5 Foot Patio Door — Sliding Door Replacement for a Small Opening
Your patio door is narrower than the ones at the store, and nobody seems to stock the size.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
A 5 foot patio door is a two-panel slider about sixty inches wide, made for the narrow openings common in 1960s and 1970s ramblers, townhomes and kitchens where a six-foot door never fit. JMB Builders orders five-foot sliders in vinyl, fiberglass and clad wood, and installs them in the existing opening across the Twin Cities metro, or reframes a slightly-off opening to take a stock unit. Priced per door, reply within one business day.
- Priced per door, 5-foot slider included
- Stock five-foot units in most lines; custom when odd
- Reframe to a stock size when that costs less than custom
Most sliders are six feet wide, and most patio door pages assume that. A lot of older Twin Cities houses have a five-foot door instead: a 1960s rambler with a kitchen door to a small deck, a 1970s townhome with a slider on a narrow balcony wall, a cabin door squeezed between two windows. The panels are each about thirty inches, so the walk-through is tight, but the door is standard enough that most manufacturers make it.
The trouble starts when the opening is not quite five feet. Old houses were framed by hand, and we measure five-foot openings that are an inch narrow, two inches tall or out of square by enough to matter. The choice then is a custom-size unit, which costs more and takes longer, or reframing the opening to take a stock five-foot door, which is a few hours of carpentry and usually the better value. We measure before anything is ordered and quote the cheaper route.
We order five-foot sliders from options such as Pella, Andersen, MI, ProVia and Thermo-Tech in vinyl, fiberglass and clad wood. The install is the same as any slider: old door out, subfloor checked, sill pan, flashing, shim, foam, trim. Hinged French pairs are also made in five-foot widths if you want a door that opens wide.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough: a reply within one business day, or ask for a free in-home estimate. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
What you supply
- A rough width and height of the opening, measured frame to frame, plus photos inside and out
- Frame material and color, and which panel you want to slide
- Slider or a five-foot hinged French pair if you want the whole opening to open
- Paint color for the new casing if you want it painted — quoted as its own line
What JMB supplies
- Measurement of the rough opening and the order for a stock or custom five-foot door with screen
- Reframing of the opening to take a stock size when that is the better value, quoted from the photos
- Removal and haul-away of the old door, frame and trim
- Sill pan, flashing tape, backer rod, low-expansion foam and exterior sealant
- Subfloor or framing repair at the sill when needed
- Interior casing and exterior trim or brickmould
- Painting of the new casing when you want it, quoted as a separate line
- Photos of the finished door in your job folder
How it is priced: per door
Quoted in writing from your photos, with a reply within one business day. What moves the number:
- Stock five-foot unit vs a custom width or height
- Reframing the opening to a stock size, when that is cheaper than custom
- Frame material: vinyl, fiberglass or clad wood
- Glass package: low-e, argon, tempered or triple pane
- Rot at the subfloor or framing once the old door is out
- Siding or masonry at the opening and how the exterior is trimmed
- Painting the new casing, quoted as a separate line
Measure the width and height of the door frame itself and send those numbers with the photos. We confirm the rough opening in person before the door is ordered.
How long it takes
One five-foot slider in a sound opening: most of a day on site. Add a few hours when the opening is reframed to a stock size. Custom-size units take longer to arrive than stock.
How your project works
- 1
Send photos, get a written quote
Send three photos of the space and a sentence about what you want. You get a clear, itemized reply within one business day. Prefer a look in person? A free in-home estimate is always an option.
- 2
Pick materials, or bring your own
We help you choose profiles and materials that fit the house and the budget, or match your existing millwork exactly — or you buy the door or trim yourself and we install it. Everything is confirmed before the crew is scheduled.
- 3
Clean, precise installation
The crew shows up on time, protects floors and furniture, and installs with tight joints and consistent reveals. Photos of the finished work go in your job folder.
- 4
Walkthrough and invoice
We walk the finished work with you. If anything is not right, we fix it before we call the job done. Then one invoice, paid by check or direct deposit — no card fees, no payment links.
Situations and options
Stock 5-foot slider
Two panels, one fixed and one sliding, about sixty inches overall. Offered in most vinyl, fiberglass and clad lines in the standard heights. The straightforward replacement when the opening is true.
Reframe to stock
When the opening is an inch or two off, we adjust the framing — a new jamb stud, a filler at the header, a shim at the sill — so a stock door fits. Usually a few hours and less than the custom upcharge. The siding or interior wall is patched where the framing moved.
Custom-size slider
Built to the quarter inch for openings that cannot be reframed, such as a door between two windows or in a masonry wall. Same lines and options as stock, with a longer lead time and a higher price.
5-foot hinged French pair
Two thirty-inch hinged panels in the same opening. Both open for a full five-foot pass-through, which beats a slider's thirty-inch walk-through when you carry things in and out. Needs the swing room inside or on the deck.
5 Foot Patio Door — Sliding Door Replacement for a Small Opening: questions, answered
Do they make a 5 foot sliding patio door?
Yes. Most window and door manufacturers offer a two-panel slider around sixty inches wide as a stock size, in vinyl, fiberglass and clad wood, with the same glass and color options as the six-foot door. Big-box stores rarely stock it on the floor, which is why people assume it does not exist. We order it to your opening.
My opening is a little narrower than 5 feet — what are my options?
Two: order a custom-width unit, or reframe the opening to take a stock door. Reframing is usually a few hours of carpentry and a small patch to the wall or siding, and it costs less than the custom upcharge in most cases. We measure the rough opening in person and quote whichever route is cheaper for your door.
How wide is the walk-through on a 5 foot slider?
About thirty inches, roughly the width of a standard interior door. It is enough for people and a dog but tight for a grill or a couch. If you move big things through that door, a five-foot hinged French pair opens the whole width, or we can look at whether the wall allows widening to a six-foot slider.
Can I replace my 5 foot slider with a 6 foot door?
Sometimes. It takes cutting the opening a foot wider, a new header sized for the span, and patching the siding and interior wall. Whether that is practical depends on what is beside the door: a window, a corner or a plumbing wall can rule it out. Send photos of the wall inside and out and we tell you if widening is realistic and what it adds.
Are small sliding glass doors less efficient?
No. The glass package does the work, and a five-foot door is ordered with the same low-e, argon and triple-pane options as a bigger one. The frame is a larger share of the total area on a small door, so a fiberglass or clad frame has a bit more effect here than on a wide unit. The install — sill pan, flashing, foam — matters more than the size.
Why does my old townhouse have a 5 foot patio door?
Narrow balcony and deck walls on 1960s and 1970s townhomes and ramblers were framed for a five-foot door because a six-foot unit would not leave room for the wall beside it. The size was common then and is still made now. If you are in an association, check the exterior color rules before ordering; see our townhome HOA door page for how that approval usually goes.
Recent JMB work, from our job log
59 installs recorded across 30 Twin Cities communities since Dec 2025. Window and door installs for homeowners and the builders we work with. Counts come straight from our job log; no customer names.
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Read morePage reviewed October 10, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All doors pages
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