Door Repair, Installation & Commercial Door Service in Durham, NC
When the front door swells shut every July humidity wave, when a back door has settled to the point that the latch won't catch, when a Chapel Hill bungalow's wood door needs refinishing, when a Durham retail storefront's pivot hinge fails, or when an exterior door's trim has rotted from years of weather, those are the door problems homeowners and small business owners across Durham, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro call us about most.
Ace Handyman Services Durham / Chapel Hill handles residential exterior and interior door installation, door repair, refinishing, storm and screen doors, pet doors, frame and trim work, AND commercial door repair for offices, retail spaces, fitness studios, medical buildings, and other small commercial properties. We also install door reinforcement hardware for homeowners upgrading their existing door's security without replacement.
We're a locally owned, BBB-accredited handyman service serving Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Mebane, Pittsboro, and surrounding Orange, Durham, and Chatham county communities. Every job is backed by our one-year workmanship warranty.
Exterior nine-lite door installation, Chapel Hill, NC 27517 and Full-view storm door installation on brick home, Durham, NC 27713
The Door Services We Handle Most in Durham
Exterior door repair
Sticking doors that swell with the humidity. Drafts you can feel from the kitchen. Doors that won't latch without a hip-check. Hinges that scrape. Thresholds with gaps. Trim that's rotted from years of rain hitting the same spot.
Most exterior door problems aren't the door itself, they're the frame, the hinges, the weatherstripping, or the threshold. We diagnose first, then fix the actual cause. If your trim or frame has soft wood from water damage, our trim and frame carpentry work can replace the rotted sections without replacing the whole door.
★★★★★
"Ethan came out to repair a door and knew right away what it was. He was very courteous, professional, and got the job done quickly."— Karen, Chapel Hill, NC
Exterior door installation and replacement
When repair isn't the right route: the door's warped, the frame is past saving, or you just want an upgrade, we install replacement exterior doors: traditional six-panel, half-view, three-quarter-light, full-lite back doors, french doors, or full-glass. We handle the order coordination, the install, the threshold, the trim, the weatherstripping, and the lockset.
We work with the door you choose, or we can recommend options based on your home's style and budget. Many of our customers in Durham and Chapel Hill choose Masonite Performance Door System units, the photo at the top of this page shows a recent installation where the manufacturer's quality sticker is still visible (we leave those in place until the homeowner has confirmed everything works as expected).
Front door refinishing (no replacement needed)
A weathered wood front door doesn't always need to be replaced. Stripping, sanding, and re-staining a solid wood door costs a fraction of replacement, takes a day or two on-site, and the result often looks better than a new door because the wood already has the grain and character that new doors fake with stamped fiberglass. Pairs well with fresh paint or stain on the trim and surrounding casing.
Storm door installation and screen door repair
Storm doors are an underrated upgrade. They protect your primary door from sun, rain, and wind, extend the door's lifespan, add a layer of insulation, and let you open the front door on a nice day without losing the breeze. Particularly useful on west-facing entries in Durham and Chapel Hill where afternoon sun fades and warps wood doors faster than you'd expect.
We install storm doors with full-view glass, half-view glass, or full-screen panels. We also repair and adjust existing storm and screen doors by re-screening, frame straightening, closer-arm replacement, and latch repairs.
Interior door repair and replacement
Bedroom doors that won't latch. Closet doors off their track. Hollow-core doors with a hole punched through. Old interior doors that don't match the rest of the house. French doors that have settled and now drag. Dutch doors and half-doors for kitchens, pantries, and pet rooms.
Interior doors are a faster fix than exterior because there's no weatherstripping, threshold, or storm protection to worry about. Most interior door repairs are an hour or two. Replacements can take a half-day if it requires drywall repair and painting.
Interior french doors installation, Durham, NC 27703
Door frame and trim repair
This is one of the most underappreciated services we offer in Durham. Door frames and trim rot quietly. By the time you notice the paint bubbling or the wood feeling soft, the rot has usually traveled further than you can see. Left alone, a soft jamb compromises the door's ability to latch, the weatherstripping's seal, and eventually the wall structure around the door.
We diagnose how far the damage has spread, replace the affected casing or jamb sections, prime and paint or stain to match, and verify the door still latches and seals properly when we're done. This work pairs naturally with our drywall patching for cases where the rot has traveled into the wall.
Weathered green door with damaged threshold and trim in Durham, NC 27707, before repair • New replacement trim installed, raw wood ready for paint in Durham, NC 27713 • Interior door installation with custom-fit casing in Durham, NC 27705
Commercial Door Repair in Durham
This is the section that differentiates our Durham office from most residential handyman services. We regularly handle small commercial door work for offices, retail spaces, fitness studios, yoga studios, restaurants, medical buildings, and similar properties throughout Durham, Chapel Hill, and the Research Triangle area.
What we handle most:
- Commercial door closers — adjustments, replacements, and repair of LCN, Norton, Yale, and similar closer mechanisms on wood and metal commercial doors
- Storefront door pivot hinges — aluminum storefront doors use top and bottom pivot hinges instead of conventional butt hinges, and they fail in specific ways we know how to diagnose and repair
- Panic hardware and exit devices — alignment, latch adjustment, and code-compliance verification
- Door drag and threshold issues — exterior commercial doors settle just like residential ones
If your commercial property has a door that's not closing right, latching right, or sealing right, call us before it becomes a security or insurance issue.
Commercial door closer installation and adjustment, Durham, NC 27701 and Commercial aluminum storefront door, top pivot hinge repair, Durham, NC 27703
★★★★★
"Dave M. fixed a variety of door related problems with minimal effort and a professional approach."— Commercial customer (Yoga Studio)
Door Security Upgrades, Reinforcement & Lock Hardening
Most break-ins happen by simply kicking the door near the latch. The doorknob and deadbolt aren't usually the failure point, it's the frame around them, where the strike plate is held in place by short screws that pull out under impact.
Door reinforcement hardware (sometimes called "door armor") replaces the original strike plate with a longer, wider steel plate, secured with 3-inch or 4-inch screws that anchor into the wall framing behind the jamb. This single upgrade dramatically increases the force needed to kick the door in without changing the door's appearance from the outside, and without replacing your existing door.
We install door reinforcement on existing residential doors, install longer hinge screws as part of the same job, and can also rekey or replace locksets while we're there. Combined cost is typically a fraction of what a new security door would cost.
Door armor reinforcement plate installed on residential entry door, Durham, NC 27713.
Pet doors and accessibility modifications
We install pet doors in existing exterior and interior doors, sized from small dogs to large breeds. For homeowners adding aging-in-place modifications, we also widen doorways, install lever handles instead of knobs, add threshold ramps, and reinforce hinges that have to support heavier accessibility hardware.
Pet door installation with smart deadbolt, exterior door, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.
What to Expect From an Ace Handyman Doors Job
- Phone estimate first. Call (984) 343-0497 or request an estimate online. We give you a labor estimate over the phone, no in-home visit required for most door work.
- Same-week scheduling. Most door repairs and storm door installs are scheduled within the same week the estimate is given. Larger replacements or special-order doors may take 2-3 weeks for the door to arrive, then we install within a week of arrival.
- On-time arrival, On-My-Way text. You'll get a text when your craftsman is on the way. We don't give four-hour windows.
- The "Like It's Our Home" promise. Drop cloths, protective booties, debris cleanup. We don't suggest unnecessary work, and we make sure the work is done right.
- One-year workmanship warranty. If something we did doesn't hold up within twelve months, we come back and fix it.
★★★★★
"Justin assessed all of our needs very efficiently, repaired everything which had left us puzzled for months and did it all well within our contracted time. He found a possible flashing issue that could have caused the water intrusion on the deck doors. We can rest easy that the door now keeps out bugs and intruders."— Karen, Pittsboro, NC
Service Area
Ace Handyman Services Durham / Chapel Hill serves Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Mebane, Pittsboro, and surrounding Orange, Durham, and Chatham county communities.
Looking for door services in another part of the Triangle?
We're part of the Ace Handyman Triangle network, with three independently owned offices serving overlapping but distinct service areas. If your home isn't in our zone:
- For Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Wake Forest, Morrisville, Fuquay-Varina: Visit Ace Handyman Services Greater Triangle (Raleigh).
- For Clayton, Garner, Smithfield, Knightdale, Wendell, Zebulon, or surrounding Johnston County: Visit Ace Handyman Services Clayton.
All three offices follow the same craftsman model, same one-year workmanship warranty, and the same "Like It's Our Home" service standards.
Doors FAQ — Questions Durham Homeowners Ask Most
How much does door installation cost in Durham? We bill time and materials, not flat-rate. Labor for a basic exterior door install is typically 4-6 hours of on-site time; a storm door install is 2-3 hours; a refinishing job is one to two days; a commercial door closer adjustment is typically 1-2 hours. The door itself, materials, and any trim or frame work needed are billed separately. We give a labor estimate over the phone before scheduling. For larger projects, we may capture photos and measurements during an existing on-site visit to provide a more accurate estimate without a separate trip.
Do you supply the door, or do I? Either works. If you supply the door, there's no materials markup but no warranty on materials, only on our labor. If we shop the door for you, materials are warrantied but we add a markup to cover sourcing time and the warranty. Most customers prefer we shop because we know what fits your opening and what's available locally.
Can a sticking door be repaired, or does it need to be replaced? Usually repaired. Sticking is almost always a hinge, alignment, or threshold issue, not a "the door is bad" issue. We start with the cheapest possible fix: hinge adjustment, weatherstripping replacement, threshold adjustment. Most sticking doors are a one-visit fix.
What does refinishing a wood front door involve? Stripping the old finish (chemical or sanding), sanding smooth, repairing any damaged areas, applying new stain, and applying a protective topcoat. We can do this on-site if weather cooperates, or remove and refinish off-site for a cleaner result. A typical refinish is 1-2 days.
Do you install storm doors and screen doors? Yes. Storm doors with full-view glass, half-view, or full-screen. We also repair and adjust existing storm and screen doors by re-screening, frame work, closer-arm replacement.
Do you handle commercial door repair? Yes. We regularly work on small commercial doors throughout Durham and Chapel Hill in offices, retail, fitness and yoga studios, restaurants, medical buildings. Common work includes door closer adjustments and replacements, storefront door pivot hinge repair, panic hardware alignment, and exterior door drag/threshold issues. We don't typically take on large multi-door commercial projects, but for individual door problems or small batches, we're a good fit. Call us for a phone estimate.
Do you install door reinforcement or door armor for security? Yes. Door reinforcement plates replace the original strike plate with longer steel hardware anchored into the wall framing behind the jamb. We can install these as part of door repair or door replacement jobs, or as a standalone security upgrade. Significantly cheaper than installing a new security door, and visually invisible from the outside.
Do you install pet doors? Yes, in both exterior and interior doors, from small-dog to large-breed sizes. We can also frame an opening in a wall if a door installation isn't where you want the pet door.
Do you replace door frames and trim? Yes. Rotted trim, water-damaged frames, and split jambs are common around exterior doors that have weathered. This is usually part of a door repair or replacement job, we don't usually do trim and frame work as a standalone service unless we're able to fix the underlying problem as well.
How quickly can you schedule a door job? Most door repairs and storm door installs are scheduled within the same week. Replacement doors that need to be special-ordered may take 2-3 weeks for the door to arrive, then we install within a week of arrival.
Do you serve Chapel Hill and Carrboro, not just Durham? Yes. We serve Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Mebane, Pittsboro, and surrounding Orange, Durham, and Chatham county communities. The Chapel Hill photos on this page are from recent jobs in 27514 and 27517.
Are you licensed and insured? We're fully insured with general liability and workers' compensation, BBB-accredited, and all our craftsmen are background-checked. Our work is backed by a one-year workmanship warranty. On the licensing question, North Carolina is worth understanding: there is no "handyman license" in this state. No such credential exists. Handyman services in NC operate under what's known as the "handyman exception" — construction projects up to $40,000 don't require a general contractor license (the threshold rose from $30,000 to $40,000 in October 2023). For projects over $40,000, a general contractor license is required. For specialty trade work such as electrical, plumbing, HVAC, fire sprinkler, and gas, the appropriate trade license is required regardless of project size. If you're evaluating any handyman service in North Carolina that claims to be "licensed," ask to see the actual license document. It will be either a general contractor license (NCLBGC), a specialty trade license, or no license at all. Projects in our scope are typically well under the $40,000 threshold, and for anything that crosses it or requires a specialty trade license, we'll tell you upfront and connect you with a licensed provider.
Get an Estimate
Call (984) 343-0497 or use the form below. We give labor estimates over the phone for most door work no in-home visit required.