Is this quote for doors in the ball park?

[Longshanks]

Hi

Am having five doors replaced. Apparently our frame sizes are imperial rather than metric and that causes problems (house built in 1981). The quote for supply and fit , including handles, of five pre primed, fairly basic, internal panel doors is £685?

I appreciate that would not be as straightforward as metric but there must be plenty of suppliers as we aint the only ones living in a "slightly older property"

Many thanks

L

 

[big-all]

most are readily avalable
http://www.magnettrade.co.uk/trade/joinery/subsubcategories/doors/internal
what sizes are they

 

[Longshanks]

Hi

Not sure as am in work. Was just told that the frames are imperial blah blah blah.. Will clarify when I get home this evening.

Thanks

 

[27neth]

About 95% of houses i work in have imperial size frames, they are stocked everywhere


John...

 

[foxhole]

Metric doors are the hardest to find.

 

[27neth]

The price all depends on the price of the doors and furniture... It costs about £35 per door to fit where i live..

John..

 

[Longshanks]

Many thanks

I didn't get a chance to measure yesterday and I'm back in work now. The guy started the job today but I'm getting increasingly worried that I'm being fleeced. This is 5 pre primed four panel doors with handles and fitting etc. The guy I'm using has done other work for relatives and his quote was £685 compared to £740 from another bloke.

 

[joinerjohn]

5 basic primed doors from the sheds would be around £30-£50 per door, so assuming the £50 per door, hes wanting £250 for the materials. New handles can be almost any price you care to conjure up. Nice fancy designer SS or Brass ones can cost almost as much as the doors (let's assume he's spending another £100 on handles, hinges and latches) Then he's actually charging you £335 for hanging the doors , or £67 per door.
You assume that metric doors are easier to hang?? Load of bull. All depends on the door frame it's going into. Metric doors fit metric frames. When I was self employed, I much preferred to fit doors into frames I had put in on first fix (not always easy on a large building site though, all depended where the gaffer sent you for second fix)
With old door frames, there may have been some movement over the years (but not anything a good joiner couldn't overcome)

His quote seems perhaps a bit on the expensive side. £30 -£40 for hanging a door is about the norm round the East Mids. Don't forget, your chap will either be picking up the doors or having them delivered ( incurring costs too)

 

[Longshanks]

Many thanks again. The door in question is shown and is in my album. I've measured and it seems to be 28.5" by 79.75". Is this such an unusual door that it had to be ordered from specialist supplier? House was made by Wimpey in 1981.

Cheers

 

[27neth]

So its a metric door you need not a imperial??? The closest door is 726x2040.. (Yours is about 724x2026) How thick is the door?
If the picture in your album is of your new doors, the doors would be about £40 each and the handles looks like the standard cheap type you get in a pack. About £10 for handles,hinges and latch....
So he's charged you £435 for a days work...............

John..

 

[Longshanks]

Doors are 40mm thick and he did three today and finishing the last two tomorrow.

Does that make a difference?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Moot point if he's already been appointed and is half way through don't you think?

 

[Longshanks]

Critical Update

Yep, price agreed and job will be finished today.

It seems that all our door frames were different sizes as is commonplace with properties of this age. Much as to do with the builder (Wimpey) and also the age of the property. He measured all the frames and then chose an average size which would accommodate all the doors as he would then plane down etc.These doors are then individually made and it is this which makes them expensive. I asked him why we couldn't have had bog standard which he could have planed and he said the panels at the top would then have been much thinner than the bottom and this would look cheap and nasty etc etc.

Does this ring tru or is it a load of crap?

Many thanks

L

 

[Longshanks]

No takers?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Poor chap, got this bloke looking over his shoulder all day!