One Facet Of Absolute Windows’ Business is to assist Commercial Properties in the replacement of existing windows.

Read more about the Tampa City Hall Impact Window Replacements and it’s historical importance.

Tampa City Hall

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How to Add Curb Appeal To Your Home

When you drive past homes in your neighborhood what stands out more? Your real estate agent will tell you landscaping and your front door.

Front Door

In every company or industry there is always competition right? So we get this question ask by us all the time ,who really makes the best impact window ? Custom Windows or PGT?

We sell them both but for different reasons.

Lets start out with a little history lesson first. PGT was the first to bring impact windows to the market in Florida after hurricane Andrew with the Wind-Guard all aluminum framed windows and sliding doors.

Yes, they owned the market for a long time and did very well and made a great product. By the way here is there web address www.pgtindustries.com  so make sure you drop by and checkout there new line of vinyl impact windows.

Custom Made For The Florida Trade.

Next, along comes Custom Windows – they are the first company in Florida to bring out vinyl impact windows and sliding glass doors that meet the Energy Star rating. There slogan “Custom Made for the Florida Trade ” took off in Florida in the retail market with local contractors and their window took the market by storm. Check their web site at www.cws.cc .

And The Best Window Is?

Well, they both are great window companies and we sell them both, but the fact is every home and client and application is different. Some clients are all about energy savings so we lean more towards Custom Windows. They use Cardinal Glass with some special glazing and they also handle the “Neat” glass technology that keeps your windows cleaner and spot free.

So, if your home sets along the coast or a body of water our choice of PGT impact windows may be the best application? They have a long history with there Win-guard line of products. After Hurricane Charlie hit our area PGT impact windows prove to work and save homes and lives, I am sure of it.

WinGuard Sales Sheet

Let Mark, George, Dan, Paul and Sean

From Absolute Windows guide you through the best possible choice for your home or business application for impact windows and doors.

Glen Kohlenberg

www.absolutewindows.net

Keep An Eye Out For Hurricane Irene!

Yes, here we go again get ready for the BIG one? Hey we never know but all I can ask is watch your local news or go to http://www.weather.gov/ and follow the weather for your area.

Make sure you have your supplies and get your home ready just in case. Dig out your shutters or plywood and have it all ready just in case you need to move quickly to secure your home and family.

Yes, I know it’s been awhile since the real hurricane has hit Florida at least on the west coast. But as we learned with hurricane Charley it can move right at the last minute and hit our area. So it pays to be prepared!

Sarasota County has a great web site about “Know Your Zone” and here is the link http://www.scgov.net/kyz/KnowYourZone.aspx this will be very important because in case of an emergency you will know the shelter in your area that is open. Just go to this link and put in your address and it will show you the “Know Your Zone” for your personal address.

It gives a ton of information that you will need for you to make an informed decision for you and your family.

Sarasota County has done a great job this year updating this site and the information is priceless when you need it. So do a little upfront home work now because it could save your life later.

I believe no matter how prepared you are you can’t win against mother nature when it decides to unleash the powerful winds that we have seen in the past. No matter how well we build our products we get tested every time we have a storm or hurricane.

Sure we are gaining ground everyday with the excellent testing the labs do to make sure our manufactures build the best products to install on your homes.

But only you can make sure you as a family are prepard for the worst but hope for the best.

Make sure you favorite our site because we will keep you posted daily about Hurricane Irene.

Glen Kohlenberg

WARNING: Are you prepared for the start of hurricane season June 1st?

Yes, just in a few days we will start the long hot summer of tracking hurricanes that will come close or worse hit our state of Florida.

I keep asking our residents “are you prepared” ? It bothers me to see so many people think that awe it won’t hit my area. This is the wrong thinking and it’s these type of people that scream the loudest when they are caught without no supplies and think the federal goverment should be there there to help them.

Well, I got news for the select few. Good Luck!

If everybody has been watching the news they can see we are not in a normal weather pattern. More loved ones have been killed by deadly tornados then ever before. If this is not a major wake up call then you need to get a life.

It’s Up To You To Protect Yourself And Your Property!

Yes, make sure you protect your home with “impact windows” or even plywood. Make sure your garage is upgraded with a hurricane proof garage door. Why? It’s the largest opening in your home. Sure, you can do all of the windows and sliding doors in your home but you must also protect your garage door.

Remember, I Will Huff And Puff And Blow Your House Down?

Yes, the big bad wolf now is called HURRICANE!

Absolute Windows will be here for you for all your impact window and doors needs. But, we will also be here to inform you in case of a hurricane is coming or forming. Yes, thanks to our Facbook and Twitter links on our page we can get the hurricane imformation out to you very quickly. Plus we have a full time social media manager that will be tracking weather all around us.

So make sure you “Like” our page to get the weather updates. We also in case a hurricane hits our area will be using all of our social media to stay in contact with the National Hurricane Center, NOAA and FEMA plus the emergency management for Sarasota, Charlotte and Manatee counties.

We will then stay in contact with our clients and keep them informed.

Yes, this has been a major under taking and cost to all of the Absolute Family Companies but we have a dedicated team of employees that clearly understand our clients will come first in time of need and it’s the right thing to do by keeping everyone informed and help were we can.

Getting prepared right now can save you money and possibly your life.

Glen Kohlenberg

www.absolutewindows.net

Today I was sent a great article from WSJ on some new incentives for making your home safer. This comes at a great time with hurricane season just around the corner June 1st.

But, it really starts with the homeowner making the right decisions and stop thinking that the insurance companies can just pay for the damage or destruction to my home. This attitude cost us all more in higher premiums.

Last year we had a $1,500 tax credit towards installing impact windows and doors. But we can’t always reley on the federal goverment for this. Yes, business increased and smart homeowners took advantage of the savings.

If you are watching any TV at all lately, then you have seen the damage tornadoes are doing all across the south. I think about the working family out there that gets up one morning and gets the kids off to school and then goes to work but then comes home to nothing but there lives spread across the field or neighborhoods.

Sure, we have strict building codes here in Florida and now you see why. When the new homes that will be built across the south I assure you there building codes will change also.

So, I will include the WSJ link below and please take some time to read it and then call us and lets talk impact windows for your home or business.

Glen Kohlenberg

www.absolutewindows.net

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2011/05/17/new-incentives-to-storm-proof-homes/?mod=WSJBlog&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Fdevelopments%2Ffeed+%28WSJ.com%3A+Developments+Blog%29&utm_content=FaceBook

Get Prepared

Yes, we are in May and hurricane season is just around the corner. So it’s time I jump up on my soapbox and start screaming “Get Prepared” but then I decided after watching all the Natural Disasters going on around us right that it was time to bring you some advise that I know will help you just in case they start blasting the ‘Hurricane” is coming. Plus I just up dated my home insurance when it renewed. This was the “Wake Up Call” part.

Get Out The Camera Please. One of my closest friends home just got slammed by a tornado in Tennessee last month. Being a hot rod guy he had built a very large garage so he could tinker with his hobby and enjoy some retirement. His garage and everything in it was wiped completely out.

The only thing left was the slab! I can tell you from staying with Mike his garage was jammed with tools from all kinds. Everything gone! To this day you wonder where all this stuff went?

I said to Mike did you have pictures of everything? The paint booth he slaved over for hours painting [he bought it used] gone! The several tool boxes he had. Gone! I remember it took 4 guys to unload it. Gone!

Yes, I could go on for hours but I hope you understand what I am saying. Get your camera out and take pictures of everything in your house your garage your jewelry also take pictures of every side of your home or business.

Shoot each and every room inside your home. I cannot stress this enough and then get [4] complete sets of pictures and send [1] set to your best friend [1] set to your insurance agent to keep in your file. Put [1] set in your safe deposit box at your bank. Then go to www.dropbox.com and down load a set there. You get 2g for free. This way no matter what happens you will be able to access them 24/7.

Video yes you can do the same thing with video and down load it to your drop box free account. I would do both. Plus I would copy all of your important documents insurance, car titles, deeds, stocks, wills anything that you feel you should have copies of and down load them also. With the Internet today there is no reason not to do this.

If the time ever comes and you need to file claims with your insurance company then you will understand how important this will be. As my friend Mike said to me was I never thought it would happen to us! I just seen Mike the other day and ask how is it going with the insurance company claims?

I could tell by the look on his face. But he answered very painful!

Please please learn from Mike’s disaster and ‘Get Prepared”

Glen Kohlenberg

www.absolutewindows.net

Unlike traditional windows in your home impact windows are made totally different. Ever since hurricane Andrew cost insurance companies 25 billion dollars. The Miami-Dade Building Code was born and along came a new set of rules to help protect homes and businesses.

The Impact Test

Every impact window must now meet a impact test. On a large missile test they use a 9lb 2″x4″x6′ in size and it travels at 34MPH. Then the window must pass positive and negative wind loads for 9000 cycles with the impact creating no hole larger than 1/16 x 5″ in the inter-layer of the glass.

If you live in a home or building where the windows are located 30 feet or less above the grade then your windows must meet the large-missile test. If your home or building is 30 feet or more from the ground then they can be large or small missile compliant.

How Are They Made?

First, think of your car windshield and when it breaks into a million little pieces but how it stays together? Your impact resistant glass is basically a heavy-duty car windshield.

It consists of a clear plastic inter-layer sandwiched between two panes of glass. Window manufactures use 2 types of inter-layer. Polyvinyl [PVB] and SentryGlas Plus [SGP]. The SGP is more rigid and less likely to tear and is used in large missile impact windows.

Window manufactures have also took one step further to meet the Energy Star Rating and added a spacer and an extra pane of glass to create a dead-air space which gives you the energy savings. Some manufactures also use a 16 chamber vinyl extrusion for there window frames and this keeps the heat transfer at the outside of the window frame and the 16 chambers build superior strength to with stand hurricane -force winds.

Now comes the installation and all the manufactures have there own approved installation guide lines that the testing showed to work under our hurricane force winds.

Please remember that all your windows are inspected by your local county building departments and all inspectors have been trained on proper installation also.

Added Value to Your Home.

By installing impact windows in your home or business you add a ton of value and can save on insurance cost. All the experts agree that the windows in your home or business cause the most damage once the windows are broke out of the home in a hurricane. Once the wind force enters the home or business and begins pushing against interior walls it forces the wind upward and this will cause the roof to blow off.

We have seen this over and over. The garage door alone can cause this but most of the time it’s the windows that get broke out because of a single pane of glass.

One more thing to remember is if you ever have your home appraised make sure the the appraiser knows you have installed impact windows and doors in your home. It will increase the value

If you would like more information on impact windows for your home or business then call Mark Lamb at Absolute Windows at 941-485-7774

Thank you,

Sean Gerathy