Ask what panic bar installation costs and the honest answer starts with a question back: which door? A rim exit device on the plain steel back door of a shop and a fire-rated vertical-rod device on a pair of corridor doors are both called panic bars, and they are very different hardware and very different labor. Once you know which kind of door you have, the price stops being a mystery, and you can tell whether an estimate is high, low or simply for a different device.
The six things that set the price
- The type of device. A rim device, which latches on the face of the frame, is the simplest and the least expensive to fit. A surface vertical-rod device, with rods running to the top and bottom of the door, costs more and takes longer to set. A mortise device, whose lock sits inside the door's edge, costs more again and needs a door prepared for it. Concealed-rod devices, hidden inside the door, are the top of the range.
- A single door or a pair. A single door takes one device. A pair either takes vertical-rod devices on both leaves, or a removable mullion between them so that each leaf can carry a rim device. Which is right depends on how the doors are used, and it roughly doubles the hardware either way.
- A fire rating. A door with a fire rating label needs fire exit hardware, which is tested to keep the door latched in a fire and cannot be dogged, or held unlatched. It costs more than a plain panic device, and there is no cheaper substitute: the wrong device voids the door's rating.
- Outside trim. Many exits are exit-only and need nothing on the outside. When a door has to open from outside too, it takes a pull, a lever, or a key cylinder so staff can let themselves in while the door still opens with one push from inside. Each adds a part and some labor.
- Alarms and electrified options. An alarmed exit device, which sounds when someone pushes through a door that is not for daily use, costs more than a plain one. Electrified devices, tied into access control so the door can be unlocked from a reader or on a schedule, cost more again and bring wiring with them.
- The door and frame. The part estimates most often leave out. A device mounts on a door that is sound, square and reinforced where the screws go. A hollow door with no reinforcement, old holes from the previous hardware, a sagging hinge or a frame that has moved all have to be dealt with first, or the new device will not latch.
Aluminum storefront doors are their own case
The narrow stiles of an aluminum and glass storefront door will not take a standard exit device. They need a narrow-stile device made for that door, mounted differently, and often a new strike in the aluminum frame. If your exit is a glass storefront door, make sure the estimate names a narrow-stile device; a price for a standard one is a price for something that will not fit.
When the mounting height adds to the price
The code sets where the push bar sits, and our panic bar requirements article covers the rule; most devices land there without any thought. It only moves the price when an old device sits outside that range, or the door's existing holes do not line up with the new device, so the old holes are filled and the door is prepped again. An estimate should say so when it is the case, because it is extra work on that one door.
What does not change the number much
The finish of the device, within the usual range, changes the price very little. Neither does adding a door closer adjustment while we are there, since the closer has to bring the door back to the latch anyway and we check it on every installation. Removing a deadbolt, chain or hasp that someone added to the exit costs almost nothing, and it has to come off: an exit door has to open with one push, without a key or special knowledge.
How to compare two estimates
Put them side by side and check that they are for the same thing. Each should name the type of device for each door, rim, vertical-rod or mortise; say whether it is fire exit hardware where the door is rated; list any outside trim, alarm or electrified option; and say what happens to the door and frame, whether that is reinforcement, filling old holes, or a hinge repair. An estimate that is lower because it leaves one of those out is not cheaper; it is for a different job, and the difference shows up on the day or at the inspection.
What we do before we price it
We look at each exit door before we quote it: we read the label on the door's edge, check the hinges, the closer and the frame, ask how the door is used, and then we recommend the device the door needs rather than the one in the catalog. The written estimate is free and names the device for every door. If you are not sure the door needs a panic bar at all, our article on panic bar requirements covers which doors usually do; the fire marshal for your city or county has the final word.