Included, and what it is not
- ✓ See whether the fault is the leaf or the frame
- ✓ Remove the old lining or frame
- ✓ Set and pack the new one plumb
- ✓ Refit or hang the door, with architrave on internal jobs where agreed
- ✓ Seal an external frame to the opening
Ways this job is specified
Internal lining
The timber case the door hangs in. Replaced when it is split at the hinge or too crooked to pack.
External frame and cill
Replaced when the cill or the feet are rotten. A new door in that frame will not stay dry.
Fire-door frame
Has to match the leaf. A new softwood lining does not upgrade a fire door.
Sidelight frames
The frame includes the glazed side panel. We replace the door frame; we do not reglaze a side screen as a separate glazing job.
On the day
01
Decide the fault
Hinge screws pulling out of a soft lining, a split jamb, or a cill you can push a knife into: that is a frame. A door that only swells in winter: that is the leaf.
02
Strip and set
The old frame comes out, the new one is packed plumb, and the fixings go into the structure rather than into foam alone.
03
Hang to the new frame
Clearances are cut to the new rebate. External frames get the threshold and the seal in the same visit.
What changes the price
A new internal lining is often an extra £80–£200 on top of hanging the door, more if the architrave is being renewed and the plaster edge made good locally. An external frame with a new cill is a larger job than an internal lining because it has to keep water out, and it sits on top of the door price. The quote depends on internal or external, how rotten the old frame is, and whether the door is being reused.
Symptoms people search
A door that will not sit square no matter how you plane it is often a twisted frame. Soft, dark timber at an external cill is rot, and paint will not stop it. A hinge that keeps tearing out means the lining has failed at the screw line. A gap that is tight at the top on one side and tight at the bottom on the other is a frame out of wind, not a “bad door”.
Before and after the hang
Internal architraves usually come off, so expect a raw plaster edge. We make that good locally if it is part of the quote; we do not skim the room. Externally, the opening is covered the same day. After the new frame is in, do not nail architrave tight until the door has been checked, and paint the external cill so water does not sit on bare timber.
What fails later
A lining lasts as long as it stays dry and the hinge screws have timber to bite. External cills fail from water sitting on end grain, not from age alone. Putting a new door on a rotten cill wastes the door. A frame set plumb, with the cill weathered, outlasts the ironmongery.
Doing it yourself
Swapping an internal lining is awkward in a way that does not look difficult: the new lining twists as you fix it, and the door never fits. External frames also have to be weather-tight. Ease the door yourself if the frame is sound. Replace the frame with a fitter if it is rotten, split, or out of wind.
Outside this job
- We do not fit a new lintel or rebuild the brick reveal
- We do not plaster a whole wall after the architrave comes off
- A small ease of the door is not a frame replacement
- We do not treat rot in the surrounding joists or the damp-proof course
Questions about door frame replacement
If the cill is soft, the jamb is split, or the door still gaps when it is planed square, the frame is the problem. If the door only sticks in winter and the timber is hard, ease the door.
Yes, if it is flat and wide enough for the new rebate. A twisted leaf is not worth rehanging in a new frame.
On an internal lining, yes if that is in the quote. The plaster edge is made good locally. Full-room plastering and decorating are separate trades.
The internal timber case, sometimes called a casing, that the door hangs in. The frame is the external version, usually with a cill.
An external frame will, if the cill and the seal are part of the job. A new internal lining stops a crooked gap; it does not insulate the room by itself.
We replace the door frame and the cill. Rot in joists or a failed damp-proof course needs a separate trade before a new frame will last.
Other door jobs
Quote for door frame replacement
Say how many doors, whether you have already bought them, and the town. We reply with a written quote.