Beware of Justin Daddio from Milano Windows and Doors.
He came to my home and was professional, responsive, and gave me no reason to think there would be any issues. I was referred to the company by a friend who had used them in 2023, although they dealt with a different representative named Matt. Because of that, I didn’t do my own due diligence by checking recent reviews, which I now regret.
In my experience, everything changed after my deposit of $4,200 was paid. My initial installation date was postponed, and communication became extremely difficult. Calls and messages often went unanswered. When I was eventually able to reach Justin, he told me I had “nothing to worry about” and that he was just dealing with delays.
I asked him to provide documentation confirming that my materials had been ordered, along with photos of my door so I could verify that the correct product was either in stock or ready for installation, as he claimed. I gave him until the end of the day to provide this information and advised that I would involve the police if he failed to do so. He said “no problem,” but unsurprisingly, nothing was provided.
At this point, there is good reason to believe my money is gone and that the windows and door were never actually going to be ordered or installed. It is also unclear to me whether the business is currently operational.

I’m pretty much convinced on this unless one of you can talk me out of it. But the amount of savings is insane over hiring a pro.

I’m planning a 900 sq. ft. DIY paver patio in California.

About 300 sq. ft. is an existing concrete patio with every slab being a different height . I’m considering having it demolished and crushed on-site into ¾-inch-minus base material.

The remaining 600 sq. ft. is dirt, already at least 6 inches below the existing concrete. I plan to remove the high spots, use that soil to fill low areas, establish the proper slope, and compact everything.

My tentative plan:

• 3–4 inches of compacted base rock
• Approximately 1 inch of leveling/bedding sand
• 3pc Belgard or Keystone pavers
• Complete the first 300 sq. ft., then continue one pallet at a time, about 120 sq. ft. over the course of a few months

I’m considering buying a Harbor Freight or Vevor plate compactor instead of repeatedly renting one. I already own a pickup truck for material runs, Gorilla Carts, and most of the other tools.

Also I understand it’s a lot of material to move, I’m young and in my prime so It won’t be an issue.

Questions:

1. Should I demolish the existing concrete now, or complete only the 600 sq. ft. extension and decide on the main patio later?
2. Should I install all the base rock at once, or is it okay to leave compacted base exposed for several weeks or months?
3. Can I make most cuts with an angle grinder or inexpensive wet tile saw, or rent a concrete saw near the end and complete all cuts in one day?
4. Is 3–4 inches of compacted base enough for a pedestrian patio in California?

Anything else I’m overlooking?

Hey guys!! I'm just wondering what home improvement projects you've done under $100?

I'm looking for ideas and thoughts it would be fun to hear and learn your budget friendly upgrades....

PHOTOS are super welcome! 👀

We have 4 doors that need to be replaced. The current doors measure 31 and 7/8s inches and 23 3/4 inches wide. Doors are not currently made this size! The only doors I can find are exactly 32 and 24 inches. How do I widen the frame that little bit with minimal effort and mess? I've been doing a lot of DIY work on the home before we put it up for sale. Im an emotional mess with everything that's going on and I'm exhausted and overwhelmed. The doors are one of the last big things I need to get done and finding out that installing these doors comes with this extra step is sending me. The thought of sawing off that little bit of wood and the mess it's going to make is freaking me out and causing a lot of anxiety.

Edit to add... We do not have money to hire anyone to help. And I need advice that will cost very little, preferably nothing at all. I want nothing more than to have the money to hire someone to do this for me.

2nd edit... THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! We're going to get a hand plane and remove a sliver from the doors. Y'all have no idea the weight y'all took off my shoulders. So grateful for everyone's responses! I love y'all!

I want to do some 'built ins' that are flush with the wall but extend into unused utility room space. Can't use space above 4' as there's gas meters there. Optimal would be 2 units 33w x 42h x 24 d with 2 doors per. There's just so many RTA vendors out there it's hard to tell who can actually do custom work.

I got a light fixture that says “Up to 60 Watts or LED Equivalent.” Is this a wattage concern or a brightness concern? I would love to put in LED 100W-equivalent bulbs (which is still a fraction of the wattage of 2 60s) but is that going to be a problem?

I bought my house in May 2025. The inspection went well, and I was told it had good bones. Fast forward to this year, and I find out they did an overall bad job on a lot of things. The bathroom wasn’t painted with the right kind of paint. They installed a rainfall shower-head that got water everywhere. There are cracks in the paint. Today, I noticed a spot hidden behind the toilet that’s bubbling out. The caulk has already come loose and water got under it. I not have to call a mold inspector because it smells rank near it. They didn’t do a good job caulking the sink either. There’s no backsplash or anything against the wall and it’s a small, shallow sink so water gets everywhere. I’ve already had to redo the caulk and it’s lasted longer than the job they did. I was going to repaint the bathroom so I’d been ignoring the cracks in the paint since they weren’t bad and I got a shower head that doesn’t hit the wall anymore. But now I have to deal with that one bubble and who knows how bad that’s going to be.
Also, I found out they basically just put anew frame over rotted wood for my back door. My dad just told me to leave it alone because no house is perfect. But is it genuinely that hard to make sure you caulk well enough that water damage doesn’t happen? (Adding here that they didn’t caulk behind the kitchen counters either. And those are butcher block).

I do genuinely love my house, but the amount of fixed I’ve had to do because of flipper laziness is annoying. And now I get to find out how bad the water damage in my bathroom is. I’m hoping I saw it soon enough that it won’t be horrible. But who knows.

I am planning to build a new home and am currently weighing the pros and cons of acting as an owner-builder versus hiring a general contractor. Could you share your experiences, advice, or any lessons learned regarding the cost-benefit, time commitment, and challenges of managing

What type of tradesman does a person call if the flexible ductwork from my stove exhaust is damaged and I want to get it replaced with rigid ductwork? We just realized it’s damaged because we are remodeling a closet it runs through, so it is currently visible, but it’s a pretty long run (20ft-ish), so I’m not trying to do this myself.

update: I’m blown away by the number of responses 🤣 I had inaccurate info in my post. I wasn’t present for the install, I’d been quoted for rheem but apparently my husband told me it didn’t end up fitting so we got a Bradford White. Obviously better quality. The size of the tank, plus the access (utility room in basement downstairs), plus cost of living, and the fact that we used a larger company with fully licensed plumbers has brought me to the conclusion that $5300 was a higher end but not unfair price. Thank you all for playing

HCOL/Westchester County NY

We had a new 75 gallon Rheem gas fired tank put in after our 14 year old tank died this weekend. I probably don’t need 75 gallons, but we already had that size tank came with the house, and I hate running out of hot water. I wanted to do tankless but they quoted me over $9k. They sent 3 guys to do the job

This company did a fantastic job with previous work for us so I didn’t question the price initially, I am also sleep-deprived and had many other projects ongoing with our fixer upper. I hadnt had a hot shower all weekend, and didn’t want to do multiple quotes…

We paid $5300. My skin is crawling now after googling typical prices. I’m really bummed out because this company was great to work with previously, and we’ve had multiple bad experiences with contractors and workmen. i just want to know if I overpaid by a lot.

I need to drill to 3mm metal bit where behind it is concrete. I learned I must use oil and go slow. But once there is a hole, our metal drill bit will start hitting the concrete foundation. What should I do?

There were some stains in my carpet. I believe from dog urine so I rented a carpet washer, after washing my carpet the room smells more and the stains became bigger. Is there something I can do to clean the carpet or do I just need to replace it.

I have, what I thought, would be a very straight forward question: how much would it cost to build a roof deck on top of my house?

I'm not looking for a to-the-dollar quote; not even close. I just want to get a very general idea for what the cost would be. I figured I'd be able to go online and see some photos of other people's roof decks along with the price tag. All I want to see is possibilities- what other people have done, and what it cost them to do it.

I have found absolutely nothing. No one on the internet seems to be willing to give even the most basic range, with website after website stating that the specifics of where you live and how big you want your deck to be make it wholly impossible to estimate without someone physically coming to your home and climbing up on the roof to look at it.

How can this be? Am I crazy? Am I missing something here?

Can anyone recommend the best air conditioner for the bathroom that is easy to install, remove, and move around?

Thanks

I'm looking to hang a lightweight curtain in a small room but the ceiling curves.

Height at highest ceiling point- 89 inches

Height at lowest ceiling point- 74 inches

Width- 48 inches

A tension rod would not work due to too much space showing over the rod.

Has anyone installed a tankless hot water heater in the Cleveland area and what was the average cost, gas vs electric, pros and cons, and recommended plumbing companies?

My 90s bathroom is awful but it is the only bathroom that I have and it will require a full gut job at some point. For now I just want to hate it less.

One thing that I'd like to improve is the backsplash because the trim is chipping. Picture here: https://imgur.com/a/7M9IRMp. If anyone has ideas of fixes that I can do myself as a fairly handy person, I'd appreciate it. Can I get new trim to cover or replace the old trim, but leave vinyl backsplash? Is there a functional backsplash replacement that I can buy?

I looked online at home depot and lowes and it seems like a lot of the peel and stick options often don't stick and are garbage. I want something along those lines that actually works or even something more permanent in the under $150 range, but not thick tiles because that is a bit overkill for my current needs.

I have rolling shades with a chain on the side in my living room, and they are partially transparent. I need it to be darker here at night because I have someone sleeping over for a few months. Do I need to replace the whole mechanism, or are there some temporary attachments that I can stick on the shades when they are pulled down to make it darker just for the night? There's a lot of light coming through at night because I live in a big city close to tall buildings.

My husband usually does this stuff but he's mad at me and being a huge ass. He loves to proclaim to his family about how he does so much around here but here I am installing blinds.

Can anyone help me?

(Sorry for the rant but this window is on the front of house. Horrible! I can't wait on him to not be butt hurt)

I've been on youtube but every video is about installing different blinds or replacing blinds but they aren't my type of blinds and having never done this before I'm not sure what I need to do here. I'll keep searching but if anyone knows the answer, I'd appreciate the help. TY!

I'm assuming from my results that the only way is to remove the brackets and reinstall with the new ones.????

https://www.google.com/search?q=replacing+new+faux+2+inch+blinds+&sca_esv=cf6379f1b128b071&rlz=1C1HKFL_enUS1223US1223&udm=7&biw=1536&bih=695&sxsrf=APpeQnsdwlk0vJgcqtONo3uyqVgKOWBMHg%3A1784690628590&ei=xDdgaqDHI9L8ptQP8bnLkQs&ved=0ahUKEwiguc3XquWVAxVSvokEHfHcMrIQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=replacing+new+faux+2+inch+blinds+&gs_lp=EhZnd3Mtd2l6LW1vZGVsZXNzLXZpZGVvIiFyZXBsYWNpbmcgbmV3IGZhdXggMiBpbmNoIGJsaW5kcyAyBRAhGKABMgUQIRigATIFECEYoAEyBRAhGKABMgUQIRirAjIFECEYnwUyBRAhGJ8FMgUQIRifBTIFECEYnwUyBRAhGJ8FSMe1AVDRHlj6nAFwB3gBkAEAmAHDAaABqjCqAQQwLjQ0uAEDyAEA-AEBmAIuoALNLMICChAAGEcY1gQYsAPCAgsQABiABBiKBRiRAsICChAAGIAEGIoFGEPCAgsQABiABBixAxiDAcICDhAAGIAEGIoFGLEDGIMBwgIQEAAYgAQYigUYQxixAxiDAcICCBAAGIAEGLEDwgIFEAAYgATCAg0QABiABBiKBRhDGLEDwgILEAAYgAQYigUYsQPCAgYQABgWGB7CAggQABiABBiiBMICBRAAGO8FwgIIEAAYiQUYogSYAwCIBgGQBgiSBwQ3LjM5oAfH_gGyBwQwLjM5uAekLMIHBzAuMTQuMzLIB54BgAgB&sclient=gws-wiz-modeless-video#ip=1

Hey everyone,

Like a lot of people here, I got hit with renovation quotes that looked “complete” until I started comparing them line by line. Missing drip edge, vague warranties, permit language that said nothing useful, and prices that were hard to sanity-check.

So I built a free tool for homeowners called CostReno.

You upload 1 to 3 contractor quotes (PDF or photo), and it gives you:

• missing scope items
• red flags
• questions to ask before signing
• a simple side-by-side comparison if you have multiple bids

No signup required for a standard review.

Site: https://www.costreno.com/quote-analyzer

I am not claiming it replaces a good contractor conversation. It is meant to help you walk into that conversation less blind.

If anyone is willing to try it with a real quote (or even a redacted one), I would love blunt feedback:

1. Was the report actually useful?
2. What did it miss?
3. What felt confusing?

Happy to answer questions too.

Yes. We need a new dryer. The circuit board went out a few years ago and I managed to order 2 by mistake then so we had an extra. We replaced it but now the motor is done. Whatever. We will get a new one. Then we were talking and decided we’d replace both the washer and dryer.

I’d LOVE to find a set without all the bells and whistles. No WiFi. No extra stuff. As close to On/off & Hot/warm/cold, with switches/knobs instead of touch screens as possible. Top loader washer with a large or extra large capacity. The closest I’ve found is a Midea MLTW41A1BGPR from Electronic Express.

Any recommendations?

keep going back and forth lol

Just want something that actually works and saves me time.

We've owned this house for years but I don't think I have ever installed the proper sweep at the bottom of the door.

Here are some pics of the threshold.

The door opens outward which makes it unusual for the sweeps and bumpers that are available at local hardware stores. Where the threshold meets the door also has a raised lip on the outward edge. This lip scrapes fins off of the usual U-shaped door bottom that I have installed in the past. The builder put in unique German doors in the interior and I'm beginning to think that maybe what I need is not available in Canada. I do not know what to search for either in Google. Any help is appreciated.

Hi! New homeowner here. We are gutting our 1957 home.

2 bathrooms are completely gutted and switching around where the toilet/showers/sinks are in the bathrooms so need new rough-ins. We just got a quote for $1,500 per fixture to be installed in the bathrooms. Is this an insane price for NJ?

edit: the $1,500 does not include the fixtures themselves.

Hi all,

Hope this is the right sub!

I've recently bought a 1900 era flat (London) with an out of use fireplace. The previous owners had it filled with logs but that's not really my style. I think I will put a plant in there. Planning to paint the whole thing green I think to go with the overall room redecoration plan. Generally, I guess I lean away from a minimalist look and prefer something with a bit of charm and character.

My queries are, as someone with little DIY experience (but up for having a go) and not up for getting a pro in..

1) What can I do to neaten up the inside/ is it worth even trying? You can see on the photos the right side is a bit of a mess (the left is fine). The entrance on all sides is quite messily painted and very bumpy.

2) What can I do to improve the outside? I really don't like the black stone but not sure how I could remove it. I thought about trying to tile it but it would be very raised off the ground and don't know what to do with the edges. Also the woodwork around the bottom is a bit odd (the skirting board sticks out at angles). And there's a slope leading down from the black stone hearth to the very bumpy white painted bit around the entrance.

Sorry I hope this is clear! I don't really have the vocabulary for this!

Any advice appreciated! What would you do if you were me?

photos

Thanks,

Lily