Entry Door Replacement in Apple Valley, MN
Your Apple Valley two-story has the half-round window over the front door that every house on the street got in 1989.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-250-3621.
Entry door replacement in Apple Valley MN is often a 1980s–90s front door under a half-round transom, worn out while the glass around it is fine. JMB Builders measures the whole opening, orders a door-only unit to fit under the kept transom or a new door, sidelite and transom unit, sets it in a sill pan with flashing, and trims it. Priced per door. Send photos and we reply within one business day, or book a free in-home estimate.
- Priced per door, prehung unit included
- Door only under a kept transom, or the whole unit
- Sidelites and half-rounds ordered as one when replaced
Walk an Apple Valley street built between 1975 and 1995 and you see the same entry over and over: a six-panel steel door, a half-round or elliptical transom above it, often a sidelite or two, all in one tall frame. Thirty years on, the door has bowed and rusted at the bottom, the weatherstrip is flat, and the threshold has worn through its finish. The transom and sidelite glass is usually still clear and sealed.
That gives you two honest choices. The first is a door-only replacement: a new prehung door unit sized to fit under the existing transom and beside the existing sidelites, with the mull between them resealed. It keeps the glass you have and costs less. The second is replacing the whole assembly, door, sidelites and half-round, as one new unit, which is the answer when the sidelite frames have rotted at the bottom, the transom seal has fogged, or you want a different look. We measure the full opening and quote both.
Either way the old unit comes out, the sill and the jamb feet are checked and repaired, and the new one is set in a sill pan with flashing, foamed and screwed into framing, with the strike and weatherstrip adjusted so the deadbolt pulls the slab tight. Apple Valley is about an hour from Zimmerman, scheduled as a full-day trip. Our job records show 1 install in Apple Valley, Mar 2026. 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 763-250-3621.
What you supply
- Door style, material, glass and color
- Keep the transom and sidelites, or replace the whole unit
- Hardware finish, or your own handleset and deadbolt
- Photos of the full entry from the driveway, the door from inside, the threshold, and the bottom of each sidelite
What JMB supplies
- A measure of the full opening and the order through ABC Supply, with options such as ProVia, Therma-Tru or Masonite
- A quote both ways: door only under the kept glass, or door, sidelites and transom as one unit
- Old door or whole unit removed and hauled away
- Sill, subfloor and jamb-foot rot repaired as found
- Sill pan, flashing tape, low-expansion foam and exterior sealant, and the mull to the kept glass resealed
- Unit set plumb and screwed into framing, strike and weatherstrip adjusted
- Casing inside, brickmould outside, and finished photos 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:
- Door only under the kept transom vs. the whole door, sidelite and transom unit
- Steel vs. fiberglass, glass lites and finish
- One sidelite, two, or none, and the half-round above
- Rot at the sill, jamb feet or sidelite bottoms once the old unit is out
- Exterior trim against vinyl, lap or brick
- Handleset, deadbolt or smart lock
- Painting or staining, quoted as a separate line
Send a photo of the whole entry from the driveway and close-ups of the threshold and the bottom corners of any sidelite. Those tell us whether door-only will work.
How long it takes
A door-only swap under a kept transom: about a day on site. A full door, sidelite and transom unit: a day to a day and a half. Lead time on a tall unit 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.
Entry Door Replacement in Apple Valley, MN: questions, answered
Can you replace just the door and keep the half-round window above it?
Usually, yes. The door is a separate prehung unit under the transom, joined at a mull. We pull the door unit, leave the transom and sidelites in place, set the new door under them in a sill pan and reseal the mull. It works when the transom and sidelite frames are sound and dry at the bottom; if they are not, the whole unit is the better answer and we say so.
Will a new door match the old sidelites and transom?
A white or almond door matches most 1980s–90s glass surrounds well, and the grille pattern in a new door lite can be ordered to echo the transom. A dark door color against white sidelites is a common look and a cheap way to update the entry. If a perfect match matters, replacing the whole unit is the only way to get it.
My sidelites are rotted at the bottom. Does that change the plan?
Yes. Sidelite frames on these units are wood, and the bottoms wick water from the sill like a door jamb does. Once they are soft, patching them under a new door is a short-term fix. The door, sidelites and transom are ordered as one new prehung unit and set together on a sill pan, and that is what we quote.
Is a permit needed to replace an entry door in Apple Valley?
The City of Apple Valley building department sets that rule, and a change to the opening size or the framing is what usually brings a permit into it. We check for your address and pull a permit when one is needed.
Steel or fiberglass for the replacement door?
Both are made to fit under a kept transom. Steel is the lower cost and matches what was there. Fiberglass does not rust at the bottom edge, which is where most of these steel doors failed, and takes a dark color on a sunny front without warping. For a south- or west-facing entry we usually suggest fiberglass.
Do you replace entry doors in Burnsville and Eagan too?
Yes. We replace entry doors across the south metro, including Burnsville, Eagan and Bloomington, on scheduled full-day trips from Zimmerman. Send photos of the door and we reply within one business day.
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 by city pages
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