French Door Installation Cost Calculator
French Door Installation costs $2,225 to $3,375 for a typical 1 doors job in 2026, against a national benchmark of $2,725. Labor runs 5 crew hours at $34.37 an hour. Enter a ZIP code to apply that area's measured wages for this work and its regional price level.
What makes up the price
Cost by size
National averages, before any local adjustment. Computed from the same model as the calculator above, so the two always agree.
| Number of doors | Doors | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 doors | 1 | $2,725 | $2,225 to $3,375 |
| 2 doors | 2 | $5,175 | $4,250 to $6,425 |
Go and measure the swing before you price anything
This is the decision, and it is a tape-measure question rather than a budget one.
A French pair swings. Each leaf needs its own arc of clear floor — two to three feet of depth across the full width of the leaf — and that space cannot hold furniture, a rug edge that will catch, a floor vent, or a door from another room swinging into the same arc.
So stand in the doorway and look at where the leaves will go:
- Inswing eats interior floor. On a 60 inch pair that is roughly 30 inches of depth across each half of the opening — a sofa back, a dining chair pulled out, or a coffee table will all foul it.
- Outswing eats patio or deck space instead, and has three other consequences worth knowing. It seals better in driving wind, because the pressure pushes the leaves into the frame rather than away from it, which is why coastal and high-wind installations favor it. Its hinges are on the outside, so they need non-removable pins. And snow, furniture or a planter on the patio will block it.
If neither arc is available, you want a slider, and it is $725 cheaper. This is not a compromise so much as the correct answer to the room you actually have. There is more on that trade-off below.
French or sliding, honestly
| French pair | Sliding patio | |
|---|---|---|
| Installed here | $2,725 | $2,000 |
| Floor space needed | 2 to 3 ft of swing, each leaf | none |
| Clear opening when open | the full width, both leaves | half the width |
| Air sealing | the astragal seam is the weak point | the meeting stile and the sill track |
| Screens | retractable only, $400 to $1,200 | included or cheap |
| Maintenance | hinges, alignment, flush bolts | rollers and the track |
| Looks, closed | better, and it is not close | fine |
| Daily use | one leaf; the other stays bolted | the moving panel |
The honest summary: a French pair is the better-looking door and gives a genuinely wider opening when you want one — for moving furniture, for a party, for a room that opens onto a terrace in summer. A slider is cheaper, needs no floor space, and is less fussy for the rest of the year.
If the doors will mostly stay shut and the view matters more than the opening, a slider does the same job for $725 less. If you will actually throw both leaves open, the pair earns it.
It is a pair, which changes the work
A single door has to be plumb and square to its frame. A pair has to be plumb and square to its frame and to itself, and the second part is what makes it the slowest install in the cluster at six crew hours against three and a half for a single entry door.
Where it goes wrong:
- The meeting stiles. If the two leaves are out by an eighth of an inch, the gap up the middle is visibly tapered, and you will see it from across the room for as long as you own it. This is the single clearest sign of a careless install and there is no fixing it later without rehanging.
- The active and passive leaf. One leaf is the one you use; the other is held by flush bolts top and bottom and only opened when you want the full width. Decide which is which before installation, based on which side you will walk through, because swapping it afterwards means moving the lockset and the bolts.
- Seasonal movement. A pair that closes sweetly in August can bind in February. Hinges with adjustable screws, and an installer who tells you how to tweak them, are worth asking for.
The astragal is where a pair leaks
A single door seals against three sides of frame and a threshold. A pair has all of that plus a seam up its middle, closed by the astragal — the vertical strip on the passive leaf that the active leaf shuts against.
That seam is the weak point of the whole assembly, and it is why a multi-point lock matters more here than on a single door. A multi-point throws bolts at the top and bottom of the active leaf as well as the latch in the middle, pulling the leaf tight to the astragal along its full height. With a single-point latch, the top and bottom of a tall leaf can stand off far enough to feel a draft and, in a wind, to whistle.
Ask for:
- A multi-point lock on the active leaf.
- Flush bolts rather than surface bolts on the passive leaf, both top and bottom.
- A compression-style astragal weatherseal, not just a brush strip.
- An adjustable threshold, so the bottom seal can be tuned as the house moves.
Screens are the surprise
A conventional screen door cannot work on an outswing French pair, and on an inswing pair it would have to swing out into the same space you were trying to keep clear.
The answer is a retractable screen: a roller cassette in the jamb that pulls across and disappears when not in use. A single retractable for one active leaf is roughly $400 to $700 installed; a double, meeting in the middle for the full opening, is $700 to $1,200.
Budget for it now rather than discovering it in the first warm week. It is also easier to fit while the door is going in, because the cassette needs jamb depth that is simpler to confirm with the opening open.
What you are paying for
For one exterior French pair into a sound existing opening, at $2,725:
| The pair, pre-hung with frame and astragal | $1,300 |
| Sill pan, flashing, foam, shims and locksets | $231 |
| Labor, about 7.5 hours | around $360 |
| Permit and disposal of the old unit | $120 |
| Overhead and margin | the balance |
The install kit is larger than on a single door because there are two leaves of hardware to hang and seal. Labor is more than double a steel entry door's, for the alignment reasons above.
Note that $1,300 buys a competent fiberglass or clad-wood pair at 60 inches. True divided light, impact-rated glass, 72 inch and wider units, and wood pairs all go well above it — a quote at $4,000 or $5,000 for the unit alone is not necessarily wrong, it is a different door.
Glass, grilles and the things that change the price
- Tempered glass is required in a door, and on a French pair that is both leaves. It is not an upgrade; if a quote looks cheap, check it.
- Low-E and argon are worth it on this much glass. A French pair is mostly window, so the glazing spec matters more here than on a solid entry door.
- Grilles. Simulated divided light — grilles adhered to the outside of the glass with a spacer between the panes — looks convincing and cleans easily. True divided light, with individually glazed panes, is the real thing, costs several times as much, and is harder to insulate. Grilles-between-glass is the cheapest and reads flattest.
- Impact rating in coastal and high-wind zones, which is a code question rather than a preference and adds substantially.
- Width. 60 inches is the common pair. 72 inches and above costs more in the unit and may need the opening widened, which is the 35% line on the calculator above.
Interior French doors are a different thing entirely
If you are putting a glazed pair between a living room and a study, that is not this job. There is no sill pan, no flashing, no weather seal and no exterior-rated unit, and the price is a fraction of the figure above. See interior door installation.
The confusion is common because the term describes a look rather than a location.
Questions worth asking
- Inswing or outswing, and have we checked the swing arc against the furniture?
- Which leaf is active?
- Is it a multi-point lock on the active leaf?
- Flush bolts top and bottom on the passive leaf?
- What is the astragal seal — compression or brush?
- Is the threshold adjustable?
- What is the glass spec — tempered, Low-E, argon? And grilles between glass, simulated or true divided light?
- Are the hinges adjustable for seasonal movement?
- Is a retractable screen quoted, and single or double?
- Is the opening staying the same width?
- What happens if the sill is rotten, and at what rate?
Common questions
How much do French doors cost to install?
Between $2,225 and $3,375 for an exterior pair into a sound existing opening, with a typical job near $2,725. Widening the opening takes it to about $3,675 and cutting a new one to $5,150. Rot in the sill or subfloor adds about 40%, bringing it to $3,800. A retractable screen is a separate $400 to $1,200. For comparison, a sliding patio door in the same opening is about $2,000.
How much space do French doors need to swing?
Two to three feet of clear floor depth across the full width of each leaf — so on a 60 inch pair, roughly 30 inches of depth across each half of the opening. That space cannot hold furniture, a rug edge that will catch, a floor vent, or another door swinging into the same arc. Go and stand in the doorway with a tape measure before pricing anything, because if neither arc is available a slider is the correct answer and it is $725 cheaper.
French doors or a sliding door?
A French pair is the better-looking door and gives the full width of the opening when both leaves are thrown back, which matters for moving furniture or a room that opens onto a terrace in summer. A slider is $725 cheaper, needs no floor space at all, takes a cheap screen, and is less fussy year-round — but only ever gives you half the opening. If the doors will mostly stay shut and the view matters more than the opening, take the slider.
Should French doors open in or out?
Outswing if you can spare the patio space, because it seals better in driving wind — the pressure pushes the leaves into the frame rather than away from it, which is why coastal and high-wind installations favor it. The trade-offs are that the hinges are outside and need non-removable pins, and that snow, furniture or a planter will block the doors. Inswing keeps the hardware inside but costs you interior floor space, which is usually the scarcer of the two.
Why do French doors cost more to install than a single door?
Because a pair has to be plumb and square to its frame and to itself. That is about six crew hours against three and a half for a single entry door. Two leaves, an astragal, two sets of hardware and flush bolts all have to line up, and if the leaves are out by an eighth of an inch the gap up the middle is visibly tapered — which you will see from across the room for as long as you own the door, and which cannot be fixed later without rehanging.
What is an astragal on a French door?
The vertical strip on the passive leaf that the active leaf closes against, sealing the seam up the middle of the pair. It is the weak point of the whole assembly, because a pair has that seam where a single door has solid frame. That is why a multi-point lock matters more on French doors: it throws bolts at the top and bottom of the active leaf as well as latching in the middle, pulling the leaf tight to the astragal along its full height. With a single-point latch, the top and bottom of a tall leaf can stand off enough to feel a draft.
Do French doors need a multi-point lock?
They benefit from one far more than a single door does. A multi-point throws bolts into the head and sill as well as latching at the handle, which pulls a tall leaf tight against the astragal over its whole height rather than only at the middle. On a pair that is the difference between a seal and a draft you can feel in a wind. Ask for it by name, along with flush bolts rather than surface bolts on the passive leaf, top and bottom.
Can you put a screen on French doors?
Not a conventional one. On an outswing pair there is nowhere for a hinged screen to go, and on an inswing pair it would swing out into the space you were keeping clear. The answer is a retractable screen — a roller cassette in the jamb that pulls across and disappears when not in use. A single, for the active leaf, is roughly $400 to $700 installed; a double meeting in the middle for the full opening is $700 to $1,200. Fit it while the door is going in, since the cassette needs jamb depth that is easier to confirm with the opening open.
Which French door leaf should be the active one?
The one on the side you naturally walk through, and decide before installation rather than after. The other leaf is the passive one, held by flush bolts top and bottom and only opened when you want the full width. Swapping them afterwards means relocating the lockset and the bolts, so it is worth standing in the opening and walking through it in your head first — people usually find they have a clear preference once they do.
What glass should French doors have?
Tempered is required by code in a door, and on a pair that means both leaves — if a quote looks cheap, check it is there. Low-E with argon is worth paying for, because a French pair is mostly window and the glazing spec matters more here than on a solid entry door. On grilles: simulated divided light, adhered to the outside of the glass with a spacer between the panes, looks convincing and cleans easily; true divided light is the real thing at several times the cost and is harder to insulate; grilles sealed between the panes are cheapest and read flattest.
Why is my French door quote so much higher than this?
Probably the unit rather than the work. The $1,300 in this model buys a competent fiberglass or clad-wood pair at 60 inches wide. True divided light, impact-rated glass for a coastal zone, widths of 72 inches and up, and solid wood pairs all go well above that — a quote with $4,000 or $5,000 of unit in it is not necessarily wrong, it is a different door. Ask for the unit price and the labor separately so you can see which part the difference is in.
Are interior French doors the same job?
No, and the price is a fraction of it. A glazed pair between a living room and a study has no sill pan, no flashing, no weather seal and no exterior-rated unit, so almost everything that makes the figure above what it is does not apply. The term describes a look rather than a location, which is why the confusion is so common. For a pair inside the house, see the interior door page instead.
Where these numbers come from
Nothing here is copied from a contractor directory. Labor is priced from what the trades are actually paid, materials from published producer prices, and both are adjusted to your area using federal cost-of-living data.
- Finish carpentry contractors, United States: $34.37/hour, August 2026 (BLS CES CES2023835003)
- Exterior French doors, pair: $1,300.00 per door (price recorded October 2026, not index-adjusted)
- Sill pan, flashing, foam, shims and lockset: $165.00 per door (price recorded October 2026, not index-adjusted)