What to Prepare Before a First Consultation

Most first consultations go sideways for the same reason: nobody brings the opening sizes. A homeowner walks in with a paint colour and a rough idea, and we spend the first twenty minutes guessing whether the passage is 813mm or 914mm. That guesswork costs time, and it usually costs a second trip.

Before you sit down with a supplier or installer, measure every doorway you plan to touch. Width between the jambs, height from finished floor to the head, and the wall thickness. Write it down. If the floor is still screed and the tiles are not down yet, note the expected finished level, because a pivot door and a standard hung door both care about that number.

Bring a photo of the existing frame profile if you are matching new doors to old ones. Meranti, oak veneer and aluminium all sit differently in a reveal, and a frame that looks close in a catalogue can be 10mm off on site. A phone photo with a tape measure held against the jamb saves a return visit.

Know your timeline. Are you tiling before or after the doors go in? Painting before or after architraves? These two questions decide the order of work, and getting them wrong means pulling hardware off a freshly painted door. If you are working with a contractor, bring their programme or at least the week they expect to start.

Finally, decide what you actually want from the meeting. A written quote needs a door schedule. A showroom visit needs a rough budget range and a finish preference. Both are fine, but they lead to different conversations, and knowing which one you are having makes the hour count.