How much do front doors cost?

When visiting a property, the front door is often one of the first things your guests will see. What’s more the front door is the primary boundary between your home and the world outside, making it critical to your security and safety. 

If you are replacing your entrance door or building a new home, you may be wondering how much it will cost. In this article, we explore the key factors that impact the price of an entrance door. We cover hinge options, configurations, rebates, materials, glazing, and customisations.

Entrance doors NZ

Front doors are the main entrance to a home, meaning they typically face the street. There are two key functions of an entrance door – to ensure security and to create a first impression. 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

A front door is the main entry point for visitors and will influence their perception of the property. With the right front door, you can set expectations for what the home’s interior will be like, whichever design style that is. 

HOME SECURITY

Crucially, front doors serve as the primary barrier between the home and the outside world. To ensure this threshold is secure and reliable, the entry door must be durable and fitted with robust hardware. 

Cost factors

Before we cover the cost of an entrance door, it’s important to understand what drives these costs up and down. Below, we’ve highlighted the key factors that may influence the total price. 

ENTRANCE DOOR HINGE OPTIONS

There are two key ways to mount entrance doors – hinge or pivot. 

Hinged Front Doors

A hinged entrance door usually has three to four hinges on its long side, allowing the door to swing open and closed. This style is traditional, simple, and cost-effective. 

Pivot Front Doors

 A pivot entrance door has no hinges, instead it rotates vertically on pins/bearings fixed to the top and bottom of the door. This allows the weight to be more evenly distributed meaning you can have wider door panels. This style is increasingly popular with homeowners looking for a more refined and contemporary style. 

It is important to note that the pivot doors are NOT fully air-sealed so they are only suitable for sheltered or protected entranceways. Even then in severe weather, you may feel some drafts around the door.

Pivot doors generally are approximately $3,000 - $5,000 more expensive than conventional hinged doors.

ENTRANCE DOOR CONFIGURATIONS

Your chosen door configuration will impact the total cost because it will determine the amount of materials and engineering. The most cost-effective configuration is a single-pane hinged door. Other options include double entrance doors, doors with glazing, and doors flanked by windows. 

MATERIAL COSTS

Front doors come in various materials, each offering its own advantages. DuCo entry doors come in three materials — aluminium, wood, and composite.

• Composite fibreglass is generally our cheapest door material but it does incur extra finishing costs for painting or staining.
• Aluminium doors are a cost-effective, pre-finished, low-maintenance door option.
• Timber doors are a premium product and are usually the most expensive entry door option, and incur extra costs for painting or staining. 

Aluminium

Aluminium is extremely weather-resistant, physically tough, and rust-resistant. This is our most common material for front doors, particularly in modern homes. Aluminium comes pre-finished in a powder coat colour of your choice which will last longer and require far less maintenance than any other entry door material. The aluminium structure also provides stability and strength, is capable of enduring all weather conditions and offers the highest level of security. 

At DuCo, we have a fantastic range of pre-designed looks that will accommodate any style to suit your house and budget for you to choose from. 

Wooden

Timber is a traditional option for front doors, offering a warmer, more rustic appearance. As wood is a natural material, it likely will flex and change size over time as the temperatures and seasons change. This can create gaps and drafts over time. It is critical that the timber panels are stained or painted correctly and regularly maintained to maintain their integrity. 

At DuCo, our premium wood front doors are crafted from hand-selected timber. Each piece is colour-matched, kiln-dried, and moisture-tested to ensure the best possible results.

Composite fibreglass

Insulated composite fibreglass doors are made from composite materials. They have many advantages, including being strong, durable, and low maintenance.

The appetite for composite fibreglass doors is on the rise. This is due to their many benefits, such as the ability to take on a wood-like façade, while eliminating all typical wood risks, such as warping or rotting. Unlike steel doors, they won’t dent or rust. Their wood-mimicking finishes are believable and aesthetically pleasing, and many staining and painting options are available. This durability makes fibreglass doors perfect for entrances that are exposed to extreme weather.

GLAZING

Glazing is an important consideration for your entrance area. While you may often want natural light to make the area feel bright and airy, you may also want privacy from unknown visitors to your entry. There is a range of different glass types to choose from to help balance this need, from plain clear glass to tinted, obscure or specialist decorative glass panels.

 Many of our range of entry door panels include portions of glass, from geometric patterns to vertical panes and overlights. Generally, the more complex the glazing is, the more it will cost.

HARDWARE

There is a huge range of entry door hardware options available to suit any look & style you desire. We typically start with the cost-effective standard lever lockset, upgrading to the classic entry gripset or a separate feature pull handle. Most of these also come with digital locking functions, which adds extra convenience to your security solution.

CUSTOMISATIONS

Entrance doors are highly customisable, allowing you to complement your overall house design. However, note that the more customisations you choose, the more design costs you will incur. For a cost-effective custom entrance door, consider a bold colour. If you are willing to invest more, consider a unique pattern, premium timber, or upgraded hardware. 

Entrance door prices in NZ

Here at DuCo, while it is impossible to give you a fixed price for an entrance door our range of entrance doors starts at $3,000 and can range up to $15,000, including the design and powder coat finish as standard. If you want to customise your door with glazing, custom colours, or a custom configuration, we’d love to help! Just let us know what you’re looking for and we can send you a quote. 

If you’re looking for inspiration, check out our gallery or browse our full range of entry doors.