Yes, in most houses you can replace an internal door and keep the frame, and it is how the great majority of internal doors get replaced. The frame, or more often the lining, only has to come out when it is rotten, badly out of square, has a damaged rebate, or has been packed and shimmed so many times there is nothing sound left to screw into.
What is the difference between a door frame and a door lining?
Most internal doors in UK houses hang in a lining, not a frame. A lining is three flat boards fixed into the opening, with a separate thin strip called a door stop pinned on to give the door something to close against. A frame is heavier and has the stop cut into it as a rebate, and you tend to find frames on older doors, front doors and fire doors. People say frame for both and that is fine. Either one can outlast several doors, because it just sits there while the door does the work.
When does the frame have to be replaced too?
The frame has to go when the timber it is made of will no longer do its job. That is rarer than people fear, but these are the cases:
- Rot. Damp at the bottom of a lining, usually beside a bathroom or an external wall, turns the timber soft. A new door screwed into soft timber will drop within a year.
- Badly out of square. Every old opening is a little out, and a fitter takes the door to the opening. But if the head slopes noticeably or the legs lean, the door would need to be planed into a wedge to fit, and the gaps would show. At that point a new lining set plumb and level is the honest answer.
- A damaged rebate or stop. If the stop has been prised off and re-pinned so often it is split, or the rebate on a proper frame has been chewed out by old locks and keeps, the door will never close cleanly against it.
- Packed and shimmed too many times. Hinge recesses that have been filled with matchsticks, card and filler over the years eventually have no fresh timber for a screw to bite into. Longer screws through to the stud behind can rescue some; others are past it.
- You want a different size of door. Widening an opening, or going from a standard door to a taller one, means a new lining regardless.
If none of those apply, keep the frame. It saves the architrave, the plaster either side and the decorating that follows, which is most of the cost and mess of the job.
What does fitting a door to the existing frame involve?
Fitting to the existing frame means making the new door fit an opening that is not quite square, and a good fitter treats it as a small piece of tailoring rather than a swap. In order:
- Measure the opening at the top, middle and bottom, and check it for square and plumb. A door blank is bought slightly oversize and cut down to the opening, not the other way round.
- Take the old door off and look at the hinge recesses and the stop. This is where the decision above gets made, and it is why we visit before we quote rather than pricing from photos.
- Plane the new door to the opening, taking timber off both edges so the panel or the grain stays central, and leave an even gap all round of about 2 to 3 mm.
- Cut in the hinges. We fit three hinges to a solid door as standard, not two, because a solid core door is heavy and the top hinge on a two-hinge door carries most of that weight. Three hinges is why our doors do not drop.
- Fit the latch and handle, cut the keep into the frame, and set the door stop so the door closes without rattle or bounce.
- Sand the planed edges smooth, ready for decorating. We do not paint or treat the door edges; that is part of decorating, and you or your decorator do it with the rest of the door.
Old doors stay with you unless taking them away is a priced line on the quote. Fitting a new lining as well adds removing and refitting architrave, making good the plaster, and a good deal more decorating, so it is worth being sure before you go that way.
Can I do this myself?
You can, if you own a decent plane, a sharp chisel and a square, and you are patient. The hardest parts are planing straight and cutting the hinge recesses to the right depth, and getting either wrong shows every time the door closes. A pre-hung door set avoids the hinge cutting but means replacing the lining, with all the plaster and architrave work that brings.
What does it cost?
A new solid core internal door supplied and fitted into the existing frame is around £205 to £225 all in with us. Our live guide at mendwell.co.uk/internal-door-cost keeps that figure current and covers what makes a door cost more. An opening that needs a new lining is priced separately after the visit. For a general picture, trade directory guides put UK labour for hanging a door at roughly £100 to £350, with the door on top.
We price supply against Wickes as the reference point for items they stock, and we supply and carry the doors as standard. You are welcome to supply your own door; we say plainly what changes if you do, which is that we cannot guarantee a door we did not choose, and a wrong or short delivery becomes a lost day.
Who this is not for
If you have one plain door to change and the tools to do it, do it yourself. This guide should get you most of the way. If the frame is rotten or the opening is badly out, it is not a door job any more but a small carpentry job with plastering after it, and a photo will not tell anyone which it is, which is why our first step is always a visit.
We work across Warwickshire from Nuneaton and into the counties either side. If you are outside that, ask anyway.
Our visit and written quote are free with no obligation. Book at mendwell.co.uk/book or call 07472 281 663. More guides at mendwell.co.uk/guides.
Prices reviewed September 2026.