Replace Double Doors With Single Door and Sidelites — Same Opening
Nobody opens the second door. The flush bolts stick, the middle drafts, and the pair swings into the entry.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
To replace double doors with a single door and sidelites, the pair comes out and one door with a sidelite on one or both sides goes into the same rough opening, so the header and siding cut usually stay. JMB Builders measures, orders the unit, sets it in a sill pan and trims it across the Twin Cities metro. Priced per door unit. Send photos for a reply within one business day, or book a free in-home estimate.
- Priced per door unit, unit supplied
- Same rough opening, header stays
- One lock, no astragal or flush bolts
Most double front doors are really one door and a wall that can open. The inactive leaf stays bolted shut for years, and the place where the two doors meet, the astragal, is the weakest seal on the house: one more weatherstrip, two flush bolts and a center gap that opens as the frame moves. Swapping the pair for a single door with sidelites gets rid of that seam and keeps the width, the light and the look of a wide entry.
The work fits the opening that is already there. A pair of doors and a door with sidelites both come as one prehung unit, and their overall widths often land close to each other. We measure the rough opening in person, then pick the door width and sidelite widths that fill it. A small difference is taken up with framing and trim, not by cutting the header, so in most cases the header, the outside wall and the siding cut stay as they are.
The choices are where the door goes and what the sidelites are. One sidelite puts the door off to one side, which can clear a stair, a closet or a light switch; two keep it centered. Sidelites can be full glass, half glass over a panel, or solid panels, in clear, privacy or decorative glass to match the door. Inside, the new casing runs across the whole unit, and the floor at the old center sill is checked once the pair is out.
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 pair straight on from outside and inside, plus the sill and the wall on each side
- Where you want the door: centered between two sidelites or offset with one
- Glass for the door and sidelites: clear, privacy or decorative
- Which side the door should open and hinge on, and your hardware finish
What JMB supplies
- One in-person measure of the rough opening before anything is ordered
- A door-and-sidelite unit ordered through ABC Supply to fill that opening
- Removal and haul-away of the old pair, frame and trim
- Rot repair at the sill and framing, quoted from the photos
- Framing to take up any width difference, full-width sill pan, flashing tape, foam and sealant
- Exterior brickmould across the unit and interior casing across the full width
- Lockset and deadbolt on the single door, set and adjusted
- Painting of the trim and door when you want it, quoted as its own line
How it is priced: per door
Quoted in writing from your photos, with a reply within one business day. What moves the number:
- One sidelite or two, and full glass, half glass or solid panel
- Clear, privacy or decorative glass in the door and sidelites
- Steel or fiberglass, primed or factory finished
- How closely the new unit's width matches the rough opening
- Rot at the center of the old sill, where pairs collect water
- A transom above that stays, or is replaced with the unit
- Painting the door and trim, quoted as a separate line
Send one photo straight on from outside with the whole pair and frame in it, and a close-up of the sill where the two doors meet.
How long it takes
One door-and-sidelite unit in the same opening: about a day on site. Add time for sill rot or a transom. Lead time depends on the brand and is written on 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
Door centered, two sidelites
Keeps the entry symmetrical from the street. The door sits where the meeting line of the pair was, and the light comes in on both sides.
Door offset, one sidelite
The door to one side and a wider sidelite on the other. Clears a stair, a closet or a coat hook wall on the inside, and leaves more wall for furniture.
Privacy glass sidelites
Textured or frosted glass that lets light in but blurs the view, for an entry that looks straight into a living room. Picked when the order is placed.
Solid panel sidelites
Sidelites with no glass, for a north entry that gets cold or a house where privacy matters more than light. The unit still reads as a wide entry.
Replace Double Doors With Single Door and Sidelites — Same Opening: questions, answered
Can double front doors be replaced with one door and sidelites?
Yes, and usually in the same rough opening. A pair of doors and a single door with sidelites both come as one prehung unit, and we pick a door and sidelite width that fills the opening we measure. Small differences are framed in, so the header and outside wall normally stay as they are.
Why convert a double entry door to a single door?
Most owners never open the second leaf. The center of a pair, where the astragal and flush bolts are, is the hardest place to keep sealed, and both doors swing into the entry. One door with sidelites has one lock, no center seam, and keeps the width and light of the wide entry.
Does the header have to change to go from double doors to a single door?
Not when the new unit fits the same opening, which is the usual case. The header carries the same span it always did. The header would only change if you also want the opening wider or taller, which is a different job; JMB pulls the permit when the city requires one.
Should I get one sidelite or two?
Two keeps the door centered and the entry symmetrical from the street. One lets the door sit to the side, which helps when a stair, a closet or a light switch is close to the center of the old pair. Look at the inside of the entry first; that usually decides it.
Will I lose light going from double doors to one door?
Not if the sidelites are glass. A pair of solid doors lets in no light, and a door with full-glass sidelites often lets in more than the old pair did. Privacy glass in the sidelites keeps the light and blocks the view in.
What happens to my storm doors when I switch to a single door?
A pair of storm doors will not fit the new layout. A single storm door can go over the new entry door, hung on the door's brickmould, and the sidelites stay uncovered. We can quote the storm door on the same visit.
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 9, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All doors pages
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Door Replacement & Installation near you
Based in Zimmerman, scheduling across the Twin Cities metro. Closest first: