Door Installation in Boston: What Entry, Patio and Garage Doors Cost, and the Rules That Come With an Old House

What door installation costs in Boston

The price table adjusts national installed prices for the local market. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers puts construction costs in the Boston area at 1.23 times the national average, so a door that costs less to install in an average US city tends to cost about a quarter more here.

Estimates for 2026, including labor and standard parts. Boston prices use the metro's construction cost factor of 1.23 (US average = 1.00) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Area Cost Factors. Your quote depends on access, materials and the condition of the home.

The entry door line covers a standard pre-hung door in an existing opening. A steel door sits near the bottom of that range, fiberglass in the middle, and solid wood at the top. A stained wood door with sidelights can pass the top of the range on its own.

Things that raise a door quote in Boston:

• A wider opening. Going from a single door to a double door, or from a slider to a multi-slide wall, means a new header, plans and plan review.
• Rot at the sill and threshold. Snow, ice and salt sit against the bottom of a door for months. A new frame adds $160 to $740 at Boston prices.
• Lead-safe work. Pulling the casing and frame in an older house adds containment, cleaning and paperwork.
• Historic review. A front door on a house in a Cambridge or Newton historic district may need approval before you order.

Price your own door with the cost estimator below, or open the full door cost estimator. Both use the rate for your ZIP code. Our door installation cost guide has national prices and a comparison of door types.

The same estimator has its own page, easy to share or bookmark: Door replacement cost estimator.

Door types for Boston-area homes

Entry doors

Fiberglass resists dents and handles wet weather without swelling. Steel costs less but dents and can rust where salt sits. Wood suits the Colonial, Victorian and triple-decker stock across Boston, Cambridge and Somerville. Our entry doors guide covers materials and hardware. On a north-facing entry that never dries out, ask what the finish warranty says about moisture.

Storm doors

A storm door adds a second barrier against wind and snow. It lets you open the main door on a mild day without losing heat, and it protects a wood door's finish from the freeze-thaw cycle. It is also the least expensive line in the table. If your entry door is sound but the vestibule is cold, price a storm door before you price a new door.

Patio, French and multi-slide doors

A sliding door saves floor space. French doors give a wide traditional opening. Multi-slide or bi-fold doors can open most of a wall. Compare them in our guides to patio doors, French doors and multi-slide doors. A wide door with a flush threshold needs a sill pan and flashing that can handle snowmelt and a driving rainstorm. Ask how the installer will handle water at the bottom of the opening, and where it drains.

Garage doors

A garage door often returns more than it costs at sale. Our garage doors guide covers materials and openers. In this metro the bottom panel takes the worst of it from slush, road salt and plow spray. Ask for a door with a corrosion-resistant bottom section and a bottom seal that can be replaced on its own.

Climate, old houses and the energy code

Why an old door leaks here

Massachusetts is in climate zone 5A (225 CMR 22), which means a real heating season and a real cooling season. A door in an old triple-decker or a Colonial has usually been planed, painted over and rehung more than once. The frame is out of square, the threshold has no sill pan, and the weatherstripping is original. That is why the draft comes back a year after a cheap swap: the door was replaced, but the opening was not fixed.

What a replacement door must meet

The base energy code for Massachusetts is IECC 2021 with state amendments, under 780 CMR Chapter 11R for residential (Mass.gov). The Department of Energy Resources also adopts the Stretch Code and the Specialized Code in 225 CMR 22.00, and your city or town decides which one applies (Mass.gov). Over 270 cities and towns have adopted the Stretch Code, including Boston, Cambridge, Newton and Quincy. More than 50 have adopted the Specialized Code, including Cambridge, Brookline, Somerville and Newton (SOCOTEC).

For a door, check the fenestration U-factor. In climate zone 5 the code sets a maximum U-factor of 0.30 for fenestration (225 CMR 22). Ask your installer for the door's NFRC label and check the U-factor against that limit before you order. A glazed door with a low U-factor costs more than a solid one, and a cheap glazed door can fail the number.

The Specialized Code's electrification rules apply to new construction, not to a door swap (SOCOTEC). But Brookline's Fossil Fuel Free bylaw, in effect since February 20, 2024, and Newton's Fossil Fuel-Free Ordinance, in effect since January 1, 2025, shape what a larger project can include (Home Energy Efficiency Consultants, Brookline, Newton). If the door is part of an addition or a major renovation, ask the building department which path applies before the plans are drawn.

Historic buildings

Historic buildings may be exempt from Stretch Code compliance where compliance would compromise the historic character of the building, if that is demonstrated to the code official or the historic preservation authority (SOCOTEC). That exemption is not automatic. It takes a conversation with the local historic commission, and it is worth having before you order a door that does not match the district.

Glass, egress and the garage door

Safety glass

Glass in a swinging, sliding or bifold door is a hazardous location under the residential code, so it must be tempered or laminated safety glass. Sidelights within 24 inches of the door and less than 60 inches above the floor usually fall under the same rule. A glass storm door is a separate panel in front of the main door, and it should be safety glass too. Ask for the glazing label on the door and on the storm door.

Egress from bedrooms

A bedroom needs a way out that a person can use without special tools. A door counts, and so does a window that meets the size and sill-height rules. If you are replacing a bedroom door, keep the clear opening the same or larger. If you are replacing a bedroom window at the same time, see our Boston window replacement guide and the energy-efficient windows guide.

The door between the garage and the house

The door from an attached garage into the house is a fire separation. A hollow-core interior door does not meet it. Ask for a solid wood or steel door of the required thickness, or a fire-rated door, with self-closing hardware, and confirm that no door opens from the garage straight into a bedroom. This is a common miss on a garage door project, because the big door gets the attention and the little one gets whatever was on the truck.

Do you need a permit for a new door in Boston?

Section 110.0 of the Massachusetts State Building Code (780 CMR) requires a building permit before constructing, altering, repairing or demolishing a structure. Ordinary repairs as defined in the code do not need one. (City of Cambridge). A same-size, same-type door change-out is usually treated as an ordinary repair. Widening an opening, adding a header, or changing the door type is an alteration, and that needs a permit and often plan review.

Each city runs its own process:

• Boston. The Inspectional Services Department issues permits for work from home repairs to demolition, and you can check a permit's status in the city's Permit Finder. Questions go to (617) 635-5300.
• Cambridge. Apply through the city's online permitting system. Building permit fees are $20 per $1,000 of construction cost with a $50 minimum, and work started before a permit is issued is charged triple the fee (Cambridge Inspectional Services). Work in a historic district or neighborhood conservation district needs Cambridge Historical Commission approval (City of Cambridge).
• Somerville. Apply through the CitizenServe portal. A building permit is required for all interior and exterior work except painting, tiling and flooring, and a 3-family or larger property needs a licensed contractor to pull it (Somerville ISD). Fees run $20 per $1,000 up to $100,000 and $21 per $1,000 above, with a $50 minimum (Home Energy Efficiency Consultants).
• Newton. Apply through NewGov. Fees are $20 per $1,000 of estimated cost, rounded up, with a $50 minimum, and every residential building permit gets Fire Department review (Newton fee schedule, Home Energy Efficiency Consultants). Exterior changes in Auburndale, Chestnut Hill, Newton Upper Falls and Newtonville go to the Historic District Commission.
• Quincy. All building permits can be applied for online, and the city runs free walk-in clinics for homeowners every Thursday from 2 to 4 PM at 55 Sea Street (City of Quincy).
• Brookline. Apply through the Accela portal. Fees are $20 per $1,000 of project value with a $50 minimum, and the town enforces a Residential Stretch Energy Code for low-rise residential buildings (Brookline Building Department, Home Energy Efficiency Consultants).

The North Shore and South Shore towns have their own building departments and fee schedules. The state code applies everywhere in the metro, so the glass, egress and garage rules above are the same in every town.

Lead paint around old door frames

Much of the housing in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and Brookline is old, and door frames and trim carry paint from earlier decades. Massachusetts runs its own lead-safe renovation program. Paid renovation, repair and painting work in a home built before 1978 must be done by a licensed lead-safe renovation contractor when it disturbs more than 6 square feet of painted surface per room inside, or more than 20 square feet outside. Pulling an old frame and its casing often goes over those limits, and so does sanding a door down to bare wood.

A licensed contractor must have a certified lead-safe renovation supervisor on staff, and the supervisor has to be on site while the work is going on. Ask your installer for the license and the supervisor's name, and ask how they will contain dust in a house where children live. You can look up licensed pros in the Mass.gov directory, and the Department of Labor Standards answers questions at (617) 626-6030.

Areas we cover

GOLDGCP door installers work across greater Boston:

• Boston
• Cambridge and Somerville
• Newton and Brookline
• Quincy
• the North Shore
• the South Shore

Enter your ZIP code to see door prices for your street and get matched with a local installer.