Understanding Hurricane Product Approvals – Window Anchors

A window can have a Miami-Dade NOA or Florida Product Approval and still fail—if it’s not installed correctly.

After storms, I’ve seen fully intact windows lying inside the home because they were never anchored according to the product approval requirements.

Anchor count and spacing vary depending on the wind pressures specified by your structural engineer, but other factors are just as important:

• Shim spacing and thickness

• Edge distance

• Type of fasteners

• Depth of embedment

Typical setups include 3–4 Tapcons into 3,000 psi concrete with 1¼"–1½" minimum embedment, ¼"–⅜" shim thickness, and 2" edge clearance.

If 1x bucks are used, they must be structurally anchored 6" from ends and 16" on center in a staggered pattern (or per engineer's spec). The anchors then must reach the required embedment in the masonry.

Bottom line: everything must be designed to transfer hurricane wind pressures from glass to frame to structure—and it only works if the anchoring is done right.