Farmhouse Front Door Replacement — Shaker Panels, Half Lite, Flat Trim
Either the house is a new build with board and batten and black windows, or it is the original farmhouse on the section with a door that stopped sealing years ago.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
A farmhouse front door replacement is a new prehung door with plain shaker panels or a cross-buck lower half, a half or three-quarter lite with a simple grille, and wide flat trim around it. JMB Builders supplies and installs them across the Twin Cities metro and out to St. Cloud, on new modern-farmhouse builds and on hundred-year-old farmhouses with out-of-square openings. Priced per door, quoted from photos, and we reply within one business day.
- Priced per door, door supplied
- Shaker, cross-buck or half-lite layouts
- Old farmhouse openings squared and flashed
Farmhouse covers two different houses. The first is the modern farmhouse: a new or recent build with board and batten siding, black windows, a gable over the porch and a door that is a plain shaker panel, a half lite with a two-over-two or four-lite grille, or a cross-buck lower half with glass above. Black, white or a dark green, with wide flat trim and a simple black lever. The second is the real farmhouse, 1900 to 1940, with a tall narrow door, a transom, wavy floors and an opening that was never square to begin with.
On the new house the job is mostly choosing. Smooth or woodgrain fiberglass from options such as Therma-Tru, ProVia, Masonite or JELD-WEN in a factory color, with the glass and grille picked to match the window grilles, and flat stock trim sized to the window trim. A matching sidelite or a pair of them is common. On the old house the job is mostly the opening. The old frame comes out, the rough opening is measured at top and bottom and both sides, and the new prehung door is set plumb in a sill pan even when the floor and the wall are not. Where the old door was taller than today's standard, the door is ordered as a custom height or the head is framed down and trimmed.
Old farmhouse walls are often thicker than a modern frame wall, so the jamb is ordered deeper or extended, and the wind on an open site is the reason we foam the full depth of the frame and seal the exterior with backer rod where the gap is wide. A storm door is a good second layer on a door with no porch roof, and we size it to the new frame. 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 outside and inside, and a wide shot of the front of the house
- Style: shaker panel, cross-buck, half lite or three-quarter lite, and the grille pattern
- Color and material: smooth or woodgrain fiberglass, factory finish or painted
- Whether you want a sidelite or a pair, and a storm door
- On an old farmhouse: the wall thickness at the door if you can measure it, or a photo of the jamb edge
What JMB supplies
- Measurement of the opening at top, middle and bottom and the order for a prehung farmhouse door
- Removal and haul-away of the old door, frame and trim
- Check of the sill, subfloor and jamb bottoms once the old frame is out, quoted from the photos
- Sill pan, flashing tape, low-expansion foam, backer rod and exterior sealant
- Deeper jamb or jamb extensions for a thick old wall
- Wide flat exterior trim and interior casing sized to the windows
- Lockset 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:
- Shaker, cross-buck or lite layout, and the grille pattern in the glass
- Factory color vs. painted on site
- One or two sidelites ordered with the door
- An out-of-square or custom-height opening on an old farmhouse
- Deeper jamb for a thick wall and wide flat trim inside and out
- Rot at the sill or jamb bottoms after decades of no sill pan
- Storm door, quoted as a separate line
- Painting on site, quoted as a separate line
On an old farmhouse send a photo of the door with a level held against the jamb, and one of the threshold from outside, so we can see how far out of square it is.
How long it takes
One prehung door on a new or recent house: most of a day. An old farmhouse opening that needs squaring, a deeper jamb or sill framing: a full day, sometimes a second morning for trim.
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
Shaker panel, no glass
One or two flat recessed panels with square edges and no glass. The plainest farmhouse door and the warmest. Light comes from a sidelite or the window next to the entry.
Half lite with grille
Glass in the top half with a two-over-two, four-lite or six-lite grille between the panes, shaker panel below. The most ordered farmhouse layout. The grille is picked to match the windows.
Cross-buck lower half
An X pattern of raised boards on the lower half with glass above, the pattern from old barn and granary doors. Fiberglass versions carry the look without the wood upkeep.
Old farmhouse, custom height
A door ordered taller than standard for a 1900s opening, or the head framed down to take a standard door with a new transom above. We measure and show you both before ordering.
Farmhouse Front Door Replacement — Shaker Panels, Half Lite, Flat Trim: questions, answered
What does a farmhouse front door look like?
Plain and square. A flat shaker panel or two below, glass in the top half with a simple grille, or a cross-buck X pattern on the lower half with glass above. Wide flat trim around it, usually in white, black or a dark green, with a plain black or bronze lever. It matches board and batten siding and windows with grilles.
Can you replace the front door on a 100 year old farmhouse?
Yes. The old frame comes out and the rough opening is measured at the top, middle and bottom, because old openings are rarely square. A new prehung door is set plumb in a sill pan even when the wall and floor lean. If the old door was taller than today's standard, we order a custom height or frame the head down and add a transom.
My farmhouse walls are thicker than normal, does that matter for a new door?
Yes. Many old farmhouses have plaster over thick framing or a double wall, so a standard jamb is not deep enough to reach the inside face. We order a deeper jamb or add jamb extensions so the casing sits flat. Measure from the outside face of the siding to the inside face of the plaster at the door, or send a photo of the jamb edge.
Should the grille in the door glass match my windows?
It should. A two-over-two grille in the door next to six-lite windows looks off from the street. Send a photo of a front window and we pick a door glass grille in the same pattern and bar width. On most lines the grille is between the panes of glass, so there is nothing to clean around.
Do I need a storm door on a farmhouse front door?
On an open site with wind and no porch roof, a storm door is a good second layer against snow, rain and cold. On a door under a deep porch it is optional. We size the storm door to the new frame and quote it as its own line, and a dark door in full sun gets a storm door that vents or no storm door.
Can I get a sidelite or two with a farmhouse door?
Yes. A single sidelite or a pair with the same grille as the door is common on new modern farmhouses. On an old farmhouse the opening usually only fits the door, and the transom above it is where the extra glass goes. We measure and tell you what fits before ordering.
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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