*All cost estimates on this page are planning estimates, not quotes. Actual costs vary by location, project scope, materials, site conditions, and contractor. See methodology and sources.
One question decides which half of this range you are shopping in. An exterior French door is a weather assembly: insulated glass, tempered by code, a sill pan and flashing, weatherstripping on both panels and at the astragal, a multipoint lock, drainage at the sill. An interior pair carries none of that: single-pane or obscure glass, a simple latch and a bolt. The unit is markedly cheaper and the cost migrates to carpentry.
A pair has more parts than a single door, so more can go missing. Look for both slabs, the jamb and the astragal; which panel is active and the swing direction, in writing; glass type, tempering and lite pattern; hardware in full, including flush bolts and any multipoint lock; weatherstripping, astragal seal, threshold and exterior flashing; and labor including squaring an out-of-plumb opening, which is standard in older homes.
Usually not included: painting or staining, screens (a retractable screen is sold and installed separately), a floor transition where two floor types meet under an interior pair, and framing a new opening. On interior work, ask outright whether drywall repair and paint are yours or theirs. That is where these projects go over budget.
The door replacement cost guide puts a hinged patio pair at five to eight hours including framing adjustments, longer than a slider for a specific reason. Both panels have to close evenly against each other as well as against the jamb, and achieving that in a slightly out-of-square opening is where the extra hours go.
Beforehand, the lites stretch the wait: true divided lites and non-standard sizes push toward the long end of the lead times in our door replacement timeline guide. If you are cutting a new interior opening, the door install is the short part. Framing, drywall and paint run over several days with drying time between.
Two hinged panels need somewhere to go, and that rules them out more often than budget does.
Exterior pairs. In-swing is standard and cheapest. Out-swing frees interior floor space but needs a specific threshold and takes more weather. Fixed sidelights either side widen the rough opening, which is framing rather than a door upgrade. Materials run from vinyl and fiberglass up to clad wood, where wood faces the room and aluminum or vinyl faces the weather. Insulated tempered glass is the baseline; laminated adds security and quiet at the highest cost.
Interior pairs. Cheaper units, wider style range. Clear glass keeps light moving between rooms; frosted, reeded or seeded glass gives privacy without losing it. Solid-core panels feel and sound better than hollow-core and cost more.
Alternatives worth pricing alongside. A barn-style sliding pair needs no swing clearance but does not seal or lock like a door. A pocket pair disappears into the wall and requires opening that wall up. Bifold panels give a wide opening in a shallow space.
Renewal by Andersen is consistently reviewed as a premium replacement door provider, offering Ensemble® Entry Doors and Andersen® Patio Doors. The door-specific reviews echo the window ones almost exactly: homeowners often highlight the installation experience, noting that crews arrived on time, were professional and courteous, and paid close attention to fit and finish. Many reviewers point to the customized fit, quality of the finished product, and the warranty service experience, for those who used it, as reasons they feel the investment is worthwhile.
Home Genius Exteriors fits ProVia entry and patio doors (Endure, ecoLite, Aspect and Aeris) and the door reviews describe the same named-project-manager experience the company is known for elsewhere, with a straightforward process and thorough cleanup. One practical flag on pricing: their promotional discounts are tiered by trade, and doors sit outside the materials discount entirely. So ask what your door quote actually qualifies for rather than assuming the headline offer applies.
Window Nation fits its entry and patio doors with the same Installation Masters™-certified crews as its windows, and most door-specific reviews describe exactly that: a quick, clean install day with little disruption. A handful of complaints are specifically about doors: missing screw-cover plugs, a patio lock that was stiff to operate, a screen door that came loose within weeks. None of them is about the door itself. Have the exact measurements and the hardware operation checked at the final walkthrough while the crew is still there, and confirm what the limited lifetime warranty covers on the moving parts.
Clear Choice Home Improvement fits entry, exterior and patio doors as one of six trades, and the door reviews echo what homeowners say about the rest of its work: responsive communication and crews that turn up on time and treat the house with care. It works across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, southern Maine, Vermont and central Pennsylvania. One thing worth knowing before you inquire: Clear Choice does replacement and installation rather than repairs, so a single sticking door is not the job they are set up for.
Statewide fits sliding and French patio doors with insulated glass and low-E coatings. Homeowners describe having a leaking patio door and the rotted wood around it replaced in the same visit, with the crew hauling the old materials away and leaving the site clean. Reviews across its Texas markets describe the same unhurried, professional service its other trades are known for.
Power Home Remodeling builds its entry and sliding patio doors with ProVia, and the door-specific reviews are genuinely good. Homeowners report drafts gone and heating bills down after replacement, with most installs wrapped up in a few hours. Installation is carried out by independent contractors partnered with Power. Its Homeowner Bill of Rights applies to doors as it does to everything else, including the blind-pricing commitment that your price will not vary by your age, income or the value of your home.
An interior pair with clear glass sits at the low end of the range above; an exterior clad-wood pair with true divided lites and a multipoint lock sits at the top. Cutting a new opening is separate work, and on interior jobs it is often the larger number.
The unit is only part of it. On an exterior pair the door is most of the cost and installation is a long day. On an interior pair in a new opening the doors can be the smaller half, with framing, drywall and paint taking the rest. Ask for the quote itemized so you can see which you are in.
Not meaningfully, at the scope this site prices. Sliding and French patio doors sit in one patio door scope and publish the same range, so a like-for-like replacement in an existing opening costs about the same either way. Differences show at the edges: French doors need a separate retractable screen and more hardware.
Only if you want one, and it is a separate purchase. Hinged panels cannot take a fixed screen the way a slider can, so the usual answer is a retractable screen housed at the jamb. Budget it up front. Retrofitting is a second visit.
Yes, but that makes it a construction project rather than a door purchase. A new opening in a load-bearing wall needs a properly sized header, usually a permit and an inspection, and the structural work commonly outweighs the doors.
