Prehung or slab: the decision that sets the job
A prehung door comes already hung in its own jamb, so the old jamb, threshold and weatherstrip all come out with the old door. A slab is the door alone, hung on the hinges already in your wall. Slab swaps are faster and cheaper, and they only work when the existing jamb is square, solid and not rotted at the bottom.
The giveaway is the bottom of the jamb where it meets the threshold. On a porch that takes rain off a short overhang, that corner is the first to go soft, and hanging a new slab on a rotted jamb buys you a new door with the old problems.
Steel, fiberglass or wood
All three are sold within a few miles of McDonough, and the price gap between them is wide enough that the choice is worth making deliberately rather than at the showroom.
| Material | Installed cost | Door only, local retail | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steel | $850 to $3,000 | Primed slab from $169; prehung $279 to $638 | Lowest entry price. Dents stay dented. |
| Fiberglass | $1,200 to $5,500 | Prehung $308 to $2,364 | Does not dent or rot, takes a stain or paint finish. |
| Wood | $1,800 to $8,000 and up | Varies widely by species and build | Best looking, most upkeep, least happy in direct sun and rain. |
| Sidelights, added | $1,000 to $5,000 and up | Sold as part of a prehung assembly | Priced per side; two sidelights is the common front-door layout. |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column →
Installed figures: RemodelingExpense entry door cost page, updated June 26, 2026. Local retail: current listings at the McDonough big-box stores, read October 16, 2026. HomeGuide puts a basic single door the same size as the old one at $500 to $2,500 or more installed, with labor at $300 to $500 and disposal at $75 to $200, though that page carries a 2024 date under a 2026 title.
The gap between the retail price of the door and the installed price is the part people underestimate. A $308 fiberglass prehung unit is not a $308 job: somebody still has to pull the old one, set the new one plumb in an opening that has moved since 1998, seal it, fit the hardware and take the old door away. The front door replacement cost guide breaks that down line by line.
What goes wrong with an entry door in Georgia
- The threshold seal flattens and daylight shows at the bottom corners.
- Sun on a south or west-facing door fades and chalks the finish, and bakes the weatherstrip hard.
- The slab swells in August humidity, sticks, then rattles in January when it shrinks back.
- The jamb at the strike side splits where somebody leaned on a door that was locked.
- Sidelight seals fog the same way window units do, because that is exactly what they are.
- Hinge screws pull loose and the door starts to drag on the threshold.
NOAA describes Georgia as having long, hot and humid summers with abundant precipitation through the year, which is the environment this door has been standing in. A sticking door in late summer is often humidity in the slab rather than a hinge problem, and it is worth seeing what it does in October before cutting anything.
The hardware is half the security
A deadbolt is only as good as what it throws into. The bolt lands in a strike plate screwed to the jamb, and the jamb is thin trim wood; the screws that come in most hardware boxes are too short to reach the framing behind it. Longer screws through the strike plate into the stud are the cheapest security upgrade on the whole door.
More on locks, handlesets, multipoint hardware and strike plates on the door hardware and deadbolt page.
Storm doors and screen doors
A storm door over a new entry door adds a ventilating screen and a second barrier, with one caution worth knowing before you buy: a glass storm door over a dark-colored door traps heat between the two. The storm door page covers that properly.
Permits, covenants and the front of the house
Two things can apply. Ask the permit office that covers your address, because neither the city nor the county publishes a door-specific exemption, and the code both enforce does not list doors among the exempt work. And check your covenants if you are in a subdivision with an architectural review committee: a front door is the most visible change you can make to the front of a house, and several local declarations hang their approval requirement on anything that materially changes the exterior appearance.