UK Door Hanging Costs: £112–£280 for Labour, Before Extras
Hanging a standard interior door in the UK typically costs £112 to £280 for labour alone, or more once you add a new door, frame work or fire-rated hardware. The biggest swings come from door type, whether the existing frame can be reused, and whether the job involves structural changes or fire-door compliance. Get a written, fixed-price quote after a site visit before committing to any figure.
TL;DR:
- A slab fitted to a sound, square frame costs less; a damaged or altered opening may need frame replacement or a complete prehung unit.
- Batches of five or more doors lower labor per door by sharing setup and travel; jobs of two to four may incur a minimum charge.
- Widening costs £500 to £1,500 in partition walls, but £1,500 to £4,000 or more in load bearing walls, plus structural engineering and approval.
- Fire doors require at least three rated hinges, sometimes four or more; the wrong hinge type or count can invalidate the door’s fire test evidence.
- For jobs beyond one door, compare at least three written quotes after site visits, itemized by labor, materials, disposal, and VAT, not just the total.
Table of Contents
- Typical cost ranges: labour-only vs supply-and-fit
- What affects the price: slab vs pre-hung, core type, and frame condition
- Scenario examples: single door, small job, and whole-house batches
- Special cases and hidden costs: structural work and fire doors
- How to get an accurate, comparable quote: a checklist
- Cornerstone Hereford: how a local, insured specialist handles door hanging jobs
- Balancing cost and quality: what actually matters
- Get a free written quote from Cornerstone Hereford
- FAQ
- Sources
Typical cost ranges: labour-only vs supply-and-fit
Labour-only rates for hanging a standard interior door generally sit between £112 and £280, depending on where you live and how much prep the job needs. London jobs tend to land at the top of that range, while rural and smaller-town rates often come in lower.
Regional and installer variance can be as wide as the spread between individual tradespeople, which is why two quotes for the same job can look very different even in the same town.
Supply-and-fit pricing adds the door itself on top of labour. A few things change the total:
- A budget hollow-core door with basic hardware sits at the lower end of any supply-and-fit quote.
- A solid-core or engineered door with new hinges, a lock and a handle pushes the total up noticeably.
- Removal and disposal of the old door and frame usually adds a modest fixed charge.
- VAT applies at the standard rate for most residential jobs unless the contractor is below the VAT threshold.
Batching helps. Fitting five or more doors in one visit usually lowers the per-door labour rate, since the tradesperson covers tool setup, travel and site access costs once rather than per visit.
What affects the price: slab vs pre-hung, core type, and frame condition
Not every door job is the same job. A few physical details decide whether you’re near the bottom or the top of the price range.
- Fitting a plain door slab onto an existing, square, undamaged frame is the quickest and cheapest job.
- Installing a pre-hung unit (door already fixed into its own frame) takes longer and costs more, but it often reduces total time when the existing frame is damaged or the opening size has changed.
- Hollow-core doors are the cheapest option; solid-core and engineered flush doors cost more to buy and are heavier to hang, which can add labour time.
- Reusing existing hinges, locks and handles saves money; specifying new hardware on every door adds up fast across a whole house.
Pro Tip: Ask your installer to check the frame for square and rot before you commit to a slab-only quote. A frame that looks fine from a distance can still need re-jambing, which changes both the price and the timeline.
When a frame has rotted, warped or shrunk, re-jambing or full frame replacement becomes necessary, and that pushes the job well past a simple door swap in both time and cost.
Scenario examples: single door, small job, and whole-house batches
Mapping job size to a realistic budget helps you sanity-check any quote you receive.
- Single door, good frame: labour-only typically falls within the standard £112 to £280 range; supply-and-fit with reused hardware adds the cost of the door itself on top.
- Small job, 2 to 4 doors: many tradespeople apply a call-out minimum that covers the first door, with each additional door priced lower than a stand-alone single-door job.
- Batch job, 5 to 12 doors: per-door labour usually drops further since setup and travel costs are spread across the whole visit, making whole-house jobs more efficient per door than one-off replacements.
- Primed doors: if your doors arrive primed rather than pre-finished, factor in separate painting or decorating costs, since that work isn’t included in a standard fitting quote.
Special cases and hidden costs: structural work and fire doors
Some jobs carry costs that a basic quote won’t mention until the tradesperson is on site.
- Frame repair vs full reframing: a localized repair is far cheaper than stripping out and replacing the whole frame, but rot or structural movement often means repair isn’t an option.
- Widening a doorway: in a non-load-bearing partition, this typically costs £500 to £1,500; in a load-bearing wall, expect £1,500 to £4,000 or more, plus a structural engineer and Building Regulations Part A sign-off.
- Fire doors: these need at least three fire-rated hinges, rising to four or more on taller or heavier leaves, with hardware conforming to BS EN 1935 and CE or UKCA marking, which adds both material and fitting cost.
Fitting the wrong hinge type or count on a certificated fire door can invalidate the door’s fire test evidence, so the installation must match the door’s own certificate rather than a general rule of thumb. Ask any installer working on a fire door to show the manufacturer’s installation instructions and confirm the hardware matches the tested configuration.
How to get an accurate, comparable quote: a checklist
A good quote protects you from surprise costs later. Before you accept one, work through this list.
- Ask for a written, fixed-price quote after a site visit, itemised by labour, materials, disposal and VAT.
- Confirm whether the price covers a slab only or a full pre-hung unit, and exactly which hardware and finishes are included.
- If the job involves a fire door or structural change, ask directly whether that’s included in the price and request proof of competence and insurance.
- Compare guarantees, timescales and clean-up policy across quotes, not just the bottom-line figure.
- Insist on public liability insurance and a clear start and end date in writing.
Pro Tip: Get at least three written quotes for anything beyond a single door. Price gaps between tradespeople are often larger than the gap between door types, so comparing quotes matters more than comparing door brands.
Cornerstone Hereford: how a local, insured specialist handles door hanging jobs
We run every door hanging and carpentry job as a single, dedicated project rather than juggling several sites at once, which keeps the same team on your job from the first visit to the final clean-up.
- We provide free, no-obligation written quotations after visiting your property, so you see the real cost before any work starts.
- We offer payment options to fit different budgets and project sizes.
- We’re a fully insured firm, and we treat cleanliness and attention to detail as standard on every job, not an upgrade.
Before booking a visit, run through the checklist above: door count, door type, and any frame issues you’ve already spotted. It helps us give you a tighter, more accurate quote on day one.
Balancing cost and quality: what actually matters
Pro Tip: The cheapest quote on paper is rarely the cheapest door in five years, since poor fitting shows up as sticking doors, drafts and callback visits. Get at least three written quotes, read what each one actually includes, and judge them on the full job, not just the number at the bottom.
— Trey
Get a free written quote from Cornerstone Hereford
If you’re weighing up door hanging costs against the hassle of coordinating multiple tradespeople, we offer a simpler route: one dedicated team, one written quote, no obligation to proceed.
Our carpentry service covers everything from a single internal door swap to a whole-house batch, including supply-and-fit work and fire-door-aware fitting where required. We offer:
- Free, no-obligation site-visit quotations so you know the exact cost before agreeing to anything.
- Flexible payment options that work around your budget and project timeline.
- A single dedicated team on your job from start to finish, with cleanliness and attention to detail built into how we work.
Before your visit, have your door count, door types and any known frame problems ready. It helps us put together an accurate quote on the spot. Head to our carpentry and door fitting services page to get started.
FAQ
How much should I pay someone to hang a door?
Expect to pay roughly £112 to £280 for labour alone on a standard interior door, with location and job complexity driving most of that range. Supply-and-fit jobs cost more once you add the door and any new hardware, so a written quote after a site visit gives you the most accurate figure.
How much does it cost to install a door in a brick wall?
Costs depend heavily on whether the wall is load-bearing. Widening or creating a doorway in a non-load-bearing partition typically runs £500 to £1,500, while load-bearing walls can cost £1,500 to £4,000 or more once a structural engineer and Building Control approval are factored in.
Is it difficult to replace a door frame?
Replacing a door frame is more involved than hanging a slab onto an existing frame, since it often means removing plaster, checking the opening is square, and fitting a new frame before the door goes in. A pre-hung unit can simplify this when the old frame is damaged, though it generally costs more than a slab-only job.
What is the average labor cost to install an interior door?
Labour-only costs for a standard interior door typically fall between £112 and £280, with regional variation being one of the largest factors. Because price spreads between installers in the same area can be just as wide as regional differences, comparing multiple written quotes matters more than relying on a single average figure.