Door installation and repair jobs
Most door work in Brisbane houses is one of five jobs. Each is carpentry in an existing opening; garage doors and roller doors are a different trade and aren't covered here.
Replacing internal doors
Hollow-core or solid-core doors hung on the existing frames: trimmed to the opening, hinge recesses cut, handles and latches fitted, and the old doors taken away. Doing every door in the house at once is usually cheaper per door than one at a time.
Pre-hung doors and new jambs
When the old frame is split, damaged or badly out of square, a pre-hung door arrives already hung in its own jamb. It's packed plumb and level in the opening, fixed, and the architraves are refitted around it.
Cavity sliding door installation
A cavity slider runs into a pocket inside the wall, so it needs a cavity unit built into the frame and the wall lining around it replaced. Existing cavity doors that jump the track or drag usually need new rollers, a new track or the door rehung on its hangers.
Front and back doors
A new entry door in the same opening, with weather seals, the lock and the trims. Say whether you've chosen the door already, its size, and whether it has sidelights or a glazed panel.
Door repairs: sticking, dragging and not latching
A house that has moved a little, a loose hinge, a swollen edge after wet weather or new flooring under the door. The fix is usually planing the edge and resealing it, packing or replacing the hinges, or moving the strike plate so the latch catches.
How much does door installation cost in Brisbane?
Door installation prices in Brisbane
| What's charged | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Internal hollow-core door, installation only (3 doors or more) | $219 per door | Brisbane Door Fitter (Brisbane) |
| Internal solid or glazed door, installation only (2 doors or more) | $329 per door | Brisbane Door Fitter (Brisbane) |
| External door, installation only | $579 per door | Brisbane Door Fitter (Brisbane) |
Installation-only prices from Brisbane Door Fitter, a door installer covering Brisbane (undated price list, read 28 October 2026; GST not stated). The door itself isn't included. More prices, including Bunnings', are on the door installation cost page.
The door itself, whether the frame stays, the hardware and how many doors are done together change the price. The door installation cost guide lists the extras, such as disposal and deadbolts, and Bunnings' installation prices too.
Doors in Queenslanders and older Brisbane homes
Older timber houses often have doors and openings that aren't a standard size, and frames that have moved over the decades. A new door is usually trimmed to the opening rather than dropped straight in, and a solid or panelled door may suit the house better than a hollow-core one.
In Brisbane City Council's character overlays, which cover many houses built in 1946 or earlier, City Plan lists taking out external doors so they can be replaced with new features "of the same style and appearance" among its accepted development. A front door that changes the look of the street front is a different question. See renovating a Queenslander.
If the house was built before 1990, the Queensland Government says "there is a good chance that it contains asbestos". Say when the house was built before any old frame or wall lining is cut. See asbestos before renovating.
New doorways and moving a door
Cutting a new doorway or widening one means cutting into the wall frame. In a load-bearing wall that's structural work, with a lintel sized to carry the load above. Over $3,300 it needs a contractor whose QBCC licence class covers wall framing, and a building certifier decides whether it needs approval.
Over $3,300 in total, counting labour, materials and GST, door work is building work that needs a QBCC-licensed contractor. Hanging a few internal doors often comes in under that. See carpenter or builder: QBCC licences.
Fire doors and garage doors
Fire-rated doors between a garage and the house, and the doors of units and townhouses, have their own compliance rules. Garage and roller doors are a separate trade. Say which you have before asking for a quote.
What to send with your enquiry
- How many doors, and which kind: internal, cavity sliding, bifold or front
- One door's height and width, and its thickness if you can measure it
- Whether the frames stay or are being replaced
- The doors and handles you've chosen, if you've bought them
- What's wrong with a door that needs repair: sticking, dragging, not latching
- When the house was built
Related guides
- Door installation cost in Brisbane A Brisbane installer's per-door prices for hollow-core, solid, glazed and external doors, Bunnings' starting prices, and what changes the cost.
Questions about doors in Brisbane
How much does it cost to hang an internal door in Brisbane?
A national price guide lists $150 to $280 per hollow-core internal door for labour only, and $250 to $450 supplied and installed (last reviewed June 2026; GST not stated). Several doors at once usually cost less per door. See door installation costs.
Can I buy the doors myself?
Yes. Say in your enquiry which doors and hardware you've bought, with their sizes, so the quote covers fitting them. Measure the existing frames before buying: older Brisbane houses often have non-standard openings.
Why do doors stick in summer and after rain?
Timber swells with moisture. A door that sticks after wet weather usually has an unsealed edge, often the top or bottom. Planing it to suit and sealing every edge stops it swelling again.
Can a cavity sliding door go into an existing wall?
Usually, if the wall isn't load-bearing and has room for the door to slide into. The wall lining comes off on both sides, a cavity unit goes into the frame, and the wall is lined and trimmed again. In a load-bearing wall it's structural work: over $3,300 it needs a contractor whose QBCC licence class covers wall framing.
Do you need a licence to replace a front door in Queensland?
Only if the job is valued over $3,300, counting labour, materials and GST: then it's building work for a QBCC-licensed contractor. A high-end front door with sidelights can pass that on its own. See QBCC licences.
Where this information comes from
The rules and figures on this page come from these published pages, checked on 28 October 2026 (prices and Queensland rules).
- Brisbane Door Fitter: installation only · Door installer covering Brisbane, the north Gold Coast and the south Sunshine Coast; undated price list (GST not stated), read 28 October 2026
- QBCC: when you need a licence · Queensland Building and Construction Commission, last reviewed 11 August 2021
- Brisbane City Plan 2014, table 5.3.4.1: prescribed accepted development · Brisbane City Council planning scheme, version 37 (effective 18 September 2026)
- Brisbane City Council: heritage and character properties · Brisbane City Council, published 31 March 2025
- Queensland Government: homeowners, look, check and prepare · asbestos.qld.gov.au, undated page
