We are door fitters working across South London and North Kent on internal doors, bifolds, French doors, patio doors, composite front doors and fire doors. Doors are one of those jobs that looks straightforward and frequently is not — almost no opening in an older property is square, and a door hung plumb into an opening that is not will bind, drop or show uneven gaps within a season. We fit to the opening you actually have.
Door installation covers a wide range of work, from hanging a single internal door to fitting a five-panel bifold across the back of an extension. The common factor is that the frame matters more than the door. A door is only ever as good as the opening it sits in, and correcting a poorly prepared opening is most of the skill involved.
We handle supply and installation, or installation only where you have already bought the doors. That covers internal doors and linings, external and composite doors with the associated security hardware, bifold and sliding systems, French and patio doors, and fire doors where compliance is required.
Where doors form part of a larger project — an extension, a loft conversion or a refurbishment — they are built into the same programme rather than booked as a separate visit weeks later. That matters more than it sounds: the structural opening, the threshold detail and the door itself all have to agree with each other, and they usually do not when three different people specify them.
If you are opening the back of a house onto the garden, this is the decision that gets agonised over most. There is no universally right answer, but there is usually a right answer for your opening.
Bifold doors concertina to one side and open almost the entire aperture, so on a warm day the room genuinely becomes part of the garden. The trade-off is that they have more frame than the alternatives, so when they are shut you are looking through more aluminium and less glass.
Sliding doors reverse that. Far less frame and much bigger panes, so the view when closed is better — and you will spend far more days looking through them than walking through them. But only part of the opening ever opens, usually half.
French doors are a traditional pair, and they suit narrower openings where a bifold would be cramped and a slider would look odd. They also cost considerably less, and on a period property they often look more at home than either alternative.
Our honest rule of thumb: choose bifolds if you entertain outdoors and the opening is wide. Choose sliders if the view matters more than the aperture. Choose French doors if the opening is under about two and a half metres.
Hanging internal doors, fitting linings, architrave and ironmongery. Includes trimming doors to fit out-of-square openings, which in a Victorian or Edwardian house is nearly always necessary rather than occasionally.
Aluminium and timber bifold systems, most often across the rear of an extension. Bifolds need a level, structurally adequate threshold and an opening sized to the system, so the frame preparation is where these installations succeed or fail. We handle the structural opening as well as the door where the two are part of the same job.
Sliding and lift-and-slide systems. Fewer frames than bifolds means more glass and a better view when closed, which is how most people actually experience a set of doors for most of the year.
A traditional pair of glazed doors, opening outward or inward. Well suited to narrower openings where a bifold would not be practical, and often the most sympathetic choice on a period property.
External door replacement in composite, uPVC or timber, with multipoint locking and the associated security hardware. Also covers frame replacement where the existing frame has failed rather than just the door. Composite front door installation is usually a one-day job, and it changes the look of a house more than almost any other single item at that cost.
Fire-rated door installation for HMOs, flats, commercial premises and loft conversions. A fire door only performs as a complete assembly — the door leaf, the frame, fire-rated hinges, the closer, the intumescent and smoke seals, and the gaps around the edges all have to be right together. Fitting a fire-rated leaf into an ordinary frame with ordinary hinges achieves very little, and it is a common shortcut. See our property refurbishment page for HMO compliance work.
Where the opening is being formed as part of an extension, the structural opening, threshold detail and door installation are designed together rather than negotiated afterwards. A rear extension with bifold doors or a kitchen extension with bifold doors needs a correctly sized steel over the opening, a level threshold that will take the track, and drainage that works with a low threshold. See our extension builders page.
Small jobs welcome. A door hanging service for a single door, easing doors that stick, replacing failed hinges, adjusting closers or fitting new ironmongery. We quote for these as readily as for a full house of doors.
Almost every door problem comes from the installation rather than the door. Binding, dropping, uneven gaps and draughts nearly always trace back to a frame that was not fixed square, or an opening that was not properly prepared before the frame went in.
Our carpenters fit doors as part of the same trade that handles the rest of the second fix, so the door, the architrave and the skirting all line up as one piece of work rather than three separate visits that each work around the last.
Balham, Clapham, Brixton, Streatham, Tooting, Wimbledon, Mitcham, Worcester Park
Gravesend, Northfleet, Dartford, Meopham, Higham, Shorne, Cobham, Ebbsfleet
Based in Balham SW12 and working across South London and North Kent.
Not sure if we cover you?
Call 07472 137237 and ask.
Internal door fitting cost and the cost of a set of bifolds are different orders of magnitude, so a single figure would be meaningless. These are what actually drive it:
We quote in writing after measuring.
Tell us what you are fitting and we will come and measure the opening. If you have already bought the doors, we will check they will actually work in the space before anyone starts cutting.
Yes, we do install-only work regularly. It is worth having us measure before you order, though. Doors bought to a nominal size frequently need trimming to fit a real opening, and occasionally an opening will not take the door that has been ordered at all. A ten-minute check beforehand avoids an expensive return.
A straightforward internal door hung into an existing lining usually takes one to two hours. A door with a new lining, architrave and ironmongery takes longer. A full house of internal doors is typically one to two days, and it works out considerably cheaper per door than having a single one fitted.
Often yes, if the opening is being widened or newly formed. A wide bifold opening in a load-bearing wall needs a correctly sized steel beam with padstones, plus a threshold that is level, structurally adequate and detailed so water cannot track back inside. We handle the structural work and the door installation together, which avoids the situation where the opening is built and then does not suit the door that was ordered.
Fire doors are typically required in houses in multiple occupation, in flats where a door opens onto a communal escape route, in commercial premises, and in loft conversions where the escape route needs protecting. The requirement comes from building regulations and, for rented property, from the fire risk assessment. A fire door only works as a complete assembly, so the frame, hinges, closer and seals matter as much as the door leaf itself.
Frequently yes, provided the frame is sound, square and the right size. It is the cheaper option and we will tell you honestly whether your existing frame is worth keeping once we have looked at it. On external doors the frame is often the part that has failed, in which case replacing only the door is a false economy.
Replacement external doors have to meet a minimum thermal performance standard, and the work is notifiable. Most installations are certified through a competent person scheme rather than a separate building control application. Ask any installer how they certify the work — you will need the paperwork when you come to sell.
Bifolds work in openings from around one and a half metres upwards, but they come into their own above about three metres where you get several panels and a genuinely open aperture. Below roughly two and a half metres, French doors usually give a better result for less money, because a narrow bifold ends up being mostly frame. We will tell you which we think suits your opening.
Yes. We install fire-rated door assemblies for HMOs, flats and commercial premises, including the frame, fire-rated hinges, intumescent and smoke seals, and self-closers where required. We can also work as part of a wider HMO refurbishment where the whole property is being brought up to licensing standard.
