Six-Panel Steel Door With One Sidelite
The front door has one skinny window next to it and the whole thing is cold and rotted at the bottom.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-250-3621.
A six panel steel door with one sidelite is one prehung unit: the insulated steel door and a narrow fixed glass panel beside it share a frame and sill, so the whole thing is set, flashed and trimmed as one opening. JMB Builders measures it, orders it with the sidelite on the side you choose, and installs it across the Twin Cities metro. Send photos and we reply within one business day, or book a free in-home estimate.
- Door and sidelite share one frame and sill
- Sidelite on hinge side or latch side
- Tempered glass in the sidelite
A door with a single sidelite is common on split-levels, ramblers and 1970s to 1990s two-stories where the entry wall was wide enough for a little glass but not for two sidelites. The sidelite is a fixed panel in its own narrow frame, mulled to the door frame at the factory, and both share one sill. When the sill rots or the glass fogs, the door and the sidelite are replaced together as one prehung unit, not as two pieces.
The six-panel steel door is the plain, tough choice: an insulated steel slab with six raised panels, painted, with a lockset and deadbolt. Paired with a sidelite it gives light in the entry without glass in the door itself. The sidelite can be full-length clear glass, a half-lite with a panel below, or privacy or decorative glass, and the door can also take a small lite or a half-lite if you want more light.
The install is a normal entry door replacement with a wider opening: the old unit out, the sill and jamb feet checked for rot, a sill pan under the full width, the unit set plumb and square, foamed, sealed and trimmed. The sidelite glass is tempered, since it sits beside a door.
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 763-250-3621.
What you supply
- Photos of the door and sidelite from inside and out, and a close-up of the sill
- Which side the sidelite is on now, and whether you want to keep it there
- Sidelite glass: clear, privacy or decorative; full-length or half
- Door color or a primed door, and the hardware finish
What JMB supplies
- Measure of the full opening, the swing and the jamb width
- The door-and-sidelite unit, ordered through ABC Supply as one prehung frame
- Removal and haul-away of the old unit; rot at the sill, jamb feet or subfloor repaired
- Sill pan the full width, flashing tape, low-expansion foam, sealant and shims
- Brickmould or exterior trim and interior casing around door and sidelite
- Lockset and deadbolt installed and adjusted
- Painting quoted as a separate line, or leave it primed and caulked
- 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:
- Sidelite glass: clear vs. privacy vs. decorative, and full-length vs. half-lite
- Door with or without its own lite, and factory paint vs. primed
- Rot at the sill or subfloor under a wider unit, once the old one is out
- Siding type and exterior trim: brickmould, flat trim or capping
- Hardware: basic lockset vs. handleset or smart lock
- Painting of the door, sidelite frame and trim, quoted as a separate line
Send one photo of the whole unit from outside and one of the sill from inside. The sidelite side and the sill condition are the two things that set the quote.
How long it takes
One door with sidelite in a sound opening: about a day on site. Add time for rot repair. The unit is ordered after the measure; some plain-glass versions are stocked, others are built to order.
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
Sidelite on the hinge side
Glass beside the hinges. The door swings away from the sidelite, and the latch side sits against the wall. The common layout when the entry closet or a wall is on the latch side.
Sidelite on the latch side
Glass beside the handle, where you can see who is at the door from inside. Decorative or privacy glass is worth considering here since the sidelite is at hand height.
Full-length sidelite
Clear or textured glass from the sill to the head. The most light in the entry; tempered as standard.
Half-lite sidelite
A raised panel below and glass above, matching the six-panel door. Less light, more privacy, and it hides shoes and boots in the entry.
Six-Panel Steel Door With One Sidelite: questions, answered
Which side should the sidelite go on?
Usually the same side it is on now, since the wall and the swing are already set up for it. If you are changing it, put the sidelite on the latch side if you want to see who is at the door from inside, or on the hinge side if the latch side wall is where the closet or light switch is. Either side is a normal order.
Does a door with one sidelite fit where a plain door was?
Not without widening the opening. A door with a sidelite is about a foot wider than a door alone, so the header and framing have to be changed to fit it. If you have a plain door and want a sidelite, we quote the opening change with the door. If you already have one sidelite, the new unit is ordered to the existing opening.
Is the sidelite glass tempered?
Yes. Glass beside a door is treated as a hazardous location, and sidelites come from the factory with tempered safety glass. Decorative and privacy glass sidelites are tempered too. Each pane carries a small etched mark in the corner.
Can the sidelite match the six panels on the door?
Yes. A half-lite sidelite has a raised panel below the glass in the same profile as the door panels, so the bottom of the unit reads as one piece. A full-length glass sidelite skips the panel and gives more light.
Is a six-panel steel door with one sidelite in stock?
Sometimes, in a common size, swing and sidelite side with clear glass. Anything else, such as a different jamb width, privacy glass, a half-lite sidelite or a factory color, is built to order. We tell you which when you pick the glass and side.
Does the sidelite open?
Not on the standard unit; the sidelite is fixed glass. A venting sidelite that opens like a narrow casement with a screen is available on some lines as an upgrade. See our page on entry doors with venting sidelites if you want air through the entry.
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 27, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All doors pages
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