$950–$6,700: U.S. Front Door Replacement Cost and 3 Scopes

Expect to pay roughly $950 to $6,700 installed for a single front entry door, with most homeowners landing between $1,100 and $2,500. The biggest swing factor isn’t the door itself. It’s the scope: whether your installer can do a simple slab swap, needs a prehung unit, or has to rebuild the entire frame because the old one rotted out.

TL;DR:

The cost difference between good and best doors depends heavily on the scope, involving frame and trim removal, with full-frame replacements costing up to $6,700.

Material choices influence price, with steel being the most affordable, fiberglass offering a balance of durability and style, and solid wood or custom options at the top end.

Accurate quotes require an on-site inspection of the frame, sill, and flashing to assess whether a simple slab swap suffices or if a more extensive rebuild is necessary.

Labor costs range from $30 to $90 per hour, representing 30% to 35% of total project costs, with additional fees for permits, debris removal, and weatherproofing.

Upgrades like sidelights, decorative glass, or smart locks add variable costs, but structural scope and inspection details ultimately determine the project’s real price.

What’s the average front door replacement cost in 2026?
How much does material choice affect the price?
What’s the difference between a slab swap, prehung, and full-frame replacement?
What do labor, permits, and hidden fees actually cost?
Which add-ons and upgrades cost the most?
How do I get an accurate quote and avoid a bad contractor?
How a local remodeling contractor actually scopes a door job
What this pricing guide gets right that most others miss
Get a Local Estimate for Your Front Door Project
Sources
FAQ

What’s the average front door replacement cost in 2026?

Most homeowners nationally pay between $1,100 and $1,457 for a standard exterior door installation, but that figure hides a lot of variation. A better way to plan is thinking in three tiers: good, better, and best.

Good (economy): $950 to $1,800. This covers a basic steel or builder-grade fiberglass slab, swapped into an existing frame that’s still square and dry. No sidelights, no upgraded hardware, minimal trim work.

Better (value/mid-range): $1,800 to $3,500. This is where most people actually land. It typically means a quality fiberglass or wood-look door, a full prehung unit rather than a slab swap, better weatherstripping, and maybe a small glass insert.

Best (premium/custom): $3,500 to $6,700+. Think solid wood or iron doors, custom sizing, decorative glass, sidelights, a transom, and full-frame replacement if the old opening needs structural correction. Custom shapes and hand-finished wood details further increase costs.

By the Numbers: Replacement entry doors commonly range from $950 to $6,700 installed, with the national average project landing closer to $1,100 to $1,457 for a straightforward swap.

The gap between “good” and “best” isn’t really about the door slab. It’s about how much of the frame, sill, and surrounding trim needs to come out with it.

How much does material choice affect the price?

Steel doors are generally among the more affordable and durable options, with some susceptibility to dents and rust if finishes are damaged. Installed steel doors commonly run in the lower-to-mid range of national averages, making them the go-to for rentals and budget-conscious remodels.

Fiberglass tends to be the sweet spot for both durability and style, making plantation shutters a complementary choice for enhancing your home’s exterior look and light control. It resists warping, needs almost no maintenance, and can be finished to look like real wood grain. Fiberglass pricing typically falls in the value tier, between steel and solid wood, and it holds insulation values better than either.

Solid wood doors tend to cost more and require maintenance, but offer distinct aesthetic appeal. Premium and custom wood doors, along with wrought iron, sit at the top of the market, often running several thousand dollars for the slab alone before installation.

Steel fiberglass and wood door material samples

Adding sidelights or a transom window doesn’t just add a flat fee. Double door configurations roughly double material cost and add labor time for alignment.

Pro Tip: If you’re torn between materials, check the door’s U-factor rating, similar to how you’d compare double pane vs triple pane windows for energy performance. A well-rated fiberglass door with good glazing can outperform a cheaper wood door on your heating bill for years.

What’s the difference between a slab swap, prehung, and full-frame replacement?

These three scopes explain almost every price gap you’ll see between quotes, so it’s worth understanding them before you call anyone.

A slab swap replaces just the door itself, reusing the existing frame, hinges, and threshold. It’s the fastest option, often done in two to four hours, and the cheapest, since there’s minimal carpentry involved. It only works if the old frame is square, dry, and free of rot.

A prehung replacement swaps the door and the frame together as one unit. It takes half a day to a full day and costs more because the installer has to remove trim, fit the new frame into the rough opening, shim it plumb, and reinstall casing. This is the most common scope homeowners end up choosing.

A full-frame replacement tears out everything down to the rough opening, including the sill plate. It’s a one to two day job and can add $700 to $3,500 or more over a simple swap. You need this scope when there’s visible rot, a warped jamb, daylight showing around the frame, or water stains on the interior trim below the door.

Comparison of three door replacement scopes

What do labor, permits, and hidden fees actually cost?

Labor typically makes up 30% to 35% of your total project cost, with installers charging $30 to $90 per hour depending on your market and the contractor’s overhead. A slab swap might run two to four hours of labor. A prehung job often takes four to eight hours. Full-frame work can stretch across one to two full days, sometimes longer if there’s framing damage to correct.

Beyond labor, budget for a few line items that catch first-time buyers off guard: permit fees (required in many municipalities for structural changes), disposal fees for the old door and debris, sill or subframe repair if there’s hidden rot, and fresh trim and paint to match the surrounding wall. Flashing and weatherproofing detail work is small in cost but critical. Skipping it is how a $2,000 door job turns into a $6,000 water-damage repair three years later.

Flashing and weatherstripping at door threshold

Which add-ons and upgrades cost the most?

Add-ons like sidelights, transoms, and decorative glass inserts increase total project cost by a moderate amount depending on their size and complexity.

Hardware matters more than people expect. Upgraded hardware and smart lock installations add to costs, while storm doors are also a purchasable extra.

Not every upgrade pays off equally. Smart locks and multi-point locking hardware genuinely improve security. Better glazing and tighter weatherstripping genuinely cut energy loss. Decorative glass and specialty hardware finishes are mostly cosmetic. Real estate agents consistently point to a new steel or fiberglass entry door as one of the higher-return exterior upgrades at resale, largely because it’s the first thing buyers touch.

How do I get an accurate quote and avoid a bad contractor?

Get at least three quotes, and make sure each one specifies the same scope. A quote for a slab swap and a quote for full-frame replacement aren’t comparable numbers, even if they’re both “for a front door.”

Ask every contractor these questions before signing anything:

What scope are you quoting: slab, prehung, or full-frame?
Who pulls the permit, and is that fee included?
Who hauls away the old door and debris?
What’s the warranty on labor versus the manufacturer’s warranty on the door itself?
Can you show photos of a similar recent installation?

Red flags include a bid that never mentions frame condition, a contractor who can’t produce proof of license and insurance, or a number that’s dramatically lower than everyone else’s without an explanation. That gap usually means missing scope, not a better deal.

Pro Tip: Ask contractors to itemize labor, materials, and disposal separately. A contractor unwilling to break down a quote line by line is often padding one category to hide a shortfall in another.

How a local remodeling contractor actually scopes a door job

At Solution Team Remodeling, a proper door assessment starts before anyone talks price. Technicians check the frame for square, probe the sill and jamb for soft wood, and look for flashing gaps that let moisture behind the trim. That inspection determines whether a slab swap will hold up or whether the job needs a full-frame rebuild.

Estimates typically spell out weatherstripping detail, flashing correction, and workmanship coverage upfront, so homeowners aren’t guessing what’s included once the crew shows up.

What this pricing guide gets right that most others miss

Most cost guides treat a front door like a single product with a single price tag. That’s the wrong frame. The door slab is often the smallest line item in the final bill once you account for labor, frame condition, and finish work.

The conventional advice, “get three quotes and pick the middle one,” falls apart when quotes aren’t scoped the same way. A $1,200 slab-swap bid and a $3,800 full-frame bid aren’t competing offers. They’re answers to two different questions, and comparing them head to head is how homeowners end up either overpaying or getting blindsided by a mid-project change order.

If you take one thing from this guide, prioritize the inspection over the price. Find out whether your frame and sill are sound before you shop prices, because that single fact determines which of these budget bands you’re actually in. Everything else, the material, the hardware, the glass, is a preference. The scope is math.

— Vlad

Get a Local Estimate for Your Front Door Project

A local remodeling contractor handles front door installation from simple slab swaps to full-frame rebuilds, along with the trim, paint, and weatherproofing that go with it, so you’re not coordinating three separate contractors for one opening.

Solutionteamremodeling

A free estimate includes an on-site inspection of your frame, sill, and flashing before any number gets attached to the job, so you know upfront whether you’re looking at a straightforward swap or something bigger. The team serves Redmond and nearby communities including Bellevue, Sammamish, and Woodinville.

If you’re also weighing exterior finish options like trim and casing work or comparing window installation alongside your door project, the same crew can scope both at once. Ready to find out what your door actually needs? Visit Solution Team Remodeling to request a free, no-pressure estimate for your Redmond-area home.

Sources

Figures in this article draw from the BLS occupational employment data, NFRC energy performance ratings, and installed-cost research from RemodelingExpense, Angi, HomeCalc, and ProjectCostPro.

FAQ

How much does it cost to fully replace a front door?

A full front door replacement, including door, frame, and labor, typically costs $950 to $6,700 depending on scope and material, with most homeowners paying $1,100 to $1,457 for a standard prehung swap. Full-frame jobs with rot repair run toward the higher end of that range.

How much does Lowe’s or Home Depot charge to install a new front door?

Big-box retailers generally price installation using the same national averages independent contractors quote, typically in the $1,100 to $2,500 range for a standard door plus installation labor. Exact pricing varies by store, region, and the specific door product selected, so it’s best confirmed directly with a local branch or in-home consultation.

How much should a new front door cost installed?

For most homeowners, a quality mid-range door, fiberglass or steel with basic upgrades, installed as a prehung unit, should land between $1,800 and $3,500. That range reflects the “better” budget tier and covers most single-door replacements without major frame repair.

How long does a front door replacement take?

A slab swap can take as little as two to four hours, a prehung replacement usually runs four to eight hours, and a full-frame job can take one to two full days. Timelines stretch further when a contractor discovers hidden rot or structural issues once the old door comes out.