Colonial Two Story Front Door Replacement — Center Entry, Six Panel
The house is a two story with the door in the middle and the windows lined up on each side.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
A colonial two story front door replacement is a new prehung six-panel or two-panel door for the center entry of a symmetrical two story, often with sidelites and a transom, set under the pilaster and pediment trim the style calls for. JMB Builders supplies and installs them across the Twin Cities metro, in fiberglass, steel or wood. Priced per door, quoted from photos, and we reply within one business day.
- Priced per door, door supplied
- Six-panel or two-panel, sidelites and transom
- Pilaster and pediment trim kept or replaced
The colonial two story is the most common house in the Twin Cities suburbs built from the 1970s through the 2000s: a rectangle with the front door in the middle, windows in pairs on each side and a row above, brick or lap siding, and a shallow or no overhang over the entry. The door is the center of the elevation. A six-panel door is the classic, a two-panel with a fan or half-round transom is the 1990s version, and sidelites on one or both sides are common. The trim around the door is often a pair of flat pilasters with a pediment or crosshead on top, in wood or PVC.
Most of these doors are original steel six-panels that have rusted at the bottom, or a builder-grade fiberglass that has faded, and the opening is a standard size in a standard frame wall. The choices are style and material. A six-panel or two-panel fiberglass door with a smooth or woodgrain skin, from options such as Therma-Tru, ProVia, Masonite or JELD-WEN, is the usual order, in white, black, a dark green or a red. Steel is fine under a shallow roof on a north or east face. A sidelite pair in clear or textured glass and a transom above are ordered as one unit so the mulls line up. Because the entry usually faces the street with no overhang, the color is checked against the exposure and a storm door is sized to the new frame if you want one.
The install keeps the trim. Pilasters and pediment come off carefully and go back on, or are replaced in PVC when the wood is rotted at the base, which is common where they meet the step. The door and sidelites are set in a sill pan with flashing lapped to the housewrap, frame plumb, foam, sealant, casing inside. 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 whole front of the house, and from the inside
- Style: six-panel, two-panel, or a panel door with a fan or half-round transom
- Sidelites on one side, both sides or none, and the glass in them
- Material and color, and whether the pilaster and pediment trim stays
- Hardware finish, or the handleset you bought
What JMB supplies
- Measurement of the opening and the order for a prehung colonial door with sidelites and transom as one unit
- Removal and haul-away of the old door, frame and sidelites
- Careful removal and reinstall of pilaster and pediment trim, or new PVC trim in the same profile
- Check of the sill and framing once the old unit is out, quoted from the photos
- Sill pan, flashing tape, low-expansion foam and exterior sealant
- Interior casing in the house's profile
- Handleset and deadbolt installed, from the door order or the set you bought
- A storm door sized to the new frame, 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:
- Single door vs. door with one or two sidelites and a transom
- Fiberglass vs. steel vs. wood, and factory color vs. painted
- Glass in the door and sidelites: clear, textured or decorative
- Pilaster and pediment trim reused vs. replaced in PVC
- Rot at the sill, the jamb bottoms or the pilaster bases
- Brick vs. siding at the opening and how the outside is trimmed
- Storm door, quoted as a separate line
- Painting, quoted as a separate line
Send one photo from across the street showing the whole front of the house. The door has to fit that picture, and it tells us the exposure.
How long it takes
A single prehung door: most of a day. A door with sidelites and transom plus pilaster trim: a full day, sometimes a second morning for trim and sealant. 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, solid
The classic colonial door with no glass, in fiberglass or steel. Light comes from the sidelites or the transom. The warmest and the plainest.
Two-panel with fan transom
A two-panel door under a half-round or fan-shaped transom, the 1990s two story look. Ordered as one unit with the transom so the arch is centered.
Door with two sidelites
A single door flanked by matching sidelites in clear, textured or decorative glass. Keeps the symmetry of the center entry and lights a two story foyer.
Double door, no sidelites
A pair of narrower doors filling the same width as a door and two sidelites. A different look for the same opening; the pair is set and adjusted so the astragal seals.
Colonial Two Story Front Door Replacement — Center Entry, Six Panel: questions, answered
What style of front door fits a colonial two story?
A six-panel door is the classic, in white, black, dark green or red. A two-panel door under a fan or half-round transom is the 1990s version. Sidelites on one or both sides keep the center entry symmetrical. Pilasters and a pediment or crosshead around the door finish the look, and they can be kept or replaced in PVC.
Should I keep the sidelites when I replace the front door on my colonial?
Usually yes. The sidelites are part of the symmetry of a center entry, and they light a two story foyer. We order the door and sidelites as one unit so the mulls, the glass and the trim line up. If you want more wall and less glass, the same width can take a door with one sidelite or a double door.
Can you save the pilasters and pediment trim around my door?
If the wood is sound, yes; it comes off in pieces and goes back on after the new unit is set. The bases of the pilasters where they meet the step are where rot starts, and when that is the case we replace the trim in PVC in the same profile so it does not rot again.
Does a colonial front door need a storm door?
Most colonial entries face the street with little or no overhang, so a storm door earns its place against rain, snow and wind. On a dark door in full sun the heat between the storm door and the entry door is the thing to check, and a venting storm door or a lighter door color is the answer. We size the storm door to the new frame and quote it as its own line.
Fiberglass or steel for a colonial front door?
Fiberglass for a door that faces south or west with no overhang, because it holds a factory color in sun and does not rust at the bottom where the old steel door did. Steel is fine on a north or east face or under a portico, and it gives the crispest six-panel profile. Wood is the pick under a deep portico when you want real grain.
Is a colonial front door a standard size?
Almost always. Two stories from the 1970s on were built with standard door and sidelite sizes in a standard frame wall, so a prehung unit goes in after the old frame comes out. Older colonials from before the war can have taller doors or odd sidelite widths, and those are measured and ordered to size.
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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