Door Installation Cost Guide: Houston, TX (2026)
This guide prices door installation the way an estimate is actually built in Houston: per opening, interior pre-hung at $175-$600 and exterior at $400-$1,500 installed. Every figure below is confirmed against the opening before work is scheduled.
- Priced per opening
- Interior $175-$600, exterior $400-$1,500
- Scope confirmed at 512-290-5153
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Quick Overview
Houston Door Costs at a Glance
- Interior pre-hung, installed: $175-$600 per door, with hardware and perimeter seal carried in that rate.
- Exterior door, installed: $400-$1,500 per door, including threshold and flashing detail.
- How it is quoted: Per opening. There is no per-city multiplier inside the Houston metro.
- Reaching the $500 project minimum: Interior work is normally scoped two or three openings at a time.
- Crew and duration: One to two installers; same day to two days for most door counts.
- Permit status: A door set into an existing opening triggers no City of Houston permit.
Direct Answers
Door Installation Costs in Houston, Answered
Interior pre-hung doors install at $175-$600 per door in Houston and exterior doors at $400-$1,500, with hardware and perimeter sealing carried in that rate.
A single interior door often lands below the $500 project minimum, so door work is usually scoped as two or three openings in one visit.
No, because city permits key to the trade being touched rather than the price of the work, and a door in an existing opening touches none.
Why Houston Is Different
What Houston Does to a Door Opening
Door prices look like hardware prices until you see what the opening has been doing for twenty years. The cost of a Houston door is mostly the cost of the frame it has to sit in. Three local mechanisms account for nearly every surprise on an estimate.
Beaumont Clay Racks the Frame, Not the Door
The smectitic Beaumont Formation clay under most of this city swells through a wet spring and contracts through an August drought, and slabs follow it unevenly rather than as one plane. A frame that was plumb at build-out ends up out of square at the head, which is why a door rubs the jamb in one season and drifts open on its own in the next. A replacement slab hung in that opening inherits the error. Pricing per opening rather than per door exists precisely so the shim, scribe and reveal work a racked frame needs is visible in the number instead of absorbed quietly.
Growth Faults Tilt the Whole Run
More than three hundred active surface growth faults cross this metro, tied to deep fluid withdrawal and salt movement, and they give no warning at the surface. A house sitting across one loses level across the slab rather than at a single point, so interior doors on one side of a hallway bind at the top while the doors opposite bind at the latch. Replacing slabs alone on a run like that buys a few months. The estimate instead reads swing and reveal at every opening first, then states plainly which openings a new pre-hung will correct and which it will not.
Humidity and Formosan Termites Work the Exterior Jamb
Year-round Gulf humidity keeps exterior sills and jamb legs damp at the bottom four inches, and that is exactly where a Houston exterior door fails: swollen bottom rail, soft jamb leg, threshold no longer bearing. Formosan termites compound it by hollowing framing behind paint that still looks sound. An exterior door at $400-$1,500 installed assumes a sound jamb and a bearing threshold underneath it. Where probing finds otherwise, that opening is quoted after a walkthrough, because reconstruction beyond the install scope is a different conversation and should never hide inside a per-door rate.
Houston: 77002 · 77006 · 77007 · 77008 · 77036 · 77084
Typical Door Installation Scopes in Houston
Interior pre-hung doors run $175-$600 per door installed in Houston; exterior doors run $400-$1,500. Those are metro-wide ranges and apply across every Houston zip. Our project minimum is $500, which interior work normally reaches at two or three openings.
Interior Pre-Hung Replacement
Five hollow-core doors in a 1960s ranch
Every frame was read for square before a unit was ordered, and two of the five needed shimming well past the usual to hold an even reveal. All five were set, foamed and hardware-fitted in one day with casing adjusted at each opening.
| Rooms | Three bedrooms, hall bath, utility |
| Duration | 1 day |
| Lead time | Within the week |
| Products | JELD-WEN prehung units, Stanley hinges, Kwikset locksets, Milescraft hinge jig |
Exterior Entry Replacement
Masonite entry on a brick-veneer elevation
The threshold was probed first and found to be bearing, which kept the opening inside the install scope. Flashing detail at the head was rebuilt rather than caulked over, then the unit was set, foamed and sealed in a single visit.
| Rooms | Front entry, single opening |
| Duration | Same day |
| Lead time | 1-2 weeks on a stocked unit |
| Products | Masonite exterior door, Great Stuff low-expansion foam, exterior sealant, Schlage lockset |
Slab Doors in Pre-War Openings
Non-standard jamb sizes in a Heights bungalow
No stock pre-hung fits an opening like this, so the original jambs were kept and slab doors were fitted to them by hand. Hinges were mortised with a jig to hold a consistent reveal across three openings that are each a different width.
| Rooms | Two bedrooms and a study |
| Duration | 1-2 days |
| Lead time | 2 weeks |
| Products | Door slabs, Milescraft hinge jig, Johnson torpedo level, shims |
Site Conditions
Openings and Conditions We Price Against
The door is the cheap part. What the estimate is really pricing is the condition of the opening it goes into, so each of these is read and recorded before a unit is specified.
| Condition | Where you see it in Houston | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Frame racked out of square | Slab ranches off Bissonnet and around Meyerland | Reveal mapped at head and both legs, then shimmed to the door rather than the wall |
| Slab tilt across a hallway run | Houses sitting over a growth fault trace | Swing and reveal read at every opening before any unit is ordered |
| Swollen or soft exterior jamb leg | North-facing elevations and shaded side doors | Probed for soundness; reconstruction beyond install scope is quoted separately |
| Threshold no longer bearing | Older entries where the sill has taken years of damp | Bearing checked, then threshold set and sealed over backer rod |
| Non-standard pre-war opening | Heights, Woodland Heights and Montrose bungalows | Slab door fitted to the existing jamb instead of a stock pre-hung |
| Garage-to-house opening | Attached garages across post-1970 tract housing | Solid-core or rated assembly specified for that opening, checked against current city amendments |
Materials
The Door Line Behind These Numbers
Material pricing is public, so the estimate names the actual product rather than a category. JELD-WEN prehung units carry most interior work at $120-$380 each, Masonite exterior doors run $350-$1,100, and Schlage or Kwikset hardware adds $25-$120 per set. Grades are specified per opening after the walkthrough.
| Product | Brand | Why it earns the spot |
|---|---|---|
| DeWalt drill/driver | DeWalt | General door install fastening tool. |
| Door hinges | Stanley / Stanley-National | Included with most door installs. |
| JELD-WEN prehung interior door | JELD-WEN | Common interior replacement door. |
| Johnson torpedo level | Johnson | Helps ensure plumb and level fit. |
| Low-expansion spray foam | Great Stuff | Used around frames and gaps. |
| Schlage / Kwikset lockset | Schlage / Kwikset | Common lock and handle hardware. |
| Masonite exterior door | Masonite | Exterior and entry door option. |
| Milescraft hinge jig | Milescraft | Speeds hinge cutout and alignment. |
Material grades are specified per substrate after the on-site walkthrough. Material prices are carried in the project scope.
Pricing
What Door Installation Costs in Houston
These are the ranges a Houston door estimate is built from, and the conditions that decide where inside each range your openings land.
| Scope | Typical Houston range | What drives the spread |
|---|---|---|
| Interior pre-hung, installed | $175-$600 per door | Slab construction, jamb condition, and how far the frame sits out of square |
| Exterior door, installed | $400-$1,500 per door | Door weight, threshold and flashing detail, and whether a sidelight shares the opening |
| Doors and hardware supplied | Prehung $120-$380; exterior $350-$1,100; lockset $25-$120 | Product line, finish, and any glazing carried in the door |
| Multi-door interior package | $175-$600 per door, three or more openings | Repeat openings share one mobilization, which settles the per-door figure lower |
| Opening that will not take a stock unit | Quoted after an on-site walkthrough | Pre-war jamb sizes, rot found on probing, or masonry work outside the install scope |
Minimum project size is $500. Every figure is confirmed on site before work starts.
Door and Hardware Unit Costs
Material pricing is the part of a door estimate you can verify without us. These are the current unit ranges for the products that go into the installed figures above.
| Item | Typical unit cost | Where it lands in the scope |
|---|---|---|
| JELD-WEN prehung interior door | $120-$380 each | The volume interior replacement unit |
| Masonite exterior door | $350-$1,100 each | Exterior and entry openings |
| Schlage or Kwikset lockset | $25-$120 per set | Handle and lock hardware; finish drives most of the spread |
| Stanley hinge set | $8-$28 per set | Included with most door installations |
| Great Stuff low-expansion foam | $6-$13 per can | Perimeter fill that will not bow the frame |
Material only. The installed figures of $175-$600 interior and $400-$1,500 exterior per door include this material plus labor.
What the Per-Door Installed Rate Covers
Comparing two door quotes is only useful once you know which lines each one carries. Here is what sits inside our per-door figure and what does not.
| Line item | Inside the per-door rate | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Setting, shimming and plumbing the unit | Yes | Shimmed to the door's own reveal |
| Hinge mortising on a slab door | Yes | Cut with a Milescraft hinge jig for a consistent reveal |
| Lockset bore and strike | Yes | Hardware supplied at $25-$120 per set |
| Perimeter foam and seal | Yes | Low-expansion product only, so the jamb stays straight |
| Casing adjustment at the opening | Yes | Trim adjustment sits inside the install scope |
| Painting or staining the new door | No | Priced under painting services and sequenced immediately after |
| Frame reconstruction, rot repair or rekeying | No | Outside the install scope; quoted separately where an opening needs it |
Houston Conditions That Move a Door Quote
Within those ranges, a handful of local conditions decide where your openings land. None of them carry a fixed surcharge, because the amount of fitting work is read at the opening.
| Condition | Effect on the quote | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Frame racked by clay shrink-swell | Up | Shim, scribe and reveal work has to be done opening by opening |
| Slab tilt across a hallway run | Up | Each opening is read separately and some will not be corrected by a new unit |
| Soft jamb leg or non-bearing threshold | Walkthrough first | Reconstruction beyond the install scope never belongs inside a per-door rate |
| Three or more identical openings in one visit | Down | One mobilization spread across repeat work |
| Opening square and sized for a stock pre-hung | Down | No fitting time; the unit goes straight in |
| Pre-war jamb that will not take a stock unit | Up | A slab door is fitted to the existing jamb by hand |
Process
How a Door Estimate Gets Built
- 1Count the openings. Door pricing is per opening, so the first figure we need is how many and of which type. Interior and exterior sit in different ranges and are listed separately on the estimate.
- 2Measure the frame first. Head and both legs are measured for square and the reveal is recorded. That reading decides whether a stock pre-hung fits or a slab has to be fitted to the existing jamb.
- 3Probe the exterior jambs. The bottom four inches of each exterior jamb leg and the threshold bearing are checked. Anything soft is called out before a figure goes on paper rather than after demolition.
- 4Specify the unit and the hardware. Door line, swing, bore and hardware finish are written down, so the per-door figure is tied to a named product with public pricing instead of a category.
- 5Set, shim and seal. Units are set plumb to the door's own reveal, filled with low-expansion foam so the frame is not bowed, and fastened through the shims. Casing is adjusted to the finished frame.
- 6Walk every swing. Each door is cycled, latched and checked for an even reveal with you present. Hardware is set and the opening is left ready for paint.
Coverage
Houston Areas We Install Doors In
Crews run from inside the Loop out past Beltway 8. The per-door figures above do not change by zip, so if your street is not listed, call and ask anyway.
Our Services
Trades That Run With a Door Scope
Doors rarely travel alone. These five run on the same calendar and the same crews, so sequencing is handled for you rather than left as your coordination problem.
Drywall Installation
When the wall plane around an opening has given up rather than the door itself, we replace the affected wall plane in full. New board is hung, finished and texture-matched to the rest of the room.
Painting Services
New doors and casing arrive ready for finish, and paint runs in the same window rather than weeks later. Houston interiors are priced at $1.50-$3 per square foot of floor area.
Trim & Baseboard
Casing, base and crown are installed to the finished frame once reveals are even. Baseboard installs at $3.50-$9 per linear foot, crown at $5-$16.
Flooring Installation
Floor height decides door clearance, so the two scopes get sequenced together instead of fought over later. LVP installs at $4-$8 per square foot in Houston.
Fence Installation
A gate is the exterior cousin of a door, with posts set in concrete and hardware sized for Gulf humidity. New runs and full replacements install at $30-$50 per linear foot.
Common Questions
Houston Door Installation Questions
How much is door installation per door in Houston?
Interior pre-hung doors run $175-$600 installed and exterior doors $400-$1,500. Those figures are metro-wide, so an address inside the Loop and one off Beltway 8 price the same.
Why is my door rubbing again a year later?
Beaumont clay moved the frame. Slabs rise through a wet spring and settle in late summer, taking the jamb out of square. The correction belongs at the frame.
Do you need a permit to replace a door?
Not for a door set into an existing opening. City permits key to the trade being touched, and finish work like this touches none of them. No dollar threshold applies either.
Can you install a single interior door?
On its own it usually sits below our $500 project minimum. Most homeowners pair two or three openings, which clears the minimum and brings the per-door figure down at the same time.
Do you repair a door instead of replacing it?
No, this is installation-only work. A sticking door with a sound slab is better handled on a multi-item handyman visit than quoted as a door installation.
What if the opening is rotted at the bottom?
We probe before quoting. Reconstruction beyond the install scope sits outside a door price, so that opening is scoped at the walkthrough instead of buried inside a per-door rate.
Will a new door fix wider house movement?
Often not. Where a slab has lost level across a whole hallway, a new pre-hung corrects some openings and not others, and the estimate says which before you buy anything.
How long does a door installation take?
Same day to two days for most counts, with one or two installers. Five interior pre-hung units in a ranch is normally a single day including hardware and casing.
How We Price and Install
Per Opening, in Writing
Every opening is listed on its own line with its type, unit and hardware. A lump sum hides which door is driving the number.
The Frame Is Read First
Square, reveal and threshold bearing are recorded before a unit is specified. That reading is the difference between a door that holds and one that binds by next August.
Named Products, Not Categories
Estimates carry the actual line, JELD-WEN prehung, Masonite exterior, Schlage or Kwikset hardware, with unit pricing attached. You can check the material figures yourself.
Install Scope Stays Honest
Rot repair, frame reconstruction and rekeying are not inside a door install here. Where an opening needs them we say so rather than absorb it into a per-door figure.
Get the Number for Your Openings
Houstonians give directions in minutes rather than miles, so a measure that fits between Memorial Park and the rest of your Saturday is the normal ask. Dial 512-290-5153 and we price every opening.
Our Houston Homeowner Resources
Drywall Installation · Fence Installation · Flooring Installation · Painting Services · Tile Installation