Hollywood was planned in the 1920s, and its doors show every decade since

Joseph Wesley Young platted "Hollywood by the Sea" in 1921 and the city incorporated in 1925. His plan was a City Beautiful layout: a wide boulevard from the ocean toward the Everglades, three large circles along it (Young Circle is the best known), man-made lakes, and two yacht basins dredged and connected to the Intracoastal Waterway. The 1926 Miami hurricane hit the new city hard, and growth stalled until after World War II. By 1960 Hollywood had more than 2,400 hotel units and 12,170 single-family homes, and the population tripled in the 1960s before growth slowed sharply after 1970.

The result is a city where one block can hold a 1930s house with a slider cut in later, a postwar ranch with its original aluminum door, and a condo with a new impact unit. Each fails differently. Postwar aluminum doors usually need new rollers and a track cap. Older retrofits often have a frame that was never square. Newer impact doors are heavy, and their rollers carry far more weight than the wheels on a 1960s door.

Two and a half miles of Broadwalk put salt and sand into every track nearby

The Broadwalk was laid out and paved in the early 1920s and runs about 2.5 miles along the Atlantic between Jefferson Street and Sherman Street. A low coquina wall keeps most of the sand off the promenade. Behind it stand low and mid-rise hotels and apartments from the late 1920s and 1930s, in Streamline Moderne, Mediterranean Revival and Mid-Century Modern styles. Hollywood has about five to six miles of ocean beach in all.

Doors this close to the surf collect fine sand in the bottom channel and salt on every steel part. The usual signs: a gritty sound that comes back days after cleaning, wheels that turn in jerks, and a lock keeper with green or white crust on it. Two habits help between visits:

  • Vacuum the track, then wipe it with a damp cloth and fresh water. Skip oil and grease, which hold sand against the wheels.
  • Clear the weep holes on the outside of the sill so rain from a summer storm drains out instead of over the threshold.

When the grinding stays after a cleaning, the bearings inside the rollers are usually done. That is a roller repair, and if the rail under them is pitted, a track repair as well.

In the Lakes section and downtown, the city may review exterior changes

East of downtown, between the Intracoastal and Hollywood Boulevard, the Lakes Area is a historic multiple resource listing district. The city's Historic Preservation Board reviews certificates of appropriateness for changes to homes there, and the Hollywood Boulevard Historic Business District, the stretch of the boulevard between 21st Avenue and Young Circle, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

A repair that keeps the existing door (new wheels, a realigned track, a new latch) does not change what anyone sees from the street. A new door with a different frame, color or opening size does. If you own a Lakes home and are weighing replacement, ask the city's planning division what review applies before ordering, because custom impact doors have long lead times and a rejected design costs you the wait.

West of I-95, Emerald Hills has many homes built from the 1940s through the 1990s, along with gated sections such as The Greens of Emerald Hills that have their own HOA. HOA rules on exterior changes are worth reading before a patio door installation.

Every replacement door in Hollywood needs approval for the High Velocity Hurricane Zone

Broward and Miami-Dade make up the High Velocity Hurricane Zone of the Florida Building Code. A new slider for a Broadwalk condo or a Lakes section house in Hollywood needs a Miami-Dade NOA, or a Florida Product Approval that names the HVHZ. Miami-Dade approvals for sliding glass doors require a permanent label on each unit reading "Miami-Dade County Product Control Approved," usually found on the frame or the edge of the panel.

Storms here are not abstract. Local papers ranked Hollywood second only to Miami in losses from the 1926 hurricane, and Hurricane Irma in 2017 caused damage and long power outages across the city. Hollywood's storm months run from June through November. Before they start, slide every door through its full travel, lock it, and look at the glass edges for cracks. A cracked impact panel still holds together because of its laminated layer, but it should be replaced, and a broken tempered panel is a job for emergency glass repair.

Booking a repair from a Hollywood-based team: what to send first

SlideSavvy works out of Hollywood and the Google profile lists the business as open 24 hours. Visits are booked when the schedule allows. To get the right parts on the first visit, send:

  • A close photo of where the moving panel meets the track.
  • A photo of any label on the frame, which often names the maker and series.
  • For condos: the building name and its contractor rules. Many beachside buildings in Hollywood ask for contractor paperwork, set work hours and an elevator booking, so check with the manager first.

Hollywood borders Hallandale Beach to the south and Dania Beach to the north, and the rest of the county is on the Broward County page.