Steel Door Prices

How much does a steel door cost?

The UK steel door market sees products ranging from around £200-£1000, dependant on specification. A ‘fair price’ is difficult to determine, as it depends on your expectations from the product and the specification needed to fulfil the brief. A cheap steel door will do what it says on the tin; a functional hinged door, with reasonable security (assuming a multi-point locking system is installed within the door).

We recommend budgeting £300-600 for a single security door, ensuring a kite mark euro cylinder and quality materials are used (galvanised steel and a branded locking system). If made from mild steel, you can expect to see signs of rust in as little as 12 months. A quality steel door manufactured from treated steel (galvanised or zinc plated), can last as long as 20 years, if powder coated with a good quality powder and installed in reasonable conditions.

The prices mentioned are for supply only. Factor in additional budget for install.

Price Comparisons

Using our own range of steel security doors, you can see how the price rises as the specification improves. Thicker steel, more internal reinforcements and improved insulation causes costs to rise, but the quality of the product rises too.

How much does a fire exit door cost?

Just like general personnel steel doors with lever handles, fire exit doors are made in the same way, but instead of the recessed mortice lock and lever handles, a panic bar is surface mounted. Typically, the cost of a standard single point panic bar is slightly more in cost to a mortice lock, lever handles and euro cylinder. A fire exit door must use CE marked hardware and be tested for CE or UKCA compliance adding a further level of indirect cost.

The UK steel fire exit door market sees products ranging from around £250-£1200, dependant on specification. These are untested, single doors ranging up to larger double doors.

Step up to higher security fire exit doors like door tested to LPS1175 SR2, SR3, SR4 or STS202 BR2, BR3, BR4 and the costs are far more than the comparable personnel door version with a lever handle. This is due to the specification of panic hardware required to pass the security test. For example, a standard single point Exidor 296 panic bar costs £35+VAT, or a security 2 point panic bar is £45. A security tested door on the other hand is fitted with the Exidor 700 series hardware, with an Exidor 703B 3 point panic bar costing £420+VAT just for the panic bar along.

Remember, a fire exit door has a panic bar on the inside to open in the event of an emergency, but it doesn’t have external access as standard. Spec an OAD (outside access device) if you intend to use your fire exit door as an entrance, too. Typically, this can add around £80+VAT to your door cost for a standard fire exit door.

How much does it cost to make a steel door?

Raw materials and hardware

Like everything, the cost of a product starts with the BOM (bill of materials). To manufacture a steel door, you need: steel, door core material, hinges, locks, handles, seals, finishing caps and other hardware. The thicker the material or the higher the quality, the higher the cost.

The bigger the door, the more raw material required, so expect a larger door to cost more than a smaller door.

To meet a specific requirement, e.g. an acoustic or thermal rating, the door core will use a mineral wool, or alternate insulation instead of honeycomb paper. This will increase the price of the door.

Manufacture processes

Once you have the raw materials, you then need to manufacture the door.

To make one door for the first time in a fabrication workshop, it will take a considerable amount of time. The processes need to be determined and maybe even equipment purchased for all processes to be done to end up with a reasonable standard of quality. This is likely to cost more, to potentially end up with an inferior product.

A company specialising in steel door manufacture will naturally find ways to make each process as efficient as possible. The processes may enable the manufacturer to use less costly raw materials, too. For example: welding a 3mm single skin steel door together using angle and box section is necessary when you don’t have the machinery to fold sheet steel to create 90 degree angles and rebates.

On the other end of spectrum, you then have mass production, where a factory makes a standardised version of a steel door, taking advantage of mass scale efficiency gains, bringing the price point down whilst maintaining quality; providing the factory have a recognised quality management system in place like ISO9001.

Quality and specification

Quality of finish, the quality of manufacture and the quality of materials all impact the price of a steel door. The specification is dependent on what’s required to fulfil the brief, to comply with regulations or satisfy a purpose. Examples:

• A 6 panel or cottage style embossed door requires an additional process when compared with a flush door
• Marine grade raw materials like Magnelis® steel, grade 316 stainless steel locks and marine grade powder coat will be required for steel doors installed in harsh or particularly corrosive environments. This can typically increase the price of steel door by up to 20%
• Surelock McGill panic hardware or Mico Elite hardware will cost upwards of £500 just for the locking hardware. This may be specified by the end user, or required to be certified to a security or fire rating, compared with Exidor 200 series panic hardware starting from just £40
• Smooth finish powder coat typically shows up imperfections within the door skin if there are any, so some manufacturers choose a ripple / textured finish. A smooth finish usually indicated a higher quality product.

Speed (lead time)

A fast track charge may apply if the manufacturer is ‘pulling out all the stops’ and prioritising your job. A typical lead time for a steel door within the UK is 5-10 working days, rising up to 20 working days for particularly specialist security tested doors.

Testing and certification (indirect costs)

The costs associated with testing a door for fire rating or security rating can be astronomical, as much as £50,000 for fire rating, with audit costs, annual certification costs and re-tests adding to this.  The cost needs to be recuperated over an amount of time or amount of units produced. This will inflate a certified door price, even if the spec is identical to a non-certified version of the same door.

Delivery

Remember you will have to pay for delivery, too. Costs range from £25 – £90 for a single steel door delivered within the UK. Next day delivery will cost more than a standard economy delivery. Collection may be your best bet if you have a van or someone passing by.

Are steel door prices rising in 2021?

The short answer is yes.

Following the ongoing shipping crisis and raw material shortages in 2020 and 2021, high demand vs low supply = hiked prices, and this is what we’ve seen across the whole of the building industry.

Steel as a commodity has almost double in price within the last 12 months, with the cost per tonne increasing by £500 since July 2020.

The cost to import a shipping container from the Far East has increased over 5 times, from $3,000 to over $16,000, costs so astronomical they just can’t be absorbed.

The costs of door hardware, steel and shipping have increased to a level forcing manufacturers and importers to raise their prices to keep up and avoid making substantial losses. Unfortunately, the consumer suffers and this becomes a contributing factor to overall inflation.

If you’re looking to go ahead with a quote from a steel door supplier quoted just a few months ago, it’s unlikely the price can be honoured. Ensure your old quote can be honoured and if you’re in the trade, be clear to your customer that the prices may increase if they cannot commit to purchasing due to these unforeseen circumstances.