Cape Cod House Window Replacement — Front Pairs, Gable Ends, Shutters
A symmetrical little house with two windows each side of the door, six-over-six sashes that are painted shut, and shutters that have to go back on straight.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
Cape Cod house window replacement keeps the proportions that make it a Cape: a matched pair of double hungs each side of the front door, small windows in the gable ends upstairs, and shutters sized to the sash. JMB Builders replaces them across the Twin Cities metro, same grille pattern front to back, shutters taken down and refit. Priced per window, quoted from photos or at a free in-home estimate, with a reply within one business day.
- Priced per window, front, sides and gables
- Grille pattern and proportions kept front to back
- Shutters taken down and refit to the new windows
The Cape Cod is the post-war starter house of the Twin Cities: a story-and-a-half box with a steep roof, a centered front door, two windows on each side of it and small windows in the gable ends upstairs. The look depends on symmetry and on the windows being the same size, the same grille pattern, and lined up with the shutters. Replace one pair with a different grille or a wider frame and the whole front is off.
The original windows are wood double hungs, often six-over-six or six-over-one, with aluminum storm-and-screen combinations added later. The front pairs are the same size; the sides and back are often a mix; the gable-end windows upstairs are small and sit high in the knee-wall rooms. Many Capes also have a 1950s picture window where one front pair used to be, which can be put back to a pair or kept.
Shutters come off before the windows and go back after. Fixed shutters are usually screwed through the siding and sized to the old sash, so they are checked against the new frame width and remounted straight. The dormers on a Cape, when it has them, are roof work and are covered on the story-and-a-half dormer page. 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
- Your pick of grille pattern (six-over-six, six-over-one or none), exterior color and glass
- Whether a front picture window stays or goes back to a matched pair
- Whether the shutters go back on, get replaced or come off for good
- Photos of the front from the street, each window inside, and a close-up of a sill
What JMB supplies
- In-home measure of every opening before anything is ordered
- The windows, ordered in one grille pattern and color so the front stays matched
- Shutters removed, saved and remounted straight, or new shutters sized to the new frames
- Old sashes, storms and frames out and hauled away
- Rot repair at the sills, common on the sun side (quoted from the photos)
- Insert installs in sound frames, full-frame with sill pan and flashing where they are not
- Interior stops, stool and casing finished to the room
- Exterior capping or new trim to finish the outside
- Photos of the finished windows in your job folder
How it is priced: per window
Quoted in writing from your photos, with a reply within one business day. What moves the number:
- Insert vs. full-frame on each opening
- Grilles: simulated divided lite vs. grilles between the glass
- Shutters refit vs. new shutters sized to the new frames
- Putting a 1950s picture window back to a matched pair, which means framing
- Gable-end windows upstairs reached from ladders or a lift
- How many windows: the front four, or the whole house
Send one photo of the whole front from the street, one of each window inside, and a close-up of a front sill. Say whether the shutters go back on.
How long it takes
The front four windows of a Cape: one day. The whole house, typically ten to fourteen windows: two to three days, with every opening closed up each night.
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
Front pairs matched
The two windows each side of the door replaced as a set, same size, same grille, same color, so the front reads as it was built. Shutters remounted to the new frame width.
Picture window back to a pair
Where a 1950s picture window replaced one front pair, the opening is reframed for two double hungs to match the other side. Siding is patched at the new jambs.
Gable-end windows upstairs
The small windows high in each gable, lighting the knee-wall rooms. Replaced in the same grille pattern, reached from ladders or a lift, with egress checked if the room is a bedroom.
Whole Cape, one order
Front, sides, back and gables in one order and one color, so nothing is mismatched. The second and later windows cost less than the first.
Cape Cod House Window Replacement — Front Pairs, Gable Ends, Shutters: questions, answered
What grille pattern should replacement windows on a Cape Cod have?
Whatever the house had, in most cases: six-over-six or six-over-one divided lites on the front. New windows get them as simulated divided lites, with bars on the glass, or as grilles between the panes that are easier to clean. The front windows all get the same pattern. The back of the house can go plain if you want more view and less to clean.
Do the shutters have to come off to replace Cape Cod windows?
Yes. Fixed shutters are screwed through the siding on each side of the window and are in the way of the exterior trim. They come off before the windows, are saved, and go back on after, remounted straight and checked against the new frame width. If they are rotted or the wrong size for the sash, new shutters sized to the new windows are an option.
Can a picture window on a Cape Cod be changed back to two windows?
Yes. The opening is reframed with a new header and a center stud for two double hungs the same size as the pair on the other side of the door. The siding is patched at the new jambs and the inside gets new casing. It restores the symmetry, and it is quoted as framing plus two windows.
Are the small upstairs windows on a Cape Cod egress windows?
Often not. The gable-end windows in the knee-wall rooms are small, and if the room is a bedroom at least one window has to give the clear opening the code calls for. We measure the existing openings and tell you whether a bigger unit, or a casement in the same opening, is needed. A casement gives the largest clear opening for a small frame.
Should Cape Cod windows be inserts or full-frame?
Inserts where the frames are sound, which keeps the interior casing and is faster. Full-frame where the sills are rotted, common on the sunny side of these houses after seventy years, or where the storm windows let water sit on the sill. Most Capes end up with a mix, decided window by window at the in-home estimate.
Do you replace the dormer windows on a Cape Cod too?
Yes, but it is roof work as much as window work: the dormer windows sit above a steep roof and are flashed into it. That job is on our story-and-a-half dormer page. The front pairs, side windows and gable ends on this page are reached from the ground or a ladder, and the two jobs are often done in 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 10, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All windows pages
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