Cape Cod Front Door Replacement — Small Entry, Storm Door and Hood
The cape has a steep roof, dormers, and a front door in the middle with a little hood or nothing over it.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
A Cape Cod front door replacement is a new prehung entry door for the small centered entry of a 1940s or 1950s story-and-a-half, where the door sits under a shallow hood or no overhang, opens into a tight hall, and has always had a storm door in front of it. JMB Builders supplies and installs them across the Twin Cities metro. Priced per door, quoted from photos, with a reply within one business day.
- Priced per door, door supplied
- Six-panel, two-panel or small-lite styles for a cape
- Hood kept or rebuilt, storm door sized to the frame
Cape Cods and story-and-a-halfs went up by the thousand in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Richfield, Columbia Heights and the first ring from the late 1930s into the 1950s. The front door is centered under the steep roof, often with a small hood on brackets or a shallow pediment, sometimes with nothing at all. It is a narrow door in a narrow wall, one or two steps up, and it opens into a small hall at the foot of the stairs or into the living room. Because there is so little roof over it, nearly every cape has a storm door, and the storm door has been the real weather barrier for decades.
The replacement is sized to that entry. The door is usually a standard or slightly narrow width in a frame wall with plaster inside, and the style that fits is a six-panel, a two-panel or a flat door with a small lite or a half-moon up top, in fiberglass or steel from options such as Therma-Tru, ProVia, Masonite or JELD-WEN. Fiberglass if the door faces south or west with no hood; steel is fine under a hood on a north or east face. A half lite works when the hall is dark, since a cape rarely has a sidelite. The storm door is ordered with the door and sized to the new frame so the two seal together; a venting storm door if the entry door is a dark color and gets sun.
The hood is the one piece of trim to care about. If it is sound it comes off and goes back on; if the brackets are rotted at the wall, it is rebuilt in the same shape in wood or PVC as its own line. The install is the standard one: old door and frame out, sill checked, sill pan and flashing lapped behind the siding, frame plumb in a wall that may not be, foam, sealant, narrow casing inside to match the plaster-era trim. Painting is quoted as a separate line — or leave it primed and caulked and paint it yourself.
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
- Photos of the door from the street showing the hood or roof above it, and from inside
- Which way the door faces
- Style, material and color, and whether you want glass in the door
- Whether you want a new storm door with it, and the storm door style
- Hardware finish, or the handleset you bought
What JMB supplies
- Measurement of the opening and the order for a prehung door sized to a cape entry
- Removal and haul-away of the old door, frame and trim
- Careful removal and reinstall of the hood, or a rebuilt hood in the same shape, quoted as its own line
- Check of the sill and framing once the old door is out, quoted from the photos
- Sill pan, flashing tape lapped behind the siding, low-expansion foam and exterior sealant
- Narrow interior casing to match the house, and exterior brickmould or flat trim
- Handleset and deadbolt installed, from the door order or the set you bought
- A storm door sized to the new frame and installed with it, quoted as its own line
- Painting of the door and trim, quoted as its own 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:
- Fiberglass vs. steel, and the glass layout
- A standard width vs. a narrow or custom width door
- Hood reinstalled vs. rebuilt in wood or PVC
- Storm door ordered with the door, quoted as a separate line
- Rot at the sill or jamb bottoms under a door with little overhang
- Plaster walls and narrow casing inside
- Painting, quoted as a separate line
Send a photo from the sidewalk that shows the hood or roof edge over the door, and one of the inside with the hall or stairs in it.
How long it takes
One prehung door and storm door on a cape in a sound opening: most of a day on site. Add a half day when the hood is rebuilt. The door is ordered after you approve the quote.
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
Six-panel with storm door
The classic cape door in fiberglass or steel, solid, with a full-view or venting storm door in front. Light comes from the storm door glass and the hall window.
Half-moon or small lite up top
A flat or two-panel door with a fan lite or a small window near the top, the 1940s look, in insulated fiberglass or steel. Lets you see who is there.
Half lite for a dark hall
Glass in the top half, clear or obscure, for a cape hall with no sidelite and no window. A storm door with a screen for summer air.
Door with the hood rebuilt
Any of the above plus a new hood on brackets in the shape of the old one, in wood or PVC, when the original is rotted at the wall. Quoted as its own line.
Cape Cod Front Door Replacement — Small Entry, Storm Door and Hood: questions, answered
What front door fits a Cape Cod house?
A six-panel or two-panel door, or a flat door with a small lite or fan up top, in a standard or slightly narrow width. Fiberglass or steel, in white, black, red or a dark green, with a storm door in front. Keep the hood if there is one, and keep the trim simple and narrow to match the plaster-era casing inside.
Does a cape front door need a storm door?
Almost always. Most capes have little or no roof over the door, so the storm door is what keeps rain, snow and wind off the entry door. We order the storm door with the entry door and size it to the new frame so the two seal together. On a dark door in sun, pick a venting storm door so heat does not build between them.
Can you save the little hood over my cape front door?
If the hood and brackets are sound, yes; it comes off carefully and goes back on after the door is set. The brackets rot where they meet the wall, and when that is the case we rebuild the hood in the same shape in wood or PVC and flash it to the wall. That is quoted as its own line.
Is a Cape Cod front door a standard size?
Often it is a standard width, sometimes a step narrower. Capes were built fast with stock lumber, so most openings take a prehung unit after the old frame is out, but we measure first. A narrow door is ordered as a narrower unit; we do not widen a cape entry wall without a reason.
My cape front door opens at the bottom of the stairs, does that matter?
It decides the swing and the glass. The door swings in toward the hall wall, away from the stairs, and the handing is ordered that way. If the hall is dark, a half lite or a small lite up top lights it, since there is no room for a sidelite. The storm door gives summer air through the screen.
Fiberglass or steel for a cape front door?
Fiberglass when the door faces south or west with little over it, because it holds a factory color in sun and does not rust at the bottom. Steel is fine under a hood or on a north or east face and gives a crisp six-panel. Either way the storm door in front takes the weather first.
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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