Door Repair, Installation & Glass in Duluth, MN & Superior, WI
Doors that latch, windows that seal, glass replaced clean, and locks changed after a move — the openings in your house, handled.
Twin Ports Contracting & Repair installs and repairs doors and windows in Duluth, MN and Superior, WI: sticking and drafty doors, locks and deadbolts, storm doors, insert replacement windows and broken glass. Our planning ranges are $180–$350 for a prehung interior door and $350–$800 for an exterior door, plus the door.
Updated by Twin Ports Contracting & Repair, Duluth, MN
Every Opening in the House Is Ours
Doors and windows are where houses leak — heat, water, security, and patience. A door that won't latch, a window painted shut since the Nixon administration, a cracked pane, a draft you can feel from the couch: all of it is fixable, and most of it in a single visit.
We install and repair interior and exterior doors, swap broken glass and hardware, and handle locks — new deadbolts, full changes after a move or a tenant, and smart locks tied to your phone. Every exterior install gets flashed, foamed, and sealed for a climate that hunts for gaps. Planning a full window replacement in Duluth? That has its own guide, with permits, lead times and costs.
What Our Door & Window Work Covers
- Interior door installationPrehung and slab, closet, barn & pocket doors
- Exterior door installationEntry, back & service doors — flashed and sealed
- Storm door installationThe Northland essential, closers adjusted right
- Window installation & replacementInsert replacements in existing openings
- New glass installationBroken panes, insulated glass units, sash glass
- Glass servicesMirrors hung, shelves cut-to-fit, cabinet glass, screens
- Lock changes & installationDeadbolts, knobs, handlesets — keyed to match
- Smart lock installationCodes for family, logs for landlords
- Door repairSticking, sagging, latch & strike alignment, hinges
- Window repairSashes unstuck, balances, cranks, locks, glazing
- Weatherstripping & sweepsSeal the gaps that eat your heating bill
- Screen repair & replacementRe-screened for the two months we need them
Common Door & Window Projects
| Project | What's included | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Exterior door replacement | Remove, set, shim, flash, foam, hardware, seal | The best-feeling upgrade a drafty entry can get |
| Move-in lock change | All exterior locks swapped or re-keyed, keyed alike | Send lock photos before closing so the parts are ready |
| Broken pane / IGU swap | Measure, order matched unit, install & seal | Foggy double-pane glass means a failed seal — replaceable |
| Winter draft hunt | Doors & windows sealed, swept, weatherstripped | Start with the draft you can feel from the couch |
Ranges for door & window jobs sit in the handyman cost guide; access, materials and the finish you pick move the number, and the flat written quote is the figure you approve.
For local prices, see the door lock & deadbolt replacement cost guide and the window replacement cost guide.
Door Repair: Doors That Stick, Drag or Won't Latch
A door that sticks, drags or won't latch is usually a sound door in a frame that has moved. Older Duluth homes settle, frost heave shifts porches and the doors framed into them, and summer humidity swells wood doors that shrink back once the furnace runs. The fix starts at the hinges: tightening stripped screws, driving a long screw through the top hinge into the framing to pull a sagging door back up, or shimming a hinge. Then the strike plate moves so the latch catches, and an edge gets planed only if the gap still won't even out, with the bare wood sealed afterward.
Repair stops making sense when the door itself is the problem: a split or delaminating panel, rot along the bottom of an exterior door or its jamb, or a frame too far out of square to plane true. A new slab can be fitted to a sound frame; when the frame has failed too, a prehung door replaces both, and an exterior one gets flashed, foamed and sealed to stay tight through freeze-thaw. Storm doors count too: a closer and wind chain set right help keep a lake gust from wrenching the door open. Adjustments are short jobs that pair well with other small repairs.
Sliding Patio Door Repair: Rollers, Tracks and Replacement
A patio door that grinds, jumps its track or takes two hands to open usually needs new rollers or a clean, straight track. The rollers sit in the bottom of the sliding panel, and most have an adjustment screw. The repair means lifting the panel out, cleaning and straightening the track, fitting new rollers and setting the height so the door glides and the lock meets its keeper. In a Duluth or Superior winter, meltwater sitting in a clogged track can freeze the panel to the sill, so the weep holes get cleared too. Handles, locks and screen-door rollers can be replaced on the same visit.
Replace the whole door when the sill or frame is rotting, water comes in under it during rain or snowmelt, or no replacement rollers fit it anymore. Fogged glass alone isn't a reason, since the glass unit can often be replaced by itself. A new door in the same opening gets a flashed sill before it's set, then foam and sealant around the frame; widening the opening means new framing and a new header, which is a bigger job. If the deck outside is soft or pulling away from the house, pair the door with deck threshold and landing repair so the threshold and landing get fixed together.
Window Repair for Drafty, Stuck or Rotted Windows
Start with the symptom, because each one has its own fix. A double-hung sash that won't stay up needs new balances, a casement that won't close tight usually needs a new operator or hinges, and a draft around the sash calls for weatherstripping. In Duluth's older neighborhoods and Superior's older frame houses, original wood windows are often painted shut or losing their glazing putty, and breaking the paint seal and re-glazing can keep them working for years. Frost on the room side of the glass in January is mostly indoor humidity condensing on cold glass, so by itself it isn't a sign the window has failed.
Window replacement makes sense when the sash or sill is rotting, the window still leaks air after repair, or you're fixing the same unit every year. An insert replacement sets a new window inside the existing frame and usually leaves your interior trim and plaster alone; our planning range is $400–$900 per window, plus the window. When the frame is soft or water has gotten behind the siding, full-frame replacement takes the opening back to the rough framing so it can be repaired and flashed, and costs more. A new egress window for a basement bedroom is covered under basement finishing.
Tempered Glass and Window Glass Replacement: When Safety Glass Is Required
Window glass has to be tempered or laminated safety glass only in the spots the code calls hazardous locations. In Duluth, the Minnesota Residential Code (the 2018 IRC as adopted by Minnesota Rules 1309) lists them in Section R308.4: glass in doors; glass within 24 inches of a door with its bottom edge under 60 inches from the floor; panes over 9 square feet whose bottom edge is under 18 inches and top edge over 36 inches from the floor, with a walking surface within 36 inches; glass within 60 inches of a tub or shower with its bottom edge under 60 inches; and glass near stairs and landings (R308.4). Safety glass carries a permanent mark in one corner.
Superior follows Wisconsin's Uniform Dwelling Code, whose list is similar but measured differently: safety glass is required in sidelights within 2 feet of a door and 5 feet of the floor, in walls within 3 feet of a tub or shower rim and 5 feet above its drain, near stair treads and landings, and in guards, while panes 8 inches or less in their smallest dimension are exempt (SPS 321.05(3)).
Federal rules require safety glass in doors, including storm and patio doors, in both states. If a pane sits near one of those spots, we measure before ordering; Superior's building inspection office has the final word on an older home.
Replacing just the glass is often the better call. A cracked pane in an old wood sash gets new glass and glazing putty; a foggy double-pane unit gets a new sealed unit made to size, set into the existing sash. Tempered glass can't be cut after it's made, so a replacement pane in a hazardous location is measured and ordered, and the opening is boarded or taped until it arrives. If the new glass would cost close to a new insert window, replacing the window is the better value. Replacing and re-glazing a broken pane, and replacing screens, need no permit in Superior (City of Superior).
Repair, Replace or Call a Specialist? Doors, Windows and Glass
Fixing hardware or seals is often enough. Replacement means a permit check, and old paint around the opening may change how it's done.
| What you're seeing | Likely cause | Usual fix | Who handles it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Door rubs, sticks or won't latch | Loose hinges, swelling or a settled frame | Tighten hinges, plane, move the strike | Us |
| Fogged glass between double panes | Failed insulated glass seal | Replace the glass unit; the sash can stay | Us |
| Drafty exterior door at the bottom or edge | Worn sweep, weatherstripping or threshold | Replace seals and adjust; swap the door if worn out | Us; expect a permit for replacement |
| Window won't open or stay up | Broken balance, paint-sealed sash or warped frame | Loosen the sash, replace the balance or hardware | Us |
| Water or rot at the bottom of a window | Failed flashing or caulk, long-term leakage | Open it up, repair the rot, re-flash and replace | Us; check what your address needs |
| Broken glass in a patio door or tub enclosure | Impact; safety glass may be required | Board it up now and order matched safety glass | Us, or a glass specialist for large custom units |
Windows That Face Lake Superior Winters
A northeast gale off the lake finds every failed seal in the house. We install and seal openings for real Northland exposure — proper flashing, low-expansion foam, exterior-grade sealants — and we're straight with you about when a century-old window wants repair and weatherstripping instead of an expensive full replacement.
Door and Window Work in Duluth, Superior and Nearby Towns
Hanging a door or setting a replacement window is the same carpentry anywhere, but whether it needs a permit, which panes must be safety glass and how old paint is handled all change with the address. Duluth, Hermantown, Proctor, Cloquet and Superior each require a permit to replace windows, some even when the size stays the same, while rural Carlton County needs none for the swap. Older houses bring federal lead rules, and lake exposure changes how an opening is flashed. Here is what applies where, with the source for each rule; we check what your address needs before we quote.
Door Installation and Window Repair or Replacement in Duluth, MN
Duluth lists window and door replacement among the work that needs a building permit (City of Duluth), and replacing windows in existing openings may qualify for an express permit on the city’s ePlace portal, which needs no structural plans (City of Duluth).
Bedroom windows have a useful exception: Minnesota’s residential code exempts a replacement window from the egress size and sill-height rules when it is the maker’s largest standard size that fits the existing frame or rough opening and opens the same way or wider (R310.2.5 as adopted in Minnesota). That keeps an old bedroom window from forcing a bigger hole in a plaster wall.
House age is the other Duluth factor. An estimated 43% of the city’s housing was built before 1940 (Maxfield Research for the City of Duluth), and in any home built before 1978, the EPA’s lead rule treats window replacement as covered work no matter how little paint is disturbed (EPA). On those houses, lead-safe work practices, containment and cleanup belong in the plan, and your written quote says how they are handled.
Lakeside, West Duluth and Morgan Park
The neighborhood changes the opening, too. Lakeside and Lester Park run along Lake Superior from 40th to 60th Avenue East (Wikipedia), and lake-facing windows and doors there take wind-driven rain, so a replacement gets a sill pan and flashing lapped behind the siding rather than relying on a bead of caulk. In West Duluth, where a large share of homes, likely a majority, were built before 1939 (Wikipedia), original wood sashes are often painted shut or losing their glazing putty, and unsticking and re-glazing them is the first option we price.
Morgan Park is its own case: the neighborhood is known for its concrete houses (Duluth News Tribune). A window or door set in a concrete wall is fastened with masonry screws or to wood bucks rather than nailed into studs, so an insert replacement inside the existing frame is often the cleaner route, and a full-frame job adds sealing the joint where the new frame meets the concrete. Send a photo of the opening from outside so we can see the wall.
Door Installation and Window Repair or Replacement in Superior, WI
Superior’s Permits Not Required list covers re-glazing a broken pane, new screens, weatherstripping, a new screen or storm door and interior doors without a required fire rating, but not replacement windows or exterior doors (City of Superior), and the city asks for 10 business days to review a complete permit application (City of Superior). Its safety-glass rules come from Wisconsin’s Uniform Dwelling Code, measured differently from Minnesota’s: sidelights within 2 feet of a door and 5 feet of the floor, and glass within 3 feet of a tub or shower rim and 5 feet above its drain, must be safety glass (SPS 321.05(3)).
The ground causes the other Superior problem. The Wisconsin DNR describes poorly drained red clays in and around the city (Wisconsin DNR), and wet clay heaves with frost, so a door that binds every winter and loosens up in spring is usually a frame that moves, not a bad door. We adjust hinges and strikes and check the sill before recommending a new unit. If the address is in the Village of Superior rather than the city, the village office issues the building permit (Village of Superior).
Door Installation in Hermantown, Proctor and Rice Lake
Hermantown requires a building permit to replace windows or doors even like for like (City of Hermantown), and Proctor requires one too, at a small fixed fee when the opening size stays the same (City of Proctor).
The houses differ from Duluth’s: the median Hermantown home was built in 1993, against 1951 for Duluth (Census Reporter), so fogged double-pane units, worn window balances and dated hollow-core interior doors are the likelier jobs there, not painted-shut wood sashes. Rice Lake is its own city with its own permit office, so a replacement there is checked with the city. Proctor's permit and fee details are on our door replacement in Proctor, MN section.
Cloquet and Esko
Cloquet requires a permit for building alterations including windows, siding and roofing, storm-damage repairs included (City of Cloquet). The city burned almost flat in the fire of October 12, 1918 (MNopedia), so its older houses mostly date from the rebuilding that followed, and those are still pre-1978 homes where the EPA lead rule covers window replacement. Just outside town the rules flip: rural Carlton County, including Mahtowa, needs no zoning permit to replace doors or windows and does not enforce the State Building Code (Carlton County), while Esko and Harney get building permits from the Town of Thomson.
North Shore and the Townships Around Duluth
St. Louis County does not administer the State Building Code in the townships it zones, such as Twig, Saginaw, Fredenberg and Canyon; its land use permit covers building or adding to structures and changing a structure’s height, pitch or projection (St. Louis County). A same-size window swap changes none of those, but a bay or bow window that projects past the wall does, so that one is checked with the county first. French River and the Scenic Drive shore fall under the Town of Duluth and its Structure Land Use Permit instead.
Past the Lake County line, Knife River and Larsmont need a Lake County land use permit for changes to a building’s outer dimensions, and the county names enclosed entryways as an example (Lake County), so enclosing a front entry around a new door is a permit question there even when a straight door swap is not. Openings facing the lake take the brunt of wind off Lake Superior, which is where a sill pan and careful flashing earn their keep; inside Two Harbors, the city issues its own permits.
Look up your town in the Minnesota or Wisconsin permit office list to see who handles door & window permits, how to reach them and what they exempt.
Getting a Door & Window Quote and How the Job Runs
What to Send for a Door or Window Quote
Photos do most of the work on this quote. Send one of the whole opening from inside and one from outside, then a close-up of the problem: the gap at the latch, the worn track, the fogged glass or the soft sill. On a patio door or window, check the frame edge for a label or the glass corner for an etched logo, since the brand tells us which parts fit. Add a rough width and height, and say whether you already have the new unit.
Before requesting a quote, include: Inside and outside photos of the whole opening; A close-up of the problem and any brand label; Rough width and height, and whether you have the new unit. See the repair-list planning guide for a practical way to organize the information.
How a Door & Window Job Works
- Send the details. Call or text (715) 919-7956, or send photos and a short description of the door & window job through the quote form.
- Get a flat written quote. You see the full price in writing first; if someone has to look at the job, the $95 visit fee is waived when you approve the work.
- Pick a day. We fit the job into the days that work for you.
- Work done, then a walkthrough. After cleanup we walk through the door & window work with you, and our written guarantee means that if the workmanship fails, we come back and redo it at no charge.
Door & Window Questions
Do I need a permit to replace windows or doors in Duluth or Superior?
Yes, in both cities. The City of Duluth lists window and door replacement among the work that requires a building permit. The City of Superior's Permits Not Required list covers only re-glazing broken panes, new screens, painting trim and installing screen or storm doors, so a replacement window or exterior door needs a permit there too. We check what your address needs, and who the office requires to pull the permit, before we quote.
How much does it cost to install a door?
Our planning ranges are $180–$350 for a prehung interior door, $350–$800 for an exterior door and $200–$420 for a storm door, plus the door itself. The frame decides the rest: a rotted sill or jamb, an out-of-square opening, new trim, and the flashing and sealing on an exterior door all add time. Send photos of the opening from both sides; the cost guide lists more planning ranges.
How long does door installation take?
A prehung interior door takes one to two hours. An exterior door is usually a half day, because the opening gets flashed, shimmed, foamed and sealed properly. An out-of-square opening in an older Duluth home can add time, and we'll tell you at the quote if yours is one of them.
Does door installation include the trim?
It depends on what's there now, and your quote spells it out. If the existing casing comes off clean, we can reinstall it around the new door; in older homes with hard-to-match fir or oak, saving it is usually worth the care. New casing is quoted as its own line. Painting or staining can be added too, though drying time may mean the finishing happens on a second visit.
Why does door installation cost so much?
Because a door that works for decades has to be plumb, level and square in an opening that often isn't. Most of the time goes into shimming, adjusting the reveal so it closes evenly, and, for exterior doors, flashing and sealing so water and cold stay out. A door that's hung quickly tends to rub, drift open or leak air within a season.
Just bought a house — can you change every lock in one visit?
Usually, if the hardware is ready. Send photos of each lock and its brand, and tell us whether you want them rekeyed or replaced, so parts and keyed-alike sets are on hand before the visit. Rekeying keeps the hardware you have and changes the key; replacing makes sense for worn or mismatched locks. A smart lock or keypad on the front door can go in during the same visit.
How much does it cost to change a lock?
Our planning range is $95–$220 per door to replace a lock or deadbolt. Rekeying an existing lock is often simpler than replacing it, while a door that needs new holes bored or the strike moved adds time. Several locks keyed alike on one visit cost less each than separate trips. Send photos and the lock brand, and the written quote itemizes the hardware.
My double-pane window is foggy inside. New window?
Not necessarily. Fog or haze between the panes means the seal on the insulated glass unit has failed, and in a sound frame the glass unit alone can usually be replaced for far less than a new window. We measure the unit, order a matched replacement, then set and seal it in the existing sash. If the frame or sash is rotted, a new window may be the better value, and we quote both options.
Can you fix a door that won't latch anymore?
Usually, and it's often a quick fix. A door that stops latching has usually shifted as the house settled or the seasons changed. Tightening or shimming the hinges, moving the strike plate or planing a rubbing edge brings it back in line. In older Duluth homes, a door that sticks every winter and loosens every summer gets its planed edge sealed so it stops swelling. It bundles well with other items on a repair list.
What delays a window or door order in Duluth or Superior?
Most of the wait is in the order, since replacement windows and doors are made to your measurements and lead times depend on the manufacturer, and in permit review. Both cities require a permit for window replacement, and the City of Superior asks applicants to allow 10 business days for review. Dates and sequence are laid out in your quote.
Why won't my door latch when I close it?
Usually the latch bolt no longer lines up with the hole in the strike plate, because the door has sagged or the frame has shifted. Look at the strike plate: scuff marks above or below the hole show which way it's off. Other causes are a latch that sticks from paint or a worn mechanism, weatherstripping so thick it pushes the door back, or a strike hole that's too shallow. Tightening hinge screws or moving the strike fixes most of them.
How do I tell if a sagging door is the hinges or the frame?
Start with the top hinge. If its screws are loose or spin without tightening, or the door lifts when you pull up on the handle, the hinges are the problem, and longer screws into the framing usually fix it. If the hinges are tight but the gap around the door is uneven, the head jamb is out of level, or plaster is cracking at the door's corners, the frame or the house has moved, and the jamb needs re-shimming or the opening needs carpentry work.
How do you fix a door that won't stay open or swings shut?
A door that drifts open or shut on its own is hanging in a frame that isn't plumb, so gravity swings it. The lasting fix is to re-shim the hinge-side jamb until it's plumb. The quick fix is adding friction: pull one hinge pin, bend it very slightly, and tap it back in, or fit a hinge-pin door stop. On older Duluth and Superior homes that have settled, re-plumbing the frame often cures a sticking latch on the same door.
Will you install replacement windows I already bought?
Yes, and it's worth sending the order before you place it. Measure the opening in three places for width and height and give the smallest numbers, or we can measure for you. When the windows arrive, we check each one for damage, size and the right operating direction before an old window comes out. Our planning range is $400–$900 per window for an insert install. Replacement windows need a building permit in Duluth and Superior. The manufacturer's warranty stays with the maker.
Can window screens be repaired instead of replaced?
Yes. A torn or sagging screen in a sound frame gets new mesh and spline, which usually costs less than a new screen, and pet-resistant or finer no-see-um mesh can go in at the same time. Bent frames, cracked corners and broken tension springs are replaced. Bring the screens to a visit or have them ready, and batch them in spring so they're done before the short Duluth and Superior screen season. Sliding screen doors get new rollers on the same trip.
Can you install a dog door in an exterior door?
Usually, following the pet door maker's template and instructions, but not in the door between your house and an attached garage. In Duluth, the Minnesota Residential Code requires that door to be solid wood or solid or honeycomb-core steel at least 1-3/8 inches thick, or 20-minute fire-rated (R302.5.1). In Superior, Wisconsin requires the door and frame to be labeled for a 20-minute rating (SPS 321.08). Cutting a hole defeats that. Send a photo of the door and your pet's height.
Why won't my sliding patio door slide?
Usually dirt in the track, or rollers that have dropped out of adjustment or worn out. Andersen's care guide says a panel that moves stiffly may be dragging because it's out of adjustment: remove the caps on the bottom rail and turn the screw a notch at a time to raise it. Keep the track clean, but never lubricate the track itself, because the rollers then slide instead of roll (Andersen). In a Duluth winter, ice in a clogged track can lock the panel. See sliding door repair or replacement.
Who pays for door and lock repairs in a rental in Superior or Duluth?
Generally the landlord, unless the tenant caused the damage. Wisconsin requires landlords to keep the premises in a reasonable state of repair and make necessary structural repairs, while damage from a tenant's acts or inaction can be charged to the tenant (Wis. Stat. § 704.07). Minnesota requires landlords to keep the premises in reasonable repair, except disrepair caused by a tenant's willful, malicious or irresponsible conduct (Minn. Stat. § 504B.161). Landlords can book repairs with us directly. This isn't legal advice.
Should I call a locksmith or a handyman for a door that won't close?
Call a locksmith when the lock itself fails: a key that won't turn, a lost key or a jammed cylinder. A door that won't close or latch is usually the hinges, the strike plate or a frame that has shifted, which is carpentry, not lock work. We handle both halves: hinge and strike adjustments, plus lock or deadbolt replacement at a planning range of $95–$220 per door. In older Duluth and Superior houses, seasonal swelling and settling mean a door that latched fine in January can rub by July.
Should window replacement be capitalized or deducted?
On a rental, new windows are generally a capital improvement. The IRS treats an expense as an improvement if it betters, restores or adapts the property, and improvements are capitalized and depreciated instead of deducted as repairs (IRS Pub. 527). At home, replacing a broken pane is a repair, but replacing windows in a whole-house project is an improvement that adds to your basis (IRS Pub. 523). The federal efficiency credit covered windows placed in service before December 31, 2025 (IRS). This isn't tax advice.
How much does window replacement labor cost in Duluth?
Our planning range for installing an insert replacement window is $400–$900 per window, plus the window itself. An insert sets the new unit inside the existing frame; full-frame replacement, needed when the frame or sill is rotting, takes the opening back to the framing and costs more. Second-story access and trim or plaster repair also move the number. The handyman cost guide has an estimator for planning, and a flat written quote follows once we see the windows.
Who can fix doors near me in Duluth and Superior?
Twin Ports Contracting & Repair fixes doors in Duluth, Superior and the towns around them: doors that stick, drag, won't latch or swing shut, plus worn hinges, strikes, weatherstripping and thresholds. Most are a reset or a small part, not a new door. Text a photo of the gap at the latch side and the hinge side to (715) 919-7956; a visit, if needed, is a flat $95, waived when you approve the work, with no mileage charge.
What does door installation cost near me in Duluth or Superior?
It depends on four things: whether it is an interior or exterior door, a pre-hung unit or a slab in an existing frame, how much of the frame and trim is sound, and the hardware you choose. A swap of a slab into a good frame is the small end; a new exterior door with a rebuilt frame is the large one. Send photos of the opening and we will quote it flat, with the door itself listed separately.
Can you install a door or window I bought myself?
Yes. Our planning ranges for doors and windows cover the installation, with the door or window priced separately, so your own unit is quoted the same way. Before you order, send photos and the opening size, which way the door swings and how thick the wall is. Older plaster walls in the Twin Ports are often thicker than a standard door jamb, and an out-of-square opening needs a unit sized for it. Our written workmanship guarantee covers the installation; the product's warranty stays with the maker.
These answers also sit in the Door & Window section of our FAQ, alongside questions on pricing, scheduling and coverage.
Our Service Area: Towns and Neighborhoods
Each town below links to its own page, with local notes for door & window work.
Duluth neighborhoods:
Superior neighborhoods:
Other communities are in the surrounding town notes; each has a project checklist in the Minnesota or Wisconsin town guide. For door & window budgeting, see the cost guide and the pricing page.
Town checklists for door & window projects
Project notes for towns across the service area:
Services That Pair With Door & Window Work
Feel a Draft? See a Crack?
Doors, windows, glass, and locks — get a quote before the next cold front does its inspection.