Kathy and Peter’s San Clemente remodel, Part 4:

 






Friday, May 16, 2025:  Took a day off from work to go up to the Daltile Anaheim show room to get some ideas for the backsplash.  In the afternoon Matt and I cleared out the garage, to make more room for storage.  We went to the San Clemente landfill to dump a bunch of old rugs that we brought from our old house in Irvine; it was time to get rid of them!  We also dumped a sheet of drywall; I hope I don’t have to make any more drywall repairs for a while!

 

Friday, May 16, 2025:  Daltile Showroom, 1600 S. Page Court, Anaheim.

Friday, May 16, 2025:  Dumping old rugs and drywall at the San Clemente landfill. 

Saturday, May 17, 2025:  Spend pretty much all day on my knees putting in the toe kicks in the hallway and kitchen, but it is finally done!  Since we had raised the kitchen cabinets toward the window to match the height of the window, the standard size toe kick (4.5”) did not work.  Instead, Ramon Plascencia at Builders Surplus suggested we buy a 8 foot decorative panel, and cut it to the right height.  This worked out well, and to finish it off I put a scribe around the bottom of the toe kick to give it that final touch.  It is crazy how many tools are needed just for a simple toe kick, the pictures below are just a sampling.  But now, all the woodwork for the new kitchen and bathrooms is done, and hopefully I can give my tools a little rest!  

Saturday, May 17, 2025:  The most important Personal Protection Equipment when you are working on your knees;  Knee Pads!!!!  Got these from Harbor Freight, a good deal and they are holding up well.    

   

Saturday, May 17, 2025:  My trusted Ryobi Table Saw, which I think I bought back in 2001.  As far as I’m concerned, the Table Saw is the scariest, with that exposed blade.  Yes, I know I comes with a safety cover, but it is not that easy to work with…

Saturday, May 17, 2025:  Saws, saws and more saws…  I usually use the tailgate of my pickup as my workbench; just back it in to the garage…  Lots of trips back and forth in to the house…

  
Saturday, May 17, 2025:  The Toe Kick under the cabinets over by the cooktop and sink is installed.  It is starting to look like a finished kitchen!  Over by the cooktop you can see the tile we picked for the back splash, we should get them delivered in a couple of weeks…    

Saturday, May 17, 2025:  The Toe Kick under the cabinets over by the toaster and dishwasher is installed.  

 
Saturday, May 17, 2025:  The Toe Kick under the cabinets over by the coffee bar is installed. 

  Sunday, May 18, 2025:  Today we decided to finish off the two fireplaces that we fixed up back in 2022 (by the way, this will be another story for the blog).  Even though we pretty much finished the fireplaces back in November 2022, we still didn’t completely finish, since we were waiting for the new flooring so we could put the final pieces of marble on the bottom of the hearth.  Well, the new flooring is in, so there are no more excuses!  Gotta finish the job!  As with all of our tile and stone projects, Kathy is the brains, designer and the tile boss, and I man the tile saw.  So, today Kathy wore the knee pads, and I did the cutting and running!      

  

Sunday, May 18, 2025:  The trusted old Tile Cutting Machine…  I think we bought this one back in 2001 for $100 or so, and for the money, it is not that bad...  I must have cut thousands and thousands of cuts with the darn thing, and it still cuts tile.  When I got it out of the box on Sunday, the cutting wheel axle was frozen stiff in the motor, but with some lubrication and elbow grease, I got it loose, and it worked fine.  

Sunday, May 18, 2025:   “The Tile Cutting Machine” in action on my workbench / tailgate…  Cutting marble for the fireplaces.  

  

Sunday, May 18, 2025:  Dressed for action; since the $100 “Tile Cutting Machine” relies on a water bath for lubrication (rather than a more expensive tile saw with a water pump), the water sprays all over the place.  So, in order not to get soaked to the skin, I usually wear a couple of trash bags…  Yes, I’m cheap…

Sunday, May 18, 2025:   Living Room fireplace with the bottom pieces of marble and the pencil tile installed.  Just needs grout.  

 
Sunday, May 18, 2025:  Family Room fireplace with the bottom pieces and the pencil tile installed, Kathy will grout in a couple of days.  

 

  






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