Front Door Painting Cost UK: £150–£600, Check What Quotes Cover
Painting a front door professionally in the UK typically costs between £150 and £500, depending on condition and scope. Labour drives most of that price, and a door needing stripping, filling or a uPVC respray pushes the figure toward the top of the range. Getting two or three written quotes is the simplest way to see where your door sits.
TL;DR:
A sound door typically costs £150 to £280 to repaint, while stripping, priming, and repainting poor timber raises the range to £280 to £500.
uPVC and composite doors need specialist two pack spray coatings; resprays average around £230 and can reach £600 when preparation or colour changes add work.
Labour makes up 60% to 70% of quotes; London and the South East may cost more, and jobs for one door can carry minimum fees.
Compare written quotes by checking preparation, paint type and coats, frame and hardware inclusion, VAT, cleanup, and guarantee terms before accepting.
Ask uPVC sprayers for a written guarantee against peeling, cracking, or fading, and confirm whether the quoted price includes the frame or only the door.
Table of Contents
Typical UK costs for common front door jobs
Quotes vary more by job type than by postcode, so it helps to see the main categories side by side. The figures below come from NearMeTrades’ UK cost guide and Checkatrade’s uPVC spraying guide.
Job type | Typical UK price range |
Like-for-like repaint (sound door) | £150 to £280 |
Strip, prime and paint (poor condition) | £280 to £500 |
Door and frame together | £200 to £400 |
uPVC or composite respray (door and frame) | around £230 to £600 |
A basic repaint sits at the lower end because the door only needs a light sand, a coat of primer where bare wood shows, and two topcoats. Strip-and-restore jobs cost more because the painter has to remove old, flaking layers before any new paint goes on, which adds hours rather than materials.
If you’re weighing up doing it yourself, materials alone (primer, undercoat, one litre of exterior topcoat and basic sandpaper) typically run to a modest sum compared with a professional quote, since labour is what you’re really paying for. A single front door needs only a modest amount of paint for two coats.
Prices can vary by region, with London and the South East often sitting above the national average.
Most professional quotes include VAT and a standard mark-up on materials, so a tradesperson’s quote and a DIY materials estimate are not directly comparable.
What makes one quote higher than another
The headline price range hides a lot of variation, and most of it comes down to preparation. A door with sound, intact paint needs a light key-sand and two coats. A door with peeling or blistered paint needs scraping, filling and priming before any colour goes on, which adds labour hours rather than paint cost. On older properties, painters may also need to check for lead paint before sanding, which can add time and specific precautions.
Timber doors generally need more prep (sanding, filling, priming bare wood) than composite or uPVC.
uPVC and composite surfaces need specialist primers or two-pack coatings rather than standard trade paint.
Darker or stronger colours, particularly over a lighter base, often need an extra coat to cover evenly.
Removing and refitting door furniture, letterboxes or glazing bars adds time and is usually charged separately.
Pro Tip: Ask whether the quote uses a dedicated trade paint rather than a retail tin: trade ranges are formulated for durability and tend to hold their finish longer on a door that faces the weather all day.
uPVC and composite doors: specialist respray approach and costs
uPVC and composite doors can’t simply be painted with standard trade paint; they need a specialist two-pack spray coating designed to bond to the plastic or composite surface. Checkatrade’s uPVC spraying guide puts the average cost of spraying a uPVC door and frame at around £230, rising toward £600 for a fuller respray with more preparation or colour changes.
Many owners choose a respray over replacement simply because it costs a fraction of a new door while opening up colour options that aren’t always available off the shelf. Done properly, a professional respray on uPVC or composite is expected to last several years before it needs attention again.
Insist on a sprayer who uses a proper two-pack system, not a brushed-on retail paint.
Ask for a written guarantee covering peeling, cracking or colour fade.
Check the quote states whether the frame is included or just the door leaf.
How professionals charge: day rates and what’s included
Most decorators price a front-door job against a day-rate structure rather than a simple per-door fee, because the time spent setting up, masking and waiting between coats doesn’t change much whether they’re painting one door or two. BestHomeExperts’ day-rate guide shows day rates vary by region, with London and the South East typically commanding a premium over the rest of the country.
Labour commonly makes up the majority of a door quote, often reckoned at 60 to 70% of the total.
Materials carry a standard trade mark-up on top of the paint’s cost price.
Small jobs like a single door often attract a minimum call-out charge, since the painter’s time to travel and set up is the same regardless of job size.
How long does a front door paint job take?
A single front door usually takes a few hours of active work on site: sanding, masking, priming and applying two topcoats. The job may span more than one day, because paint needs time to cure between coats and a painter won’t rush that stage. Cold or damp weather extends drying time further, and a door needing extra priming for bare or repaired timber adds another wait before the final coat goes on.
How to get accurate, comparable quotes
Two quotes rarely cover exactly the same work, so it helps to ask every painter the same questions before comparing figures.
Ask for a line-item breakdown: preparation, primer or undercoat, and the number and type of topcoats.
Confirm the paint brand and whether it’s a trade product, and check it’s rated for exterior use.
Check whether the frame and door furniture (handles, letterbox, hinges) are included or priced separately.
Ask whether the quoted figure includes VAT, travel and clean-up, and whether a small-job minimum applies.
Ask for an expected timeline, the length of any guarantee, and photos of similar completed jobs.
A quote that skips these details usually means a painter hasn’t fully assessed the door’s condition yet, which often leads to a higher final bill once work starts. For a broader sense of what exterior work costs beyond the door itself, our exterior house painting cost guide covers a per-square-metre benchmark worth comparing against.
What guarantee should come with a front door paint job
Reputable painters typically back exterior door work with a written guarantee covering workmanship, such as peeling, flaking or uneven coverage appearing within a set period after the job. The length and scope of that guarantee varies by firm, so it’s worth asking exactly what’s covered before work starts rather than assuming it matches a verbal promise.
A guarantee on a uPVC or composite respray is particularly important, since specialist coatings behave differently to standard paint and a firm that regularly works with these materials should be confident enough to commit something in writing. For a timber door, a guarantee usually assumes the surface was properly prepared, so ask whether it’s void if the door later shows signs of underlying rot or moisture that wasn’t visible at the time.
Keep any written guarantee along with photos of the finished door and a note of the paint brand used. If an issue does appear, that record makes it far easier to get it resolved without a dispute over what was originally agreed. A guarantee is also a reasonable way to judge how confident a painter is in their own preparation work: a firm offering only a token promise may have cut corners on sanding or priming.
Keeping the finish looking good after painting
A freshly painted front door needs very little upkeep if the preparation was done properly, but a few small habits extend the time before it needs attention again. Wiping the door down every few months removes grime and salt residue that otherwise dulls the finish, particularly on doors facing the street or exposed to coastal weather.
Check the door annually for small chips or scuffs around the handle and letterbox, since these are the first spots to show wear. A touch-up with leftover paint from the original job is far cheaper than waiting for damage to spread and needing a full repaint. If you kept a tin from the original job, store it somewhere cool and dark to help preserve the paint.
For uPVC and composite doors, a respray generally needs less ongoing attention than timber, since the specialist coating resists fading and flaking better than standard paint on bare wood. Timber doors may benefit from a light rub-down and a fresh topcoat as the finish begins to wear, particularly on south-facing doors that take the most sun. Our guide to long-lasting exterior paint options covers which products hold up best under UK weather conditions.
Does door size or style change the price
A standard-sized panelled door generally costs the same to paint as a standard flush door, since the time difference between them is small once prepping and masking are accounted for. Panelled doors have more edges, mouldings and recesses to cut in around, which can add some time compared with a flat flush door, but the difference rarely moves a quote into a different price bracket on its own.
Oversized doors, double doors, or doors with significant glazing take noticeably longer, since there’s more surface to prepare and more masking around glass or hardware. A door with decorative panelling or raised mouldings also benefits from extra care with primer in the recesses, which is where panelling and priming guidance from specialist suppliers is useful: getting primer properly into detailed mouldings matters as much for a front door’s panels as it does for interior panelling work.
If your door has sidelights or a glazed top panel, expect the painter to mask these carefully, which adds modest time to the job regardless of the door’s overall size.
Does paint type or finish change the cost
The type of paint specified in a quote affects both the price and how long the finish lasts. Standard exterior trade paints, such as water-based satin products like Zinsser AllCoat, are formulated for weather resistance and typically cover a wide area per litre on non-porous surfaces, which keeps material costs predictable.
A weather-resistant or specifically eco-friendly formulation sometimes costs more per litre than a basic retail exterior paint, though the difference on a single door is usually small compared with the labour cost of applying it. The finish you choose, gloss, satin or matt, doesn’t typically change the price much on its own, but gloss finishes show prep flaws more readily, so a painter may recommend a bit more time on sanding and filling beforehand to avoid an uneven sheen.
What’s included in the average total cost
A quote for painting a front door should account for more than just brushwork. Beyond the base price for prep and paint, several extras commonly appear on a full job:
Hardware removal and refitting, such as handles, letterboxes, knockers and hinges, is often priced in rather than assumed, since masking around fittings takes longer than removing and refitting them cleanly. If your door needs a threshold or door bar replaced as part of the work, that’s a separate cost again, and guidance on typical UK door bar costs is a useful reference if that’s part of your job.
Adding the frame to the door itself typically brings the total to £200 to £400, and a uPVC respray that also covers the frame sits in a similar range to a timber strip-and-restore job. When comparing quotes, check whether the figure you’ve been given already includes these extras or whether they’ll appear as additions once work starts, since that’s where a tight-sounding quote can creep upward.
A painter’s view on what actually makes a door last
Prep is what helps a door keep looking sharp rather than peeling prematurely. We’d rather spend extra time sanding and priming properly than rush to the topcoat. If you’ve got other small jobs, a gate, a shed, some fascia boards, mention them together: bundling work into one visit usually saves you a separate call-out fee. Always ask for references and before-and-after photos before booking.
— Angus
Get a front door quote from A Brush With Gus
If you’re in Cornwall or the wider South West and want a front door painted properly, we offer exterior home painting for timber doors and full house exteriors, and specialist uPVC spraying for uPVC doors and frames.
A quote before any work starts.
Airless spraying for a smoother, faster finish on larger exterior jobs.
Friendly, family-run service covering the South West.
Get in touch for a quote on your front door and we’ll talk you through exactly what the job involves.
FAQ
What do painters charge per day?
Decorator day rates vary by region, with London and the South East typically charging more than the rest of the UK. A single front door job rarely fills a whole day, which is why many painters apply a small-job minimum rather than a straight hourly rate.
Is it cheaper to paint your own front door yourself?
DIY materials cost considerably less than a professional quote, since you’re only buying primer, undercoat and a small amount of topcoat. However, labour makes up 60 to 70% of a professional quote, so the saving reflects your own time and the risk of a less durable finish if preparation isn’t done thoroughly.
Is it better to spray or brush paint a composite or uPVC door?
uPVC and composite doors need a specialist two-pack spray coating rather than standard brushed paint, since ordinary trade paint doesn’t bond properly to these surfaces. Spraying also gives a smoother, more even finish and is the approach specialist firms use for uPVC respray work.
What should I check before accepting a front door painting quote?
Ask for a breakdown covering preparation, primer, number of topcoats, paint brand, and whether the frame and hardware are included. Also confirm whether the price includes VAT and clean-up, and ask for the length of any workmanship guarantee.
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