How Winslow Windows & Doors Came to Fort Lauderdale
When we opened our Fort Lauderdale branch, we walked into a market where homeowners were tired. Tired of estimates that felt like negotiations. Tired of installers who showed up, did half the work, and vanished when something went wrong. Tired of being sold windows and doors that looked great in the brochure but fogged up within two years in our humidity.
Ed Winslow had spent years watching this pattern repeat across dozens of homes. He’d walk into a house where the homeowner had been quoted one price over the phone and a different price at the kitchen table. He’d see sliding glass doors that were installed so poorly they’d warped within a single wet season. He’d hear the same story again and again: “I paid good money, and nobody will call me back.”
So when the time came to bring Winslow Windows & Doors to Fort Lauderdale, Ed didn’t want to open another showroom that made promises. He wanted to build a local team that kept them. The branch started with a simple operating rule: write down what you’ll do, do exactly that, and answer the phone when the customer calls afterward. That rule still guides every job we take in Fort Lauderdale today.
Ed Winslow’s Personal Connection to the Windows & Doors Trade
Ed didn’t grow up dreaming about window frames. Nobody does. But he did grow up with an unusual habit: he noticed how buildings held together. As a kid, he’d walk through older homes and run his hand along the edges of things, the seams, the places where one material met another. Most people walk past a window without thinking about it. Ed would stop and look at how it sat in the wall, how the light hit the glass, whether the frame was holding true or starting to sag.
That habit turned into work. Early on, he spent time learning the trade from people who’d been doing it longer than he’d been alive. He learned what salt air does to cheap hardware over the course of a decade. He learned why a window installed slightly out of square will bind forever, no matter how much you adjust it later. He learned the difference between caulk that holds for a season and flashing that holds for a generation.
What kept him in the trade wasn’t the technical work, though. It was the moment after a job was done, when a homeowner stood in front of a new set of impact windows and realized their house felt different. Quieter. Cooler. Safer. Ed has seen that moment hundreds of times, and he says it never gets old. There’s something deeply satisfying about putting your hands on something at the start of a day and seeing it finished, solid, and working by the end of it.
If Ed weren’t running a windows and doors company in Fort Lauderdale, he’d probably be restoring something old, a boat, a piece of furniture, a mid-century house. The thread is the same: taking something worn and making it right again. That’s what gets him out of bed. Not the paperwork. The making right.
Meet Ed Winslow, Owner & Founder
Ed Winslow has spent his entire working life in the home improvement trades, and he’s led Winslow Windows & Doors’ Fort Lauderdale branch since it opened. He’s worked on everything from single-window replacements in small condos to full-home impact glass packages in waterfront estates. His training came the old-fashioned way: years of hands-on work alongside skilled tradespeople, learning what holds up in South Florida’s climate and what fails.
That experience means Ed knows what he’s looking at when he walks into a home. He knows which window styles work in which neighborhoods, from the older ranch houses in Plantation to the newer construction in Weston. He knows when a door can be repaired and when it needs to be replaced. And he knows how to explain the difference to a homeowner without making them feel stupid for asking.
What tells you the most about Ed, though, is simpler than any credential: he still wants to be on the job. Not behind a desk. Not in a sales meeting. On the job, looking at the opening, talking through the options, making sure the finished work is something he’d be proud to put his name on. That’s the commitment he makes to every customer in Fort Lauderdale: if his name is on the job, his attention is on the job.
Our Promise to Fort Lauderdale Homeowners
We make three promises, and they’re not complicated.
Honest pricing. Every estimate is written, line by line, and it’s the price you’ll pay. Not a starting point. Not a teaser. If we find something unexpected once the old window comes out, we’ll show you what we found and agree on the fix before any additional work happens. No change orders slipped in at the end.
Quality parts. We install brands we trust in this climate, including PGT, CGI, and ES Windows. These aren’t generic frames with a fresh coat of paint. They’re engineered for hurricane zones, salt air, and the kind of humidity that eats cheap hardware alive. We’d rather walk away from a job than put in a product we know won’t last.
Standing behind every job. When we finish work on your home, our responsibility doesn’t end at the curb. If something isn’t right, you call us and we make it right. That’s the whole promise. It’s how Ed has always operated, and it’s how the Fort Lauderdale team operates now.
Our Credentials
- State-licensed - every pro working under the Winslow Windows & Doors name is required to hold the license their state requires for the work they perform.
- Insured & bonded - required coverage protects you and your home while work is underway.
- Years of local experience - our team has worked in South Florida’s climate long enough to know what survives it and what doesn’t.
- Strong local reputation - we’ve earned the trust of homeowners across Broward County through consistent work and honest dealings.
What does this mean for you? It means the people working on your home are accountable to real standards, not just a sales pitch. A state license means someone can lose the right to work if they do bad work. Insurance and bonding mean you’re protected if something goes wrong. Local experience means the team already knows how your home needs to be protected from wind, rain, and humidity before anyone picks up a tool.
Rooted in Fort Lauderdale
We work across Broward County, from Hollywood and Pembroke Pines to Davie, Plantation, Sunrise, and up through Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Deerfield Beach, Lauderhill, Miramar, and Weston. But Fort Lauderdale is home base.
We know our service area because we live in it. We know the older neighborhoods where custom window sizes are common. We know the condo buildings where association approvals are required before any work starts. We know the waterfront homes where corrosion is a constant fight. That local knowledge isn’t something you can franchise. It’s something you build by being here, year after year, job after job.
Written by Ed Winslow, Owner at Winslow Windows & Doors, serving Fort Lauderdale and Broward County since 2011.