Field guide
Scheduling glass work around hurricane season.
Florida hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, and the glass calendar runs against it. Bids land in January and February. Homeowners rush to finish before June 1. Schools and hospitals take the summer. September and October hold. The rebuild work shows up about three weeks after a storm, not the next day.
What’s on this page.
Bids in January, the rush before June 1, schools and hospitals over the summer, a hold in September, and reconstruction that arrives around week three rather than day one.
By the Iron Bay team. Published . Last updated .
The Florida glass year.
How the calendar actually runs for glass work in this state, and what to book when.
| Months | What happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| January to February | Bid season. Quotes get priced, awards land, condo boards are in session and approving capital work. | Get the equipment line into the bid. |
| March to May | The run at June 1. Owners want impact glass in before the season opens. | Peak. Book dates as jobs are awarded. |
| June to August | Season opens. Residential urgency drops. Schools and hospitals take their summer shutdowns. | Chase institutional work. |
| September to October | Peak storm risk. Schedules slip and crews get pulled. | Hold. Confirm dates the week before. |
| November to December | Season ends November 30. Year-end closeout, then the holidays. | Close out and plan next year. |
January and February: get it in the bid.
The equipment line has to exist before the job is priced. After the award it comes out of somebody’s margin.
The blocker on a rental is almost never the crew. It is the bid. If the machine was not priced into the job, the money has to come from somewhere, and then it does not happen. The person who decides is whoever prices the work, not the foreman on site.
January and February are also when Florida condo boards are in session and approving capital work. Seasonal residents are in the building, so the decisions get made now and the work runs in spring and summer. If a railing or a window package is going to a board this quarter, price the lift with it.
Send us the piece and the dates while you are still writing the bid. An itemized quote comes back within two hours, 9 to 5, seven days a week, so you can put a real number in instead of a guess.
March to May: the run at June 1.
Hurricane season opens June 1. Owners want the glass in before it does.
March through May is the busiest stretch of the residential year in Florida. The Florida Building Code requires openings to be protected across most of the state, which is what puts impact glass in the wall in the first place, and June 1 is the date everybody plans backwards from.
It is also when our calendar gets tight. Iron Bay runs two units. Tampa and St. Petersburg get same-day when the unit is on the yard. Every other Florida metro is next-day, subject to availability. In April, subject to availability means something.
Book the dates when the job is awarded, not the week before you need the machine.
June to August: schools and hospitals.
Residential urgency drops once the season opens. Institutional work picks the slack up.
Florida districts do their glass work between the last day of school and the first day back. That is a hard window, it is dated a year ahead, and it repeats. Hospitals run their own summer shutdown scopes on a plan-review calendar rather than on the weather.
These are worth chasing because they can be put on a calendar. The window is fixed, the units are repetitive, and the schedule pressure is real, which is exactly the condition where a machine earns its place. A crew that can split in two and run both halves of a school gets more done in a fixed window than a crew that cannot.
Restaurant and retail fit-outs aiming at a fall opening land in the same months, and they are usually storefront work at grade. That is the easiest job this machine does.
September and October: hold.
Peak storm risk. The right move is to be ready and be reachable, not to sell into it.
- Schedules slipCrews get pulled, deliveries get held, and a site can shut for a week. Keep the dates loose and confirm a few days out.
- We move the machinesWhen a system is coming, the units go somewhere safe and the phone still gets answered.
- Nobody books through a landfallIf your date falls inside a watch, we move it. Reschedule inside 48 hours is free, and in a storm week that is not a negotiation.
After a storm: week three, not day one.
The first fortnight is board-up and tarps. Glass work starts when the permanent glass lands.
Emergency board-up in Florida is a one to four hour response. That is a different business and it is mostly not ours. Plywood and screws do not need a vacuum machine.
Then comes the wait. A standard insulated unit is commonly a week or two out. An impact-rated unit runs longer. Oversized, coated or custom units are commonly quoted at a month or more. Those are reported ranges rather than a published standard, so confirm the number with your own supplier, because it moves with demand.
Which is why the rebuild work turns up around week three, and then keeps coming. Permit tails after a major Florida storm run for months, and in the worst-hit counties for years. It is steady work, not a gold rush, and it should be treated that way.
How we handle storm weeks.
Prepare before, serve after. That is the whole policy and we would rather write it down than be asked.
- We do not chase stormsNo storm-name ads, no damage footage, no act-now copy. Florida contractors have watched that act for a decade and they can smell it from across a parking lot.
- We say it once, in MayOne note before the season about how to reach us and what we can put on your site. Not a repost every time a system forms.
- We answer the phone9 to 5, seven days a week, storm weeks included. If we cannot help, we will say so and point you at somebody who can.
Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30 every year. Those dates do not move, which is exactly why the calendar around them can be planned instead of reacted to.
Book the date while you have it.
A few fields. An itemized quote comes back within two hours, 9 to 5, seven days a week.
The follow-ups.
The questions that usually come right after this one.
When is hurricane season in Florida?
June 1 to November 30 every year. Peak risk is September and October. The dates are fixed, so the work either side of them can be scheduled rather than guessed at.
When is the busiest time for impact window work?
March through May. Owners want the glass in before June 1, so the residential calendar compresses into that stretch. Book equipment dates when the job is awarded, because April fills up.
Can I still get a machine during hurricane season?
Yes. Summer is when school and hospital work runs, so the units are busy but not blocked. Tampa and St. Petersburg get same-day when the unit is on the yard, and the rest of Florida is next-day, subject to availability.
What happens to my booking if a storm is coming?
We move it. Rescheduling inside 48 hours is free, and during a watch we will call you rather than wait for you to call us. The machines go somewhere safe and the phone still gets answered.
How soon after a storm does glass work start?
Board-up is a one to four hour response and it does not need a machine. Permanent glass has a lead time, so the real rebuild work usually starts around week three and then runs for months.
Where to next.
The pages this guide leans on, and the other three guides.
Got a date on the calendar?
Send the zip and the week. You’ll have an itemized quote back within two hours, and the date held while you decide.