How we chose
We started from the thirty-three door fitters Google Maps shows across Telford. Scheme memberships were sourced from the FENSA and TrustMark registers, each firm's own website and the platforms we could open [1] [2] [4]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Eight firms met all three. What customers say counts most toward the score, then qualifications, then whether the firm has traded for years and whether its cover is stated, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated early September.
How to hire
Match the firm to the job first. A door fitter owns full external door replacement, internal doors, patio and French doors, garage doors and repairs to locks, hinges and misted units — not the brickwork around a brand-new opening, which may need building control approval on its own [6]. Say which door, which material and whether the frame stays or goes when you first enquire.
Know which jobs need a certificate. Replacing a glazed external door or window must comply with the building regulations, and a FENSA or CERTASS registered installer self-certifies the work and registers it with your council, giving you a certificate to keep [1] [2] [3]. Pure repairs, internal doors and like-for-like garage doors sit outside that scheme, as do new porches, extensions and new builds [2]. If your job is a glazed replacement, say so in your enquiry and ask who will certify it.
Check the registration before you book. Search the FENSA register by company name or registration number and confirm the listing yourself rather than taking a logo at face value [2]. CERTASS runs the equivalent competent-person scheme with its own searchable list [3]. TrustMark points to a firm that has passed checks on trading practices and customer service as well as competence [4]. For limited companies, the Companies House record confirms the business exists and is active. Ask for public liability insurance details in writing, and for larger jobs a recent local reference you could verify.
Get two or three itemised written quotes that separate labour, materials and VAT on the same written scope, so you compare like with like [9]. Each quote should name the door and frame specification, glazing, locks and hardware, the start date, how the old door is taken away, and payment stages — a deposit for materials is normal, while full payment before completion is not. Treat an outlier, far above or below the rest, as a question rather than a bargain, and ask what is included or excluded.
Insist on a survey before the price is fixed. Most Telford firms offer a free visit or site survey, and an accurate measure of the opening decides whether the frame can stay or must go. Ask who measures, who fits, and what happens if the survey finds rotten timber or a lintel that needs work. On the day, check the fitter tests the locks, hinges and seals before leaving, and walks you through the adjustment and guarantee terms.
Collect the paperwork at the end and file it with your house papers. For a glazed replacement that means the FENSA or CERTASS certificate, or a building-control completion certificate where that route was used — you will need one of them when you sell, and putting it right later costs several hundred pounds [2]. Keep the written guarantee with its insurance backing, every quote and invoice, and the door specification, so any future claim names exactly what was fitted.
Pricing
As of winter 2026, a Checkatrade guide puts internal doors at £125–£400 supplied and fitted, with softwood at £125–£350 and hardwood at £200–£400 per door [7]. External uPVC doors run £400–£1,000 or more including glazing and architrave, and a pair of uPVC French or patio doors sits near £2,000 [7]. These are national ballpark averages, so weigh your Telford quotes against each other rather than treating any figure as fixed.
Garage doors cost more: the same publisher's garage-door guide, updated last summer, puts a replacement door at £895–£2,500 depending on type, or £1,245–£4,000 with installation included [8]. A single electric door runs £1,500–£2,500, while replacing one damaged panel comes in near £200–£750 [8].
Material moves the price most: composite and hardwood cost more than softwood or uPVC, and glazing, security hardware, bespoke colours and side panels each add their share [7]. Structural work dwarfs the door itself — a single brick cut-out runs near £700, a French-door opening near £900–£1,100, and a new lintel near £400 [7]. Automation, insulation upgrades and disposal of the old door add further lines to agree.
Ask whether VAT sits inside or on top of every figure, and get labour, materials and VAT separated on the quote [9]. Firms in this round publish almost no example rates, so treat any single fixed price for a large job with no breakdown as a question, not an answer. Get the scope in writing before work starts — exactly which door, frame, hardware and making-good are included, which certificate you will receive, and what changes the price if the fitter finds worse timber than expected.
Red flags
Quotes a full external door replacement without visiting or asking for photos and measurements.
Cannot give a FENSA registration number or CERTASS details you can check yourself on the scheme register [2] [3].
Finishes a glazed external door with no certificate and no mention of council registration [2].
Asks for full payment in cash before starting, with no written quote or terms [9].
Gives one fixed price for a large job with no breakdown of door, labour, extras and VAT [9].
Will not put the door specification, frame, hardware and start date in writing before lifting a tool.
Pushes full replacement when you asked for a repair, without explaining why the parts cannot be fixed.
The bottom line
For most Telford homes, start with R&S Windows: a showroom you can walk into, stated scheme backing and a long local record. Its site publishes no pricing, so ask for proof of cover and an itemised quote on the same written scope before you agree anything. If you want the registration searchable on the public register first, Trotfield or Shropshire Home Improvements are close alternatives.
Match the firm to the job: Up & Over Doors or Garage Doors Telford for anything garage-shaped, Ace when a repair will do, and APH when you want to buy from the firm that makes the frames. Then get two or three itemised quotes, and check the certificate lands after the work: a FENSA or CERTASS certificate for glazed replacements, kept with your house papers for the day you sell.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.