External & Front Door Installation in Perth

Depending on the existing frame and the style of the new entry, replacing a front door takes anywhere from a half to a full day. A straightforward swap in a standard timber frame might take 4 to 5 hours. However, hanging a solid timber front door—which demands heavy-duty hinges to support its substantial swing weight—while routing out custom strike plates and boring holes for a new deadbolt can stretch the job to 8 hours. The priority is never speed; it is ensuring the door swings flawlessly, meets home security standards, and seals tightly against the weather.

Yes, fitting a new door into an existing frame is common, provided the old timber jambs remain structurally sound and perfectly square. In older homes around Fremantle or Armadale, frames have often shifted or settled over the decades. Before hanging the door, we check the opening with a spirit level to ensure the tolerances are within 2 to 3 millimetres. If the frame is bowed or suffers from timber rot, it will compromise the weather seals and lock alignment. In those cases, we will need to repair or completely replace the jambs to guarantee a secure, professional fit.

During Perth’s wet winter months, solid wooden doors naturally absorb moisture from the air, causing the timber to expand. If the door was originally fitted too tightly during summer, this seasonal swelling leads to the door binding or sticking against the jamb. To resolve this, we remove the door and plane the edges down to precise seasonal tolerances, usually leaving a 3-millimetre gap. We also check that the heavy-duty hinges haven’t loosened under the door’s weight. For more details on this process, you can read our guide on fixing a sticking wooden door.

Absolutely. Many homeowners and renovators prefer to source their own architectural or period-style doors from local suppliers. We are happy to provide a labour-only service to hang doors you have already purchased. Fitting an external door is a highly precise carpentry task that requires specialised tools to hinge, hang, and bore locks correctly without splintering the expensive raw material. Whether you have bought a standard solid core panel or a custom-designed timber entry for a property in Rockingham, we will ensure it is installed to exact structural and home defence security standards.

For maximum home security, your front door requires an insurance-compliant lock set, typically consisting of a commercial-grade deadbolt paired with a standard passage latch. Relying purely on a handle lock leaves your property vulnerable to extreme force. Fitting a deadbolt properly ensures that home insurance policies remain completely valid and active. We precision-bore the heavy solid timber to house the lock barrel and install reinforced metal strike plates into the door jamb. This multi-point locking approach provides an impenetrable barrier against forced entry, keeping your family and possessions deeply secure.

Yes, we regularly install pre-glazed solid timber doors. Integrating glass panels—such as heavy double-glazing or decorative leadlight—significantly increases the overall weight of the door. This added mass means standard builder-grade hinges will quickly bend and sag, causing the door to drop and drag along the threshold. To counter this, we use robust, load-bearing heavy-duty hinges specifically rated for substantial swing weights. We also ensure that the shock of the door closing does not transfer into the glass, preserving the integrity of the glazing putty and avoiding stress fractures over the door’s lifetime.

Older doors often develop significant gaps at the base, leading to cold draughts and rainwater penetration during strong coastal storms. Depending on the severity of the gap and the condition of the door, we can approach this in two ways. The most effective upgrade is to pull the door down, structurally rout the bottom edge, and fit a concealed, commercial-grade drop seal that automatically lowers when the door closes. Alternatively, precision-fitted weather seals and heavy-duty thresholds can be installed directly to the sill. If the door itself is warped beyond repair, a complete replacement is the safest option.

As dedicated structural carpenters, our focus is entirely on the precise mechanical installation of your front door. This includes sizing the timber, routing the heavy-duty hinges, boring the locksets, establishing strict clearances, and ensuring your weather seals are perfectly fitted to stop rainwater penetration. We do not paint, stain, or varnish the doors. We leave the raw timber ready for a professional painter or for you to finish yourself. By keeping our focus strictly on the carpentry, you get a genuinely hand-crafted, high-tolerance fit that provides decades of smooth operation and unwavering home defence security.