uPVC Door Repair vs Replace Cost | The Ten-Year Maths
Full cost breakdown: replacing a uPVC door vs servicing the gearbox and cylinder twice a decade. Real prices, a comparison table, and honest advice.
A complete uPVC door replacement in the Crawley area will cost you somewhere between £800 and £1,800 fitted. A gearbox and cylinder service, done properly, runs £120 to £220 per visit. Those two numbers tell most of the story, but let me show you the full maths.
I've been fitting and repairing uPVC doors across RH10, RH11 and RH12 for years. The job I see most often is a homeowner in Maidenbower or Pound Hill who's been struggling with a door that won't deadlock properly, or a handle that's dropped half an inch, and they've decided it must be time for a new door. Usually, it isn't.
What Actually Wears Out on a uPVC Door
The frame itself is tough. If it's not cracked, buckled or rotten at the corners, it's probably fine for another decade. What fails is the hardware.
- The multipoint gearbox (brands like GU, Fuhr, Lockmaster, Maco, Roto, Mila and Winkhaus are all common here) wears out at the cam, the hook bolts bind or the shootbolts stop retracting cleanly.
- The cylinder either wears internally or it's a cheap euro cylinder with no anti-snap protection, which is a separate conversation.
- The hinges lose adjustment and let the door drop, causing the gearbox to fight the frame on every lock.
- The keep plate shifts slightly as the frame moves with temperature, and suddenly nothing lines up.
None of that requires a new door. It requires a locksmith who knows what they're looking at.
The Ten-Year Cost Comparison
| Scenario | Year 1 | Year 5 | Year 10 | Ten-Year Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Replace door (mid-range, fitted) | £1,100 | £0 | £0 | £1,100 |
| Replace door (quality, fitted) | £1,600 | £0 | £0 | £1,600 |
| Service gearbox + fit Ultion cylinder | £180 | £160 (service) | £160 (service) | £500 |
| Gearbox replacement + Avocet ABS cylinder | £220 | £170 (service) | £170 (service) | £560 |
The service route wins on cost. Every time. Even if you need a full gearbox replacement rather than a service at years five and ten, you're still looking at roughly £600 to £700 over the decade, well under half the cost of a new door.
What shifts the numbers upward on a replacement are extras that salespeople mention after you've agreed the price: upgraded glazing, a different colour, a letterbox position change, or upgrading to a composite. Before you know it, a £900 quote becomes £1,400.
When Replacement Does Make Sense
I'm not going to pretend a new door is never the answer. It is, in these situations.
The frame is damaged. A door that's been forced, or one where the PVC around the hinge packs or lock keep is cracked, isn't worth repairing. A bodge here is a security risk.
The door is original to a 1990s build. Some of the older Broadfield and Bewbush properties still have first-generation uPVC doors with single-point locks or obsolete gearbox profiles that no longer have compatible replacement parts. At that point, carrying on is throwing good money at bad.
The glazing is failed. Misted double-glazed units can be replaced as individual panes, but if the entire sash is warped or the sealed units are failing in multiple places, the economics of a new door start looking more reasonable.
Outside of those three, most uPVC door problems are a gearbox, a cylinder, a hinge adjustment, or a combination of all three.
What to Spend the Money On
If you're going the service route, don't scrimp on the cylinder. A BS3621 or TS007 3-star cylinder like the Ultion or Avocet ABS costs £50 to £90 more than the cheap euro cylinders that come fitted on most doors from the builder. That uplift is worth it. Anti-snap matters on RH10 and RH11 doors because cylinder snapping is the most common forced-entry method in this area, it takes under a minute, and it leaves no visible damage from the street.
A gearbox service at year five, meaning lubrication, adjustment and a check of all the keeps, will run £120 to £160 and keep everything moving correctly. A full gearbox swap, if the mechanism has genuinely worn out, is £150 to £220 depending on the brand and profile. Those figures are the same whether you're in Three Bridges or out towards Horley.
Get both jobs done in one visit and you'll pay one call-out, not two.
uPVC or composite door repair
What is the door doing? Tick the closest, the engineer confirms on site.
A guide, not a quote. We give you the actual labour rate, an estimate on parts and the VAT on the call, then fix the price before any work starts. No anti-social hours surcharge.
If you're in the Crawley area and your uPVC door is playing up, Rapid Response covers RH10 to RH12 and can usually be with you in under 30 minutes. Pricing is discussed honestly on the call before anyone comes out. No obligation to commit before you know what you're dealing with.
Tom Bradley, Commercial and landlord locksmith
Tom looks after the shops, offices, HMOs and landlords. He thinks in terms of what a thing costs a business over a year, not just on the day, and he has fitted enough master suites to know when one is overkill.
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