What it costs
| Job | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Exterior door installed, typical | $600–$2,000 |
| Pre-hung steel entry door Best value for security | $500–$1,400 |
| Fiberglass entry door Best for weather and insulation | $900–$2,500 |
| Solid wood entry door | $1,200–$4,000 |
| Storm door | $300–$700 |
| Labor only | $200–$600 |
| Frame replacement, if needed | $200–$550 |
Choosing the material
Fiberglass is the right default for most homes. It does not warp, rot or rust, it handles humidity and temperature swings, and modern ones imitate wood grain well enough that most people cannot tell from the curb.
Steel costs less and resists forced entry best. The drawback is dents — a steel door that takes a knock keeps the dent permanently, and they cannot be filled convincingly.
Wood is the best-looking and the most demanding. On an exposed entry with no porch cover, expect to refinish every two to three years or watch it gray and check.
Installation is most of the value
A correctly installed mid-range door outperforms an expensive door fitted badly, every time. What separates them:
- Plumb, level and square — a door hung out of true will never seal evenly along its length
- Correct shimming at hinges and strike — the points that carry load and take impact
- Proper flashing and sill pan — this is what stops water getting behind the frame and rotting the wall from inside, and it is the step most commonly skipped
- Insulated and sealed gaps — low-expansion foam, not stuffed fiberglass
- Reinforced strike plate — three-inch screws into the stud
Related
Door frame repair · Interior door replacement · Interior door repair
Common questions
Steel, fiberglass or wood?
Steel is the value choice and the most resistant to forced entry, but it dents and the dents are permanent. Fiberglass handles weather and temperature swings best, will not warp or rot, and can convincingly imitate wood grain. Wood looks best and needs refinishing every few years; on an exposed entry with no porch cover, it will not stay looking good.
Does the frame need replacing too?
If the existing frame is square and sound, a slab can go in. In practice, most exterior door replacements use a pre-hung unit because exterior jambs rot at the bottom and because a new door in an old out-of-square frame will never seal properly. Probe the bottom six inches of the jamb with a screwdriver — soft means the frame goes too.
Will a new door lower my energy bill?
Modestly. A single entry door is a small share of a home envelope, so the honest answer is that the saving alone will not repay the door. Where it does make a real difference is comfort — an old door with a failed seal creates a draft you feel in the whole room. Be skeptical of anyone selling an entry door primarily on energy savings.
What actually makes an entry door secure?
Not the lock, in most cases. The usual failure is the strike plate pulling out of the jamb, because it is held by two short screws into soft pine. A reinforced strike plate with three-inch screws into the framing stud behind costs very little and is the single highest-value security upgrade on most houses. We fit them as standard.
Compiled from published 2026 cost data (Angi, HomeGuide, HomeAdvisor) and cross-checked against Kentucky quotes. Updated from our completed jobs quarterly.