How much should internal door installation cost?

[DeanR]

Hi, my first post. I have done some DIY jobs in the past including a kitchen reno and a complete deck to name a couple- but this time I am actually looking for some advice on using a chippy to do a small job to avoid messing it up.

I have a lot of reno jobs planned in the coming 6-12 months including an ensuite bathroom, a staircase refresh and a timber batten fence however I want to get some internal doors replaced with some nicer looking VJ style doors. I have done one myself in the past, but I was not happy with the job that I did- possibly because i rushed it a little but also because I wasn't using the best tools for the job. So to avoid the stress and make sure they look as good as they can be I was to use a pro. The house in only about 12 years old, there should be minimal adjustment work involved and basically only includes hanging the doors using the existing or equivalent hinges- going to the same spot in the door frame and fitting up the handles. Basically ready for me to paint.

Having used FB marketplace to get a price, I was a little shocked considering I over estimated it to be about 30 min per door and with 5 doors at a rate of $160 per door seemed a bit steep with it being maybe a 4 hour job including reasonable local travel, setup and pack up. $200+ per hour seems a little rich to me. Maybe I am out of touch, but I was thinking it might be more like $90-120 per door as a fair and reasonable rate. 

[JacobZ]

Hi @DeanR,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the Bunnings workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

It's always hard to comment on trade pricing as the variables are so great and each tradesman works out their pricing based on their costs, experience with the local market and what they think will need to be done.

30 minutes per door is a good speed if everything is perfect, but it would be nearly impossible if anything was even slightly out. Having installed plenty of doors in my time, what looks like a simple job that can be knocked over quickly can rapidly become very difficult if the frame is even 1-2mm out of square.

Ultimately, you aren't paying a high price for the time it takes to install the door, you are paying for the time it takes to learn and master the skill and the guarantee that you'll get a good result.

If you feel this price is too high, I'd suggest using a service such as HiPages or True Local to find other people in your area to quote on the job. If you find they are all around the same price, this may be the standard pricing for your area. Just remember there is always some room for negotiation, so you might like to offer $90-120 and see what they think.

You might also like to check out our Door Installation service as a potential option for you.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Jacob

[DeanR]

Thanks Jacob,

I guess a trades person can charge what they want to charge, however on the flipside a customer can choose to accept such a rate or not. In this case I thought $160 is rather steep, so I went to High Pages and have already been given a couple of prices of around $100 per door install. This is about what I expected, and seems fair an reasonable. Whereas $160 to me feels a little like gouging. I was just curious to hear other peoples experiences with internal doors as I would normally try and tackle everything myself, however I am trying to change my ways just a little- for my own best interests. Ha ha.

Cheers

[Noyade]

Just being curious @DeanR  - are these doors solid or hollow?

[DeanR]

Hi, these are hollow doors. Bit of an update and rethink as to what I will do. I am going to spend the money on buying some new tools that I currently don't have- such as a router and templates, that will enable me to do the installation myself, plus have the router for other jobs. I think the later prices I got for around $100 for each door to be fitted is reasonable, however in this case I am going to push myself to DIY (again) and invest in more tools in the process.

[Noyade]

Apologies @DeanR 

I meant to ask what type of doors were the original.

If solid and you did have a router, I was gonna suggest routing the the 'Vs' in the doors to mimic the VJ style.

For example, this is/was a table top with routed Vs.

Cheers.