A new exterior door has to do three things well: open and close smoothly, lock tight, and keep water out of the wall below it. The last one is where most door installations fail, because the sill pan and flashing under a door are hidden the moment the trim goes on. Eric and Izak Garrison install sliding glass doors, French patio doors and pre-hung entry doors themselves, and they treat the sill as the most important part of the job.
Door installation is also where the same crew doing the framing, siding and paint pays off. A patio door that replaces a window, or a slider that becomes a French door, changes the trim and often the siding around it. We handle all of that, so the finished opening looks like it was always there.
For fogged glass in a door that otherwise works, or for doors done together with a set of replacement windows, see our window and door replacement page.
Patio Door Installation
Patio doors are the most common door we install. They are measured and ordered to size like a window, and the crew often sets them on the same visit as the windows on the house.
Sliding glass door installation
A sliding door has one fixed panel and one that rolls on a track. When a slider drags, will not lock, or lets in a draft along the meeting rail, the cause is usually a worn track or rollers, or a frame that has settled out of level. Installing a new slider means removing the old frame entirely, checking the opening and the subfloor at the sill, and setting the new unit level and square so it rolls easily for years.
Replacing a slider or just a panel
Not every slider needs to come out. If the frame and track are sound and only the glass has fogged, a new sealed glass panel can fix it. If the track is worn through, the frame is bent, or the sill has rotted underneath, the whole door is replaced. We look at the frame and sill before we recommend either, and we tell you which one you are looking at.
French door installation
French patio doors are hinged, so the whole opening clears when they swing open. Many homeowners swap a slider for French doors for exactly that reason. In most cases the rough opening is close to the same width, and the job is a new unit set on a new sill pan, with the header and floor checked first. You choose whether the doors swing in or out, and whether one or both panels operate.
Entry Door Installation
Front and side entry doors go in as pre-hung units: the door already hung in a new frame with new hinges, weatherstripping and threshold. That is more reliable than hanging a new slab in an old frame, because the old frame is usually what has moved.
An entry door that shows daylight at a corner, sticks in wet weather, or has a threshold that has gone soft is almost always a frame and sill problem. Installing a pre-hung unit replaces all of it at once. We set the frame plumb, shim it at the hinges and lock side, flash it to the weather barrier, and fit the threshold so the sweep seals without dragging.
Hardware and fit
Before ordering, we measure the opening, the wall depth and the swing, and check whether a sidelight or transom is staying or going. Lock and deadbolt bores are set to the hardware you pick, so the door closes with an even gap all the way around.
Turning a Window Into a Door
Adding a patio door where there is a window today is one of the most popular projects for opening a kitchen or living room onto a deck or yard. It is also a structural change, not a swap.
The opening has to be cut down to the floor and usually made wider. That means a new header sized for the span, new king and jack studs, and a sill built to sit on the floor framing. A door opening in an exterior wall carries weight from above, so the header is sized for that load.
Permits for a new door opening
Reframing a window into a door, or adding a door where there was none, needs a building permit in Washington. Inside the City of Vancouver the city building department issues it, and unincorporated addresses go through Clark County. The new door has to meet the Washington State Energy Code. We file the permit and meet the inspector.
Once the door is in, the siding below the old window is removed and the wall is patched and matched around the new trim, then painted. On the inside, the wall below the old sill opens up to the floor, which is worth planning for before the job starts.
How a Door Installation Runs
The first visit is measuring. We look at each opening, the sill and floor below it, and the frame around it, then send a written quote. When you go ahead, the door is ordered to size and we give you the delivery date when we have it.
On install day the old door comes out and the opening is checked for rot and missing flashing. A sill pan goes down first, so any water that gets under the threshold drains out instead of into the subfloor. The new door is set level and plumb, fastened, flashed and sealed, and the trim is primed and painted. The site is cleaned and the old door leaves with us.
What Affects the Cost of Door Installation
Two doors that look alike can be very different jobs. These are the things that change the number on a written quote.
- The type of door. A sliding glass door, a pair of French doors and a single pre-hung entry door differ in unit price, in hardware and in install time.
- Size and glass. Wider openings, more glass and upgraded glass packages raise the price of the unit.
- Same opening or a new one. Replacing a door in the same opening is the simplest job. Widening an opening, or turning a window into a door, adds a header, framing, siding work, a permit and an inspection.
- The sill and subfloor. A door that has leaked for years often leaves rot under the threshold. That has to be repaired before the new door goes in.
- Trim, siding and paint. New exterior trim, siding patched around a changed opening, and paint are included in the work and in the quote.
The quote visit is free, and the price comes in writing so you can compare it.
Why Homeowners Choose IE Pro for Door Installation
- The owners install it. Eric and Izak measure, order, set and finish every door. No sales rep and no crew you have not met.
- The sill is done right. A sill pan and proper flashing go under every exterior door, because that is where water gets into a wall.
- Panel or whole door, decided honestly. A slider with a good frame and a fogged panel gets a new panel. We only replace the door when the door needs it.
- Registered with Washington L&I. General contractor registration IEPROE*797LN, active since 2021, with the bond and insurance the state requires.