Garage Door Installation Costs UK — What to Charge to Fit a Garage Door in 2026

Quick Reference: Garage Door Prices UK 2026

The table below shows typical supply-and-fit prices for a standard single garage door. Double-width openings add 30–60% on the door and a little on labour. These are guide figures — always price off a survey of the actual opening.

Garage Door Types and What to Charge

The door type sets your cost base, your fitting time and the price the customer expects to pay. It also affects how much usable space the door leaves and how well it insulates a garage that's increasingly used as a gym, office or workshop rather than just car storage. Here's how the four main types compare.

Up-and-Over (Canopy and Retractable)

The up-and-over is the traditional UK garage door and still the cheapest to supply and fit. The whole door panel tilts up and back into the garage on a pivot mechanism. There are two variants. A canopy up-and-over uses a simpler frame and leaves around a third of the door projecting out over the driveway when open — cheaper, but the projection can clip a car parked too close. A retractable up-and-over runs the whole door back on horizontal tracks inside the garage, sits flush when open and supports automation more readily, but costs a little more.

Up-and-overs are quick to fit — often a half-day job for one fitter on a like-for-like swap — which is why they remain the volume product. The trade-off is space: when open they intrude into the opening height and, on canopy models, into the driveway.

• Supply & fit, single: £400–£900
• Steel canopy at the lower end; insulated retractable toward the top

Roller Door (Insulated)

Roller doors are the fastest-growing replacement choice and the door most customers now ask for by name. The door is made of horizontal aluminium laths that roll up into a compact box above the opening, so they take no internal ceiling space and no driveway projection — ideal where someone parks tight to the door or wants to store things on the garage ceiling. Insulated (foam-filled) laths are now standard and give useful thermal and noise benefit.

Most roller doors are supplied electric as standard with a remote, which is part of why they sit higher in price. They suit openings that are reasonably square and need a sound lintel above for the roll box to fix to. Made-to-measure is the norm, so lead time and accurate measurement matter.

• Supply & fit, single (insulated): £800–£1,600
• Usually includes the motor and one or two remotes at this price

Sectional Door

Sectional doors are made of horizontal insulated panels hinged together that lift vertically and run back along the garage ceiling on tracks. They give the best thermal performance and the most premium finish — you'll find them on new builds and higher-spec conversions. Because the door sits flush in the opening and rises straight up, you keep the full drive-through width and there's no driveway projection.

They're the most involved to fit — more tracking, more careful setting out, and they need adequate headroom and side room inside the garage for the panels to run back. Expect close to a full day for a quality sectional install, more for double-width or automation.

• Supply & fit, single: £900–£2,000
• Insulated 40mm+ panels and branded gear push toward the top

Side-Hinged Door

Side-hinged doors open outward like a pair of barn doors. They suit customers who use the garage as a workshop or store and want quick pedestrian access without lifting the whole door, and they work where internal headroom is too low for an up-and-over or roller. The trade-off is the swing — you need clear space in front for the leaves to open, so they don't suit a car parked close to the door.

Timber side-hinged doors give a traditional look on period and rural properties; steel and GRP versions are lower-maintenance. Automation is possible but less common and adds noticeably to the cost.

• Supply & fit, single: £600–£1,200

Manual vs Electric (Motorised)

Electrification is where a lot of the margin lives. An up-and-over or sectional supplied manual can be motorised with a separate operator; roller doors are usually electric from the factory. Adding an electric operator typically costs £200–£500 on top of the door, covering the motor unit, rails (for ram-style operators on up-and-over and sectional doors), and one or two handsets.

Don't treat the motor as a flat add-on. Quality varies widely — a budget operator and a branded unit (Hörmann, Somfy, SOMMER, Chamberlain/LiftMaster) differ in price, noise, soft-start/soft-stop, safety reversing and warranty. Quote the unit you actually intend to fit and name the brand in your quote so you're not undercut by someone fitting the cheapest motor on the market.

Above the basic remote, customers increasingly ask for smart operators — Wi-Fi modules and app control (open/close from a phone, status alerts), keypad entry, and integration with home systems. These are an easy upsell because the customer is already buying an electric door; flag them as optional line items rather than baking them into your headline price.

Materials and Insulation

The door material affects price, durability, insulation and how often you'll get a maintenance call back. The four common options:

• Steel: The default for up-and-over and many sectional doors. Strong and cost-effective; modern doors are galvanised and powder-coated so corrosion is much less of an issue than on older units. Single-skin steel offers little insulation; foam-filled steel sections perform far better.
• Aluminium: Standard for roller doors and lightweight, corrosion-proof and ideal for the rolling lath design. Insulated (foam-filled) aluminium laths are now the norm on quality roller doors.
• Timber: Chosen for looks on period and side-hinged doors. Premium appearance but needs ongoing finishing and is the highest-maintenance option — set the customer's expectations on upkeep.
• GRP (fibreglass): Light, weatherproof and very low-maintenance, often moulded to mimic timber. Popular where a wood look is wanted without the upkeep.

Insulation matters more than it used to. With garages doubling as gyms, home offices and workshops, an insulated foam-filled roller or sectional door reduces heat loss and condensation and cuts noise — a genuine selling point, not just a spec line. Where the customer mentions any of those uses, lead with an insulated door.

What's Included in a Supply-and-Fit Price

Be explicit in your quote about what the price covers, because this is where disputes and margin leakage happen. A complete supply-and-fit job typically includes:

• The door itself, made or cut to the measured opening
• Frame, subframe and fixings — many openings need a steel or timber subframe, and a roller box needs sound fixing into the lintel
• Tracks and running gear for sectional and retractable up-and-over doors
• Motor and remotes where the door is electric
• Removal and disposal of the old door — budget £50–£120 for this and the skip/tip run, and state it separately if the old door contains anything awkward to dispose of
• Making good — tidying the reveal, sealing gaps, and leaving the opening weather-tight and decorated-ready

If something is excluded — for example a fresh power supply for the motor, or rebuilding a crumbling reveal — say so in writing. Unstated assumptions are how a profitable job turns into an argument on completion day.

Cost Drivers — What Pushes the Price Up

Two openings that look the same from the drive can carry very different costs. The main drivers to assess on survey:

• Size: Door price scales with width and height. A double-width opening adds 30–60% on the door alone and extra labour for the heavier panel and longer tracks.
• Single vs double: Beyond the door cost, doubles need more substantial fixing and often a stronger lintel — check the structure can take a roller box or sectional gear.
• Insulation level: Foam-filled laths and 40mm+ insulated panels cost more than single-skin; price the spec the customer actually wants.
• Electrics: If there's no socket or fused spur near the motor position, you'll need a power supply run — this is the most commonly missed cost (see below).
• Out-of-square openings: Older garages, settled brickwork and DIY-built reveals are rarely true. A made-to-measure door needs accurate, square measurements; an out-of-square opening means packing, a subframe, or trimming work that eats into your day. Flag it on survey and price for it.
• Access and condition: Crumbling reveals, rotten timber subframes, low headroom and tight side rooms all add time or rule out certain door types.

Worked Example: Insulated Electric Roller Door

Here's how a typical single insulated electric roller door breaks down so you can see where the margin sits. Figures are illustrative — plug in your own supplier prices and day rate.

• Door, motor and remotes (trade cost): ~£650 for a made-to-measure insulated roller with operator and two handsets
• Fixings, subframe, sundries: ~£60
• Removal & disposal of old door: ~£80 including the tip run
• Labour: one fitter, most of a day at a £220 day rate — call it ~£220
• Materials + labour subtotal: ~£1,010

On a like-for-like swap with an existing power supply nearby, quoting this at £1,300–£1,450 gives a healthy gross margin while sitting comfortably inside the £800–£1,600 market range. If a fresh fused spur is needed, add the electrician's cost as a separate line (see below). If the opening is out of square or the reveal needs making good, add for the extra time rather than absorbing it — that's the single most common reason these jobs lose money.

Do You Need an Electrician for the Power Supply?

Garage door motors typically plug into a standard 13A socket or wire into a fused spur. Where a suitable socket already exists within reach of the motor position, you can usually plug in and there's no electrical work to price.

Where there's no supply — common in detached garages and older builds — a new circuit or fused spur is needed, and that's notifiable electrical work. Under Part P of the Building Regulations, new circuits and certain garage/outbuilding work must be carried out by a competent person (a registered electrician who can self-certify) or notified to building control. Unless you hold the relevant electrical qualification and registration, sub this to a qualified electrician and pass the cost on as a separate line item — typically £100–£300 depending on the run and whether a new circuit from the consumer unit is involved.

Make the power supply an explicit question on every survey for an electric door. Assuming a socket is present and discovering on fitting day that it isn't is a classic way to blow your schedule and your margin.

Labour, Day Rates and Quoting Profitably

For labour-only work — the customer has supplied the door, or you're fitting one bought elsewhere — charge £150–£350 depending on door type and complexity. Up-and-over swaps sit at the lower end; a sectional or automated install at the top. As a fitter day rate, £180–£280/day is the typical UK range, higher in London and the South East.

To quote profitably:

• Always survey before pricing. Measure the opening accurately (width, height, headroom, side room, lintel), check square, and confirm the power situation. Never price a made-to-measure door off a phone description.
• Mark up the door, don't just pass it on. You carry the warranty, the measuring risk and the supplier relationship — a sensible markup on the supplied door is standard and fair.
• Quote add-ons as separate lines. Electric operator, smart module, removal and disposal, and any electrical work should each be visible so the customer sees the value and you're not undercut on a stripped-back headline price.
• Price for the awkward opening. Out-of-square reveals, subframes and making good are real time — build them in rather than hoping the job goes smoothly.
• Lead with the insulated electric option. Most customers will trade up when shown the difference, and that's where your best margin is.