Door installation and replacement on Long Beach Island and in Barnegat, NJ
Entry, exterior, patio, storm and interior doors. Installed by the people who also fix the rotted jamb and the sill underneath — because that is usually where the last door went wrong.
(609) 622-5647Free estimates.
10 years on the tools — and the person who measures your opening is the person who sets the door in it.
Long Beach Island and mainland Ocean County. Beach Haven, Ship Bottom, Surf City, Harvey Cedars, Barnegat Light, Brant Beach, Loveladies, Holgate, Beach Haven Terrace, Barnegat, Manahawkin, Stafford Township, Waretown, Forked River, Tuckerton, Little Egg Harbor, Toms River — and everywhere in between.
Alex Vega, owner. Vega Construction LLC, Barnegat, New Jersey.
The contractor you are actually hiring
Alex Vega owns Vega Construction and is on the job himself — ten years in the trade, based in Barnegat and working the island and the mainland around it.
Vega Construction is a small crew, and that is the point. The person who measures your opening is on site when the door goes in. Nothing gets handed to whoever was free that week.
A door is the one thing in a house that has to do four jobs at once: keep the weather out, keep the heat in, lock, and still swing true five years from now. It is also the part most often replaced without anyone looking at what is holding it up.
Out here that matters more than it does inland. Wind-driven rain hits a door at an angle instead of running down it, the salt goes after the hardware, and the sill sits closer to the ground and the water than it would anywhere else. A door set the way it would be set two counties away does not last the same here.
Registered as a home improvement contractor with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, and insured. The registration number is at the bottom of this page and you can check it yourself in about thirty seconds.
Doors we install and replace
And the part underneath that decides whether the new one does better than the old one.
Entry and front doors
Full entry systems including the frame, the sill and the threshold, or a new slab into a jamb that is still sound. We will tell you honestly which one your opening needs after we look at it.
Exterior side and back doors
We replace the doors nobody photographs and everybody uses — the one to the deck, the one to the driveway. Usually the worst condition in the house, usually the cheapest to put right, and usually where the water is getting in. A good place to start if you want to try us on something small.
Sliding and patio doors
We fix sliders that stick, replace rollers that have given out, and swap whole units. The track and the sill pan matter more here than on any other door in the house, because it is a wide opening sitting low — so we quote those separately rather than rolling them into a door price.
Storm doors
We fit storm doors to the opening rather than to the catalog, and hang them so the closer works, the sweep meets the sill and the thing does not rattle every time the wind comes off the bay. Often the cheapest way to buy an older entry door a few more years.
Interior doors
We hang bedroom, bath and closet doors, pocket doors, and the ones that have not latched right since the house settled — plumb, with the casing put back the way it was. Priced by the door or by the whole floor, whichever suits you.
Jambs, sills and rot repair
Rotted casing, a soft sill, a threshold that has been caulked six times. We cut back to sound wood and rebuild the opening before the door goes in, and we price it on the same quote — which is exactly what a door quote from a store does not do. It is the reason a lot of second doors fail the same way the first one did.
What a door quote usually leaves out
Most people start by pricing the door. The door is rarely what decides how the job turns out.
A door price is easy to compare, which is exactly why it is what gets compared. What is harder to see is the list of things that are assumed rather than included — and that list is where the difference between two quotes actually lives.
An install price generally assumes the opening is sound. It assumes the frame is square, the sill is solid, the subfloor under it has not gone soft, and the siding and trim around it can be put back the way they came off. When any of that turns out to be untrue, it becomes a change order — or worse, it gets covered up, because the crew that shows up to hang a door is not the crew that repairs framing.
Out here it is often untrue. A door that has been leaking for three seasons has usually taken the sill and part of the framing with it. Putting a new door into that is putting a good door into a bad hole.
So we look at the opening before we price the door. If the jamb and the sill are sound, we will tell you that and the job is straightforward. If they are not, you will see it before we order anything, and the repair is a line on the quote instead of a surprise on day two.
We do carpentry, siding, trim and painting as well. That means the rot gets fixed, the door goes in, and the trim and paint go back — one crew, one number, one person to call. It is not a bigger sale. It is just the whole job.
Why doors fail on a barrier island
Almost never the door itself. Almost always the water, and where it was allowed in.
On a normal street, rain falls down a door. Here it arrives sideways off the bay and the ocean, and it finds any gap that is facing the weather. That changes which parts of a door assembly matter. The head flashing, the sill pan, the corners of the threshold and the joint where the frame meets the siding stop being details and start being the whole job.
Salt does the rest. It goes after hinges, strike plates, closers, sliding-door hardware and anything else metal, and it does it faster near the water than any spec sheet assumes. A door that swings perfectly the day it goes in can be dragging on the latch side two winters later because the hardware gave up, not the door.
Which is sometimes good news. If the door itself is sound and the hardware has gone, that is a short visit and a small bill, not a replacement. Tell us what it is doing — sticking, dragging, not latching — and we will tell you which of the two you have before anybody quotes a door.
And the damage runs inward, not outward. By the time paint is bubbling on the inside of the casing or the floor feels soft in front of the threshold, the water has been getting in for a while. That is the point where a door replacement stops being a door replacement.
If your door leaks, tell us that instead of just asking for a price on a new one. Sometimes the answer is a new door. Sometimes it is flashing and a sill pan and the door you already have is fine.
Signs it is the opening, not the door
- Water on the floor inside after wind-driven rain
- Paint bubbling or peeling on the inside of the casing
- A soft or springy spot in the floor at the threshold
- Daylight visible at a corner of the frame
- The door latched fine last year and does not now
- Caulk at the threshold that keeps failing
If you rent the house out
A door in a rental gets used more in one summer than a family door gets used in three years.
Guests are harder on doors than owners are. Sliders get forced, screens get pushed, locks get worked, and the back door gets left open in the rain. None of it gets reported. The owner finds it in October.
A door that will not lock properly is also the thing a guest is most likely to write about, and the one a cleaner or a manager will call you about mid-season. It is worth getting ahead of.
The off season is when this work belongs. October through April the house is empty, nothing booked is lost, and a door that needs framing repair behind it can be opened up without a clock running. Doors do not care about weather the way exterior painting does, so this is good winter work.
If you are out of state, send photos. A picture of the door, one of the threshold and one of the inside of the casing tells us most of what we need before anyone drives out.
How we work around a rental
Estimates from photos if you are not local. Work scheduled in the off season so no booked weeks are lost. Progress pictures as the job runs. And a finish date in writing, so the house is locked up properly before the first guest arrives.
What decides the price of a door job
The door is one line of the number. Here is the rest of it.
- Slab or full unit. The biggest fork. Hanging a new door into a frame that is still good is one job. Replacing the whole unit — frame, sill, threshold and all — is another, and it is the one that actually solves a leak. Which one you need is decided by the condition of the frame, not by the budget.
- What the opening is like once it is open. A sound opening is quick. A rotted sill, soft framing or a previous repair done badly all add work before the new door can go in square. We quote what we can see and tell you plainly what the realistic unknowns are.
- The type of door. A standard entry door, a sliding patio door and a storm door are three different amounts of labor, and we quote them as such rather than off one flat rate. Wide openings, sidelites and transoms are more again, because everything has to line up across a bigger span.
- Whether the outside has to be put back. Siding, trim, flashing and paint around a new door are part of the job on an exterior replacement. A quote that does not mention them is a quote that is planning to leave them to you.
- Hardware. Locksets, closers, multipoint locks and sliding-door hardware vary enormously. Near the water the finish matters more than the style, because that is what fails first — we will tell you where spending more actually shows and where it does not.
- How many, and where. Several interior doors at once is far cheaper per door than one, so ask us for both numbers if you are weighing it. A second-story slider is not the same as a ground-floor back door.
The estimate is free and the scope is in writing before anything comes out — slab or unit, what gets repaired, what gets put back outside, and what happens if we open it up and find more. If your frame is fine and you only need the door, that is what the quote will say.
How the job goes
Step 1
We look at the opening
Free, on your schedule. We check the frame, the sill, the threshold and the trim around it — not just the door — because that is what decides which job this actually is.
Step 2
Scope and price in writing
Slab or full unit, what repair is included, what goes back on the outside, and what is not included. Plus what happens if the opening turns something up.
Step 3
You pick the door
We tell you what each choice costs in money and in lead time, and where a more expensive option actually shows near the water. You are never locked into buying it through us.
Step 4
We set it and close it up
Opening repaired if it needs it, door set plumb and flashed, trim and paint put back, hardware adjusted. The house is never left open overnight.
Coming out to look at the door is free and there is no obligation after. Call (609) 622-5647, or send photos — the door from inside, from outside, and a close one of the sill and the casing — and we will tell you whether you need a door or an opening.
Recent work
Real doors in real houses around the island and the mainland.
Where we work
Based in Barnegat and working the island and the mainland around it.
Long Beach Island
Beach Haven, Ship Bottom, Surf City, Harvey Cedars, Barnegat Light, Brant Beach, Beach Haven Crest, North Beach, Loveladies, Holgate, Beach Haven Terrace, Spray Beach, Haven Beach
Southern Ocean County
Barnegat, Manahawkin, Stafford Township, Waretown, Ocean Acres, Tuckerton, Little Egg Harbor, West Creek, Mystic Island
Northern Ocean County
Forked River, Lacey Township, Toms River, Beachwood, Island Heights, Bayville, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park
Questions people ask us
The ones that come up on nearly every estimate.
What is the average cost of replacing an exterior door?
The honest answer is that the door is the part of the price anyone can look up, and it is not the part that varies. What varies is whether the frame and sill can stay, and whether the siding and trim around the opening have to come off and go back.
We measure it for free and put the scope in writing. When you compare quotes, compare what each one says about the opening — that is where two prices on the same door go their separate ways.
How much do the big stores charge to install a door?
Store installation is a real option and for a straightforward swap it can be a fine one. What is worth understanding is what it assumes: that the opening is sound, that the door is a standard size, and that nothing behind the trim needs attention. Anything outside that is priced separately or is not part of the service at all.
That is the whole difference. We look at the opening first and quote the actual job — including the repair if it needs one — so there is one number and one crew rather than a door install plus a search for someone to fix what was found underneath.
Can you buy just a front door without a frame?
Yes — that is called a slab, and it goes into the frame you already have. It is the cheaper material, and it is the right answer when the frame, the sill and the threshold are all still sound and the door simply looks tired or does not close the way it used to.
What it is not is the easier job. A slab has to be fitted to a frame that is already there and almost never perfectly square — the hinge mortises, the bore for the lockset, the bevel on the latch edge and the clearance at the top and the sill all have to be cut to that specific opening. A full unit arrives with all of that already done. Cheaper door, more skilled labor.
And it is the wrong answer when the door has been leaking. A slab does not fix a frame and it does not fix a sill. If water has been getting in, replacing only the door usually means the same problem reappears with a newer door in front of it. Tell us what it is doing and we will tell you which of the two you actually need before anything gets ordered.
What should I look for in an exterior door for a beach house?
Less than people expect goes to the door itself, and more than people expect goes to what surrounds it. The threshold and sill pan, the flashing above the head, and the joint where the frame meets the siding are what keep wind-driven rain out. A better door in a poorly sealed opening still leaks.
After that, hardware. Near the water the finish on hinges, locksets and closers is what fails first, long before anything structural. It is worth spending there and it is the part most quotes treat as an afterthought. We will walk you through the choices for your specific exposure — a door facing the bay and one facing a sheltered side street are not in the same conditions.
How long should it take to install a new exterior door?
A straightforward replacement into a sound opening is usually a day. If the frame, sill or framing underneath needs repair, or the siding and trim have to come off and go back, it runs longer — and that part is determined by what we find, not by how fast anyone works.
Either way the house does not get left open. The opening is closed and secure at the end of every day.
My door leaks when it rains. Is that the door or the installation?
Far more often the installation, or what is behind it. Doors themselves rarely leak through the panel — water gets in around the frame, under the threshold, or above the head where flashing was missed or never there.
This is the single most common reason people call us about a door, and it is why we look at the opening before quoting a replacement. Sometimes the fix is flashing and a proper sill pan and the door you have is fine. We would rather tell you that than sell you a door that leaks in the same place.
Do you repair the rotted frame and trim, or just hang the door?
We repair it. Rotted jambs, soft sills, failed thresholds and the casing around them are part of the job, not a reason to send you to somebody else.
We also do siding, trim and painting, so the outside gets put back properly once the door is in rather than left as a patch for another contractor to finish.
Can you work around renters, or in the off season?
Both, and the off season is better for you. October through April the house is empty, nothing booked is lost, and if the opening needs repair there is no clock running. Doors are good winter work — unlike exterior painting, they do not wait on weather.
If something has to happen mid-season, tell us the turnover days and we will work to them. A door that will not lock does not wait until October.
Can I buy the door myself and have you install it?
Yes. Plenty of people do, and we are not hiding a margin in the material. What we will ask is to see the order before you place it, because the most common problem with a customer-supplied door is that it is the wrong size, the wrong swing, or a slab when the opening needs a full unit.
Five minutes checking that beforehand saves a restocking fee and a delay.
Are you registered and insured?
Yes. Vega Construction LLC is a registered home improvement contractor with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, and we carry insurance. The registration number is at the bottom of this page.
New Jersey publishes a public lookup for contractor registrations. We would rather you check it than take our word for it — and we would say the same about anyone else quoting your door.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes. Hablamos español. Call, text or send photos in either language and you will get an answer in the same one.
What a door job with us includes
So you know what you are buying before you ask for a number.
A free visit, no obligation
We come out and look at the opening, not just the door — the sill, the casing and the wall under it. If photos answer it, that is free too and we will say so rather than booking a visit we do not need.
The opening priced, not assumed
Rot repair, a new sill, a rebuilt jamb — listed on the same quote as the door instead of raised on the day. This is the single biggest difference between our number and a store’s.
You pick the door
Ours or yours, from wherever you like. We are not a dealer for anybody, so there is nothing we are steering you toward — and you are never locked into buying it through us.
Trim and paint put back
We do the carpentry and the painting, so the casing goes back and the finish matches. A door left for somebody else to trim and paint is half a job.
The house closed up every night
No opening left open overnight, and the site cleaned at the end of each day. If you are not local, photos as the work runs.
One person to call, in either language
The same number from the estimate to a year later. English or Spanish, and whoever answers has been at your door.
What our clients say
The part a store cannot show you: what happened after the door was in.
Straight from our Google profile
Not selected, not edited. These are the reviews on our Google Business Profile, shown here as they were written.
Send a photo of the door
One of the door, one of the threshold and one of the inside of the casing. That is usually enough for us to tell you whether you need a door or an opening.
Vega Construction LLC · New Jersey Home Improvement Contractor · Barnegat, NJ · Serving Long Beach Island and Ocean County