Front door replacement in Tampa Bay.
In most of the country a front door is a style choice. In Florida it is a piece of storm protection with paperwork. Every replacement exterior door needs a Florida Product Approval number, and most cities want a permit and an inspection. A front door replacement is done right when the label matches the paperwork and the door still closes in August.
Priced by written scope, never by the hour.
A front door replacement in Florida is a number, not just a look.
Door pages show you colors and glass. None of them explains the sticker on the edge of the door, which is the thing the inspector reads. Here is what to ask before you buy from anyone, including us.
Every exterior door needs a Florida Product Approval
The state tests doors for wind pressure and water, and each approved door gets a number. That number is on a label on the door edge. A door bought without one cannot be permitted, and the inspector will not pass it. Ask for the number before you fall in love with the door.
The pressure rating has to match your house
The Florida Building Code sets wind loads by where you live and how the house sits. The door's design pressure rating has to meet or beat that number. A door rated for Georgia is not rated for Tampa. The permit review checks it.
The permit protects your insurance
In most Tampa Bay cities a replacement exterior door needs a permit and a final inspection. If a door fails in a storm and there is no permit, an insurer can push back on the claim. The paperwork is the boring part that pays.
Impact glass is not the same as wind rated
A wind rated door holds against pressure. An impact rated door also stops flying debris. In some zones impact is required, and in others it is a choice that can lower your insurance. The scope names which one you are buying and why.
The door decides the price. The frame decides the surprises.
Two houses can order the same door and get different numbers. Here is what actually moves the number on a front door replacement.
The door itself
Fiberglass costs less than wood and does not rot. Steel is cheaper still and dents. Impact rated glass adds to any of them. A single door is the base case. Sidelights and a transom make it a bigger unit with a bigger opening.
Prehung or slab
A prehung door comes in its own frame and replaces the whole thing. A slab is just the door, hung in the old frame. A slab is cheaper and only works if the old frame is square, sound and the right size. Most Florida frames are not all three.
What the old frame hides
Water gets under a threshold for years before anyone sees it. The subfloor and the framing under the door rot quietly. When the old frame comes out, we see it. That repair is priced when it is visible.
Permit, hardware and finish
The permit is a line at cost. Hardware ranges from a basic lockset to a smart lock and a multipoint latch. A factory finish costs more up front and outlasts a site painted door in the Florida sun.
What gets checked before the door is ordered.
A door is made to a size and shipped once. So the checking comes first, and each item is written into the scope.
The rough opening measured
Width, height and depth of the wall, at three points each. Old houses are rarely square. The door is ordered to the opening, not to the old door. Measuring the old door is how doors end up not fitting.
The threshold and the subfloor probed
We pull the threshold cap and press the wood under it. Soft means water has been getting in. That repair goes in the scope now, not as a surprise the day the door arrives.
The swing and the handing decided
In swing or out swing, hinges left or right. Out swing doors resist wind better and are common in Florida. Getting this wrong means a door that opens into the wall or the wrong way for the code.
The product approval matched to the zone
We look up your wind zone and pick a door whose approval number meets it. The number goes in the scope and on the permit application. The inspector checks the same number on the door edge.
The permit filed
The permit is applied for before the door ships, so the install and the inspection line up. The door does not go in the wall until the permit is in hand.
What is included, and where it ends.
A written scope is only worth something if it says where it stops. These are the lines we put in writing before anything is ordered.
How long the doorway is open.
Not long. The door is ordered and the maker sets the wait. Weeks for a stock unit, longer for a custom one. When it arrives, the swap is a day. The house is never open overnight. The inspection comes after, on the county's schedule. Your scope has the dates.
When we tell you not to do it
A new front door is the fastest way to change how a house looks. That makes it easy to sell to someone who should fix something else first. Here is where we say no, and why.
The frame is rotten and you want a slab
A new slab in a rotten frame is a new door that leaks. If the threshold is soft, the frame comes out too. We will price the prehung unit and tell you why the slab is not on the list.
The door you found has no approval number
A beautiful door from out of state or an online store with no Florida Product Approval cannot be permitted here. We will not install it. We will help you find the same look with a number on the edge.
Water is coming in from above
If the wall above the door is wet, a new door will be wet too. The leak comes first, whether it is flashing, a gutter or the roof. Then the door.
The door is fine and only the color is wrong
A sound fiberglass or steel door with a good frame does not need replacing to change color. Painting it is a fraction of the cost. We would rather tell you that than sell you a door.
Lifetime warranty on our workmanship.
If the work we did fails, we come back and fix it. That holds for as long as you own the home. On a door it means the install. The unit stays square, the weather strip seals, and the threshold we set stays dry.
A warranty is only worth what its exclusions say. Ours are above, in the same size type as the promise. Ask whoever you are talking to how long theirs runs, and get the number in writing.
Questions we actually get asked
Do I need a permit to replace my front door in Florida?
In most Tampa Bay cities, yes. A replacement exterior door needs a permit and a final inspection, and the door needs a Florida Product Approval number. The scope names the number and who applies for the permit. It is filed before the door ships.
What is a Florida Product Approval?
A state number that says a door was tested for wind pressure and water and passed. It is on a label on the edge of the door. The permit application lists it, and the inspector checks that the label matches. A door without one cannot be permitted.
Do I need an impact rated door?
It depends on your zone. Some areas require impact protection on every opening. In others it is a choice, and it can lower your insurance. We look up your address and tell you which case you are in before anything is ordered.
Fiberglass, steel or wood?
Fiberglass does not rot or dent and takes paint or stain. Steel costs less and dents. Wood looks best and needs the most care in Florida sun and rain. Most Tampa Bay replacements are fiberglass for those reasons.
Can you just replace the door and keep my frame?
Sometimes. A slab replacement works if the frame is square, sound and standard sized. We check all three. If the threshold is soft or the frame is out of square, a prehung unit is the honest answer.
How long will my house be open?
Never overnight. The swap takes a day once the door is on site. The wait is for the door to be made and for the permit. Your scope has both dates.
The other exterior services
Where we work
Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee and Sarasota counties. If your town is not on this list, call and ask: the answer is often yes.
A walkthrough, then a written scope with one closed price.
Never hourly, never a verbal figure, and our workmanship carries a lifetime warranty. Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee and Sarasota counties.