Installation day: what actually happens when your new front door goes in
Ten to twelve weeks after you order, a van turns up and your old door comes out. Here is the order of events, how long it takes, and the paperwork you need before and after.
By the time installation day arrives, most of the decisions are already behind you. What people ask about at this point is not the door, it is the day itself: how long the house is without a front door, what gets damaged, and what paperwork has to exist before and after. Here is the actual sequence.
What happens before the van arrives
The survey. Before anything is ordered, we measure the opening, usually over a fifteen-minute WhatsApp video call rather than a site visit, though we will come out in person if you would rather, at the same travel rates as delivery. This is the number the door is built to, so it happens before manufacturing starts, not on installation day.
The SEAI application, if you are claiming the grant. This is the step people get wrong most often: the application has to be submitted and approved before work starts. Installing first and applying afterwards puts the €800 at risk. If you want the grant, get the application in as soon as you have a firm quote, and wait for the go-ahead before you book a fitting date.
Manufacturing and delivery. Ten to twelve weeks from order to installation, because the door is built to your opening rather than pulled off a shelf. Delivery itself is included within 100 km of Ballinrobe; further out it is €70 between 100 and 150 km, €120 beyond that (Dublin sits in this band), and €200 into Northern Ireland.
The day itself
One to two days for a single door. A door with sidelights or a toplight can run toward the longer end. If you are also replacing windows in the same visit, that is a separate job, typically two to five days.
| Stage | Roughly how long |
|---|---|
| Protecting the floor and surrounding area | 15-30 minutes |
| Removing the old door and frame | 1-2 hours |
| Checking and making good the opening | Varies with the wall |
| Fitting the new frame, levelling and fixing | Half a day |
| Hanging the leaf, fitting the lock and handle | 1-2 hours |
| Sealing, adjusting, final check | 1 hour |
The house is genuinely without a front door for part of that middle stretch, usually an hour or two, not the whole day. We work with a temporary board or sheet in place if the gap is going to run longer than expected, for example if the opening needs more making good than planned.
Before the old door comes out, we photograph it. If you are claiming the SEAI grant, the before and after photographs, the invoice, and a product certificate stating the door's U value are all part of what the application needs, and it is easier for everyone if the before photograph exists rather than being reconstructed afterwards.
What we take away, and what we leave behind
The old door, frame and any rubble from making good the opening are removed as part of the job, it is not an extra charge and not something you need to arrange a skip for. What we leave you with is the invoice, the U value certificate for the new door, and, once it exists, whatever paperwork the SEAI process still needs from your side. The BER assessment after the works is on you to book, not us, since it has to be independent of the installer.
Where the SEAI money actually comes from and when
We are a registered SEAI contractor, Modern Style Home, registration 19913, so using us keeps the grant eligible on that point. But the sequence still runs through you: the grant is paid into your account, not deducted from our invoice, and it typically lands four to eight weeks after a successful application. You pay the full amount up front and get €800 per door back afterward, up to two doors per property. If none of that is familiar, we have written the grant rules up in full, including who else besides owner-occupiers qualifies.
Common surprises, and how to avoid them
Ventilation. An old, draughty door lets a house breathe whether you want it to or not. A new door with air permeability class 4 stops that abruptly, and in a house with limited trickle ventilation elsewhere, condensation can show up somewhere it never did before. Worth a five-minute conversation at quote stage, not a damp patch discovered in November.
A step or threshold you had not accounted for. Our threshold profile is a low 91 × 20 mm, but if the outside ground level has crept up over the years, or you are laying new flooring inside, mention it during the survey. It is a five-minute fix on the drawing and a much bigger one on the day.
Weather. We do not fit a door in the middle of a storm with the opening exposed. If the forecast is bad, we will move the date rather than leave your hallway open to the weather, and we would rather do that than rush a seal that then leaks in January.
What to have ready
Clear the hall on both sides so there is room to work, move anything fragile off nearby walls and shelves (the drilling does travel), and have somewhere for us to park close to the door if you can manage it. Everything else, the making good, the sealing, the paperwork, is ours to handle.
If you have not yet reached this stage and want to see what the whole path from order to fitted door looks like, start with how it works, build your door in the configurator, or book a free WhatsApp video measurement and we will tell you which week that puts installation day in.