Exterior Door Replacement in the Capital Region
The back door and the side door do the real work in a Capital Region home. They take the groceries, the firewood, the dog, the snow shovel and the road salt, and nobody paints them the way they paint the front. That is why they are almost always the first exterior doors to fail.
Exterior door replacement covers side, back, service and garage-to-house doors, which fail faster than front doors because they take more abuse and less maintenance. Installed cost runs $900 to $3,000. Rot at the bottom of the jamb is the most common reason for replacement here.
The failure pattern is consistent. Water gets past a threshold that was never flashed with a sill pan, it soaks into the bottom of the jamb, and over several winters the freeze-thaw cycling breaks the wood down until the jamb is soft enough to push a screwdriver through. By the time you notice the door not latching right, the framing behind the jamb is usually wet too.
We replace these doors properly, which means we open up and fix what is behind the jamb rather than covering it back up with new trim.
Signs a side or back door needs replacing
- The bottom six inches of the jamb is soft, dark, or crumbling
- The bottom edge of a steel door is rusting or has rusted through
- The threshold is loose, cracked, or water pools on it
- The door has dropped and now drags on the threshold
- There is visible daylight along the hinge or latch side
- The interior floor or baseboard near the door is stained or lifting
- The door swells shut in summer and rattles in winter
The garage-to-house door is a code item
The door between an attached garage and the living space is not an ordinary interior door. Building code requires it to be a fire-rated assembly, typically a solid wood door at least 1 and 3/8 inches thick, a solid or honeycomb core steel door of the same thickness, or a door with a twenty minute fire rating. It also has to be self-closing and self-latching under current code in New York. A hollow-core door in that opening is a code violation and a genuine safety issue, since the garage is where the car, the gas cans and the lawn mower live. This is one of the most common defects we find, usually because a previous owner swapped in whatever was on the shelf.
What exterior door replacement costs
Service doors are less expensive than front doors because the units are simpler, but rot repair can move the number.
| Scope | Typical installed cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Steel service door, prehung | $900 to $1,800 | Most common back door replacement |
| Fiberglass service door, prehung | $1,400 to $2,600 | Better for exposed elevations |
| Half-glass service door | $1,300 to $2,800 | Adds light to a dark mudroom |
| Fire-rated garage-to-house door | $1,100 to $2,200 | Includes self-closing hardware |
| Jamb and framing rot repair | $200 to $900 | Quoted separately after we open it up |
| Subfloor repair at the threshold | $300 to $1,200 | When water has been getting in for years |
Ranges reflect typical Capital Region projects and are for planning only. Every Sundog quote is written, itemized, and free.
How the project runs
- 1
Find the extent of the damage
We probe the jamb, the threshold and the subfloor at the door. Rot in the jamb usually means wet framing and sometimes a wet subfloor.
- 2
Quote the repair honestly
Framing and subfloor repair is quoted separately and shown to you before we proceed, not added after the fact.
- 3
Remove and repair
Old unit and trim out, rotted framing and sill plate cut out and replaced with treated lumber where it contacts masonry or concrete.
- 4
Sill pan and flashing
A sloped sill pan is installed under the new threshold and lapped into the weather barrier so any future water drains out instead of into the framing.
- 5
Set and seal
Prehung unit set plumb and shimmed, perimeter foamed, threshold adjusted, interior and exterior trim installed and caulked.
Doors in this category
- Back and side entry doors
- Garage-to-house doors, including fire-rated units where required
- Basement and bulkhead access doors
- Mudroom and breezeway doors
- Utility and service entrances
- Doors with integrated pet doors
- Half-glass and full-glass service doors
- Outswing doors for tight interior landings
Where we do this work
We handle exterior door replacement across Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady and Saratoga counties from our Troy office. These are the markets we are in most often.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my back door rot when my front door does not?
Three reasons. It usually takes more direct weather because it is less likely to be under a covered porch. It takes more physical abuse from traffic, snow shovels and road salt. And nobody maintains it, so a failed caulk joint or a cracked threshold goes unnoticed for years while the front door gets repainted.
What happens if you find rot behind the jamb?
We stop, show you, and quote the repair before continuing. Rotted framing gets cut out and replaced, and where the framing sits on concrete or masonry we use pressure treated lumber so it does not happen again. We never install a new door over wet or rotted framing, because the new door will fail the same way.
Does my garage door to the house need to be fire rated?
Yes. Code requires a fire-rated separation between an attached garage and living space, and the door is part of that. It needs to be a solid core or rated door and, under current New York code, self-closing and self-latching. A hollow-core interior door in that opening is both a violation and a real hazard.
Can a door swing outward instead of inward?
Yes, and it is a good solution when the interior landing is tight or when a small entry does not have room for a door swing. Outswing doors need weatherstripping and hinge hardware designed for the configuration, including non-removable hinge pins for security since the hinges are on the exterior side.
How much does it cost to replace a back door?
A prehung steel service door runs $900 to $1,800 installed and fiberglass runs $1,400 to $2,600. Add $200 to $900 if the jamb and framing need rot repair, which is common. We quote the door first and the repair separately once we can see what is behind the trim.
Can you add a pet door to an exterior door?
Yes, either by installing a door with a factory-integrated pet door, which seals better and keeps the warranty intact, or by cutting an aftermarket unit into an existing door. Factory-integrated is the better option in our climate because aftermarket cuts through the insulation core and the flaps are rarely as well sealed.
Related services
Worth reading before you decide
Get a written quote for exterior door replacement
Free measure, itemized pricing, and an honest recommendation on whether this is the right scope for your house.