Impact French Door Installation in South Florida

In South Florida, impact french doors run $5,000–$12,000 installed for a standard 5 ft or 6 ft pair with no sidelites. Compositions that add sidelites and transoms — common on Mediterranean and Spanish-Revival homes in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach — typically land between $9,000 and $25,000 depending on frame material, glass specification, and opening size. The wide range reflects real differences in assembly complexity, not padding.

Yes. Any impact door installed inside Miami-Dade County's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone must carry a Miami-Dade NOA (Notice of Acceptance) that covers the entire assembly — door panels, center astragal, sidelites, and transoms. A product with NOA coverage only on the door panel and not the surrounding sidelites does not meet HVHZ code. We verify the full-assembly NOA before ordering and submit it with the permit application.

It depends on location. In-swing doors work well for interior foyer and formal entry settings where you want the clean exterior face and have the interior floor space for the swing arc. Out-swing is the better choice for back-of-house and lanai openings — when storm wind-driven rain pressurizes against the door, an out-swing unit's seal actually tightens rather than leaks. Most of our lanai french door installs in Broward and Palm Beach use out-swing for this reason.

Top-tier engineered configurations from the brands we carry — including PGT and CGI Sentinel — are rated for design wind pressures corresponding to up to 175 mph. All assemblies installed in Miami-Dade and Broward HVHZ must pass TAS 201/202/203 testing, which covers large-missile impact, cyclic wind loading, and water infiltration. Specific ratings vary by product line, frame material, and glass thickness, which we confirm during the estimate.

Yes, and it's a common configuration on larger openings in South Florida. Sidelites and transoms are routinely added to french door assemblies, expanding the composition to 12 ft wide and 9 ft tall or beyond. The critical requirement is that the entire assembly — door, center astragal, sidelites, and transom — shares a single Miami-Dade NOA. You cannot attach uncertified sidelites to a NOA'd door and expect code compliance.

The installation itself takes one to two days for a standard pair, and up to three days for a large sidelite-plus-transom composition that requires masonry work. Total project timeline from signed contract to closed permit typically runs eight to twelve weeks — four to eight weeks for factory lead time on brands like PGT or CGI, plus one to three weeks for permit issuance in Miami-Dade or Broward. We give you a project schedule at the time of contract.

SafeGuard installs PGT, CGI Sentinel, ES Windows, CWS, and Eco french door lines across Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Martin counties. PGT is the most-installed brand in our portfolio for standard residential pairs. CGI Sentinel is our recommendation for large architectural compositions — sidelite-and-transom builds on high-ceiling homes where premium aluminum and a broader glass-option menu matter. Brand selection depends on your opening size, budget, and frame preference.

Yes. Replacing an exterior door in Broward County — like any structural opening modification — requires a building permit. SafeGuard handles the full permit process: we prepare the submittal package, include the Miami-Dade NOA documentation for the door assembly, and schedule the inspections. Skipping the permit creates a code violation that shows up during a home sale and can void your homeowner's insurance wind coverage.