressure. Positive pressure pushes the door inward when the wind strikes the front of the house. Negative pressure pulls the door outward when the wind passes over or around the structure, creating suction. The multi-point locking system is what keeps the door anchored to the frame under both types of load. Unlike a standard deadbolt that engages at a single point, a multi-point lock engages at the top, middle, and bottom of the doorframe simultaneously when you turn the handle. This distributes the wind force across the entire height of the door rather than concentrating it at one spot.
The frame is typically reinforced aluminum or steel-reinforced fiberglass, anchored to the structural wall opening with heavy-duty fasteners at the specific spacing dictated by the product's Miami-Dade NOA. The connection between the frame and the wall is just as important as the door itself, because a door that separates from the wall provides no protection regardless of how strong the panel is.
Benefits of Impact Entry Doors
Upgrading to an impact-rated entry door delivers benefits that extend far beyond hurricane season.
Permanent Hurricane Protection
Your front door is always ready for a storm. No shutters to deploy, no panels to bolt on, and no preparations to make when a hurricane warning is issued.
Superior Security
Multi-point locking hardware makes impact entry doors among the most burglary-resistant available. Laminated glass cannot be easily broken through, and multi-point engagement prevents kick-ins.
Insurance Savings
Your entry door is one of the openings evaluated during a wind mitigation inspection. Upgrading helps qualify for the full opening protection discount on your windstorm premium.
Noise Reduction
The laminated glass and tight frame seals significantly reduce exterior noise. If your home faces a busy street, the difference is immediately noticeable.
Energy Efficiency
Impact entry doors with Low-E glass and thermally broken or insulated frames reduce heat transfer, helping keep your home cooler and reducing air conditioning loads.
Curb Appeal & Home Value
Modern impact entry doors are available in a wide range of styles, finishes, and decorative options that transform your front elevation and add measurable resale value.
Your Front Door Sets the Tone
Impact entry doors are designed for any hinged door opening that serves as a point of entry or exit — front entries, side entries, garage-to-house connections, and townhome or condo unit doors all require the same level of HVHZ protection.
Best Applications for Impact Entry Doors
Impact entry doors are designed for any hinged door opening that serves as a point of entry or exit. The most common installations include:
- Front entry: The primary application. A single or double impact entry door makes a statement while providing the highest level of protection for the most visible opening in your home.
- Side entry: Many South Florida homes have a secondary entrance on the side of the house, often leading to a utility area or kitchen. These openings need the same level of impact protection as the front door.
- Garage entry to house: The door connecting the garage interior to the living space is a code-required fire separation point and also needs hurricane protection if the garage door could fail and pressurize the garage during a storm.
- Townhome and condominium entries: Unit entry doors in multi-family buildings must meet the same HVHZ requirements as single-family homes. Impact entry doors provide code compliance along with enhanced sound isolation between units.
For openings where you want double swinging doors rather than a single hinged entry, consider impact French doors. For grand entryways where you want an oversized architectural statement, impact pivot doors offer a dramatic alternative.
Styles and Configurations
Impact entry doors are available in a wide range of styles to match virtually any architectural design found in South Florida:
Glass Options
- Full glass: A single large glass panel fills most of the door, maximizing natural light and visibility. Popular in modern and contemporary homes.
- Half glass (half-lite): The upper portion of the door is glass and the lower portion is a solid panel. This balances light with privacy and is one of the most popular configurations for residential front doors.
- Decorative glass: Textured, frosted, or patterned glass provides privacy while still admitting light. Options include rain glass, reed glass, and custom etched designs.
- Internal grilles: Grille patterns such as colonial, prairie, or custom designs are placed between the laminated glass layers, providing the look of divided lites without any external maintenance. Wrought-iron style grilles are especially popular in Mediterranean and Spanish-revival architecture.
- Solid panel (no glass): For homeowners who prioritize maximum security and privacy, solid-core fiberglass entry doors with no glazing are also available with impact ratings. These doors rely on the structural strength of the panel itself rather than laminated glass.
Door Configurations
- Single door: The standard configuration for most residential entries. Typical widths are 36 inches and 42 inches. Single doors are available in heights up to 8 feet or taller in custom orders.
- Double door: Two door panels that open from the center, creating a wide, grand entrance. Common combined widths are 60 to 72 inches. Double doors are popular for larger homes where the front entry is a focal point of the facade.
- Single door with sidelites: Narrow glass panels flank the door on one or both sides. Sidelites add light and visual width to the entry without the cost and structural complexity of a full double door. The sidelites must be impact-rated to the same standard as the door.
- Double door with sidelites and transom: The most expansive configuration, combining two door panels with flanking sidelites and a glass panel above (transom). This creates a dramatic entryway with maximum natural light. Each component must carry its own impact rating.
Product options we install include the Mr. Glass MG-3000 for standard swing entry configurations, the MG-3500 for premium and oversized entries, and the ES Windows ES-EL300 for high-performance aluminum entry systems. Each is available with the full range of glass, finish, and hardware options described above.
Impact Rating and Code Compliance
Impact entry doors installed in the HVHZ must pass the same TAS 201, 202, and 203 test protocols required of all impact fenestration products.
For a deeper understanding of HVHZ code requirements and how they affect your project, read our complete guide to Florida Building Code requirements for hurricane protection products.
Frame Material and Hardware Options
The frame material and hardware you select affect appearance, performance, and longevity.
Aluminum Frames
Pros
- Excellent structural rigidity for wind loads
- Wide range of powder-coat finishes
- Resists corrosion in coastal environment
- Thermally broken profiles available
Cons
- Higher cost than fiberglass options
- Conducts heat without thermal break
Best for: Most HVHZ entry door installations, especially where structural performance and finish variety are priorities
Fiberglass Panels & Frames
Pros
- Replicates the look of wood (mahogany, oak)
- Superior thermal insulation
- Does not rot, warp, swell, or delaminate
- Available in full-glass and solid-panel
Cons
- Premium pricing for wood-grain finishes
- More limited finish options than aluminum
Best for: Homeowners wanting a traditional wood-door aesthetic with zero-maintenance hurricane performance
Cost Range for Impact Entry Doors in Miami
The cost of an impact entry door varies based on the size, configuration, material, glass options, and hardware grade. Here are typical installed price ranges for the Miami market:
Single Entry Door (36in, standard glass)
Single Entry Door (42in, decorative glass)
Single Door + One Sidelite
Single Door + Two Sidelites
Double Entry Door (no sidelites)
Double Door + Sidelites & Transom
Most expansive configuration
Solid-Core Fiberglass (no glass)
These prices include the door, frame, hardware, standard installation, and permit fees. Decorative wrought-iron glass inserts, premium finishes, oversized heights, structural reinforcement of the rough opening, and high-rise installation can push costs above these ranges.
When evaluating cost, remember that an impact entry door replaces both the door and its hurricane shutter. You eliminate the ongoing expense and inconvenience of shutter deployment and maintenance. Combined with the insurance premium savings and increased property value, impact entry doors typically offer a strong return on investment over the life of the product. For comprehensive pricing on all door types, visit our cost guide.
What to Look for When Buying an Impact Entry Door
Choosing the right impact entry door requires evaluating performance, aesthetics, and the quality of the installation. Here are the factors that matter most:
Your front door sets the tone for your entire home. Take the time to choose a product that delivers both the aesthetic impact and the structural performance your South Florida property demands. If you are replacing all the openings in your home at once, combining your entry door with impact sliding glass doors, impact French doors, and impact windows allows you to pull a single permit, coordinate one installation timeline, and qualify for the maximum insurance discount.
Ready to Protect Your Miami Home?
National Glass & Construction has been installing impact-resistant doors and windows across South Florida for over 35 years. Get your free, no-obligation estimate today.