A cure for back pain?

[Flivoless]

I've had lower back pain, almost my tail, for a few weeks with some days better than others. I hate toilets but couldn't delay the repair to one mounted on a low plinth. So, armed with gloves, mask, newspaper and various rags I set to. So far so good, toilet came off easily, it almost fell off really, great, I though, this shouldn't take long, but then. of course, the problems started. The plinth was made from a piece of marine ply which had delaminated and, again of course, the bottom layer had welded itself to a perfectly good tile underneath. Luckily I'm blessed with brute strength and ignorance so it was no match for me and a mixture of scary implements, despite the confined. I decided to use a tile rather than another piece of ply, so off I go to the tile shop. Of course they didn't have a tile in the size I wanted, no problem I thought, I have a tile cutter somewhere, so chose a bigger tile in the right colour. Returned home and dug out my, now very old, tile cutter. Unfortunately, it took one look at the tile and fell in a heap laughing. So, off to the tool shop I go to by a new one, ruing my decision not to use a bit of ply. Home again and opened the box only to find that the manufacturer had decided not to actually build the machine but merely a bunch of bits for me to assemble. 1 hour later and I was ready to attack the blessed tile which, in fairness, went without a hitch and it was installed relatively easily. But, now came re-installing the, back-to-wall, toilet and I swear that even if I had four arms I would struggle getting the waste pipe and flushing pipe back on and even when you think you've done it, you can never be sure until the first flush, done with great trepidation for fear of being left with a room full of nasty water. All okay so, patting myself on the back. I proceeded to do the silicone applications which I accomplished with only ruining my jeans, t-shirt, gloves and getting the damned stuff just about everywhere. Job done I spent an unhappy couple of hours cleaning up.

Now, given the confined space I'd been working in, I fully expected to wake up this morning with pain just about everywhere but, no, even my lower back pain had gone. So the moral of the story is if you have lower back pain, go and attack a toilet. 🤢

[123-go]

Firstly, I admire your determination, expertise and resourcefulness 👏👏👏.

Now, without wanting to burst your bubble I advise taking it easy today: if anything you deserve it and you don’t want any unwanted effects to come back and bite you.

PS. Are you for hire 😉?

[Flivoless in reply to 123-go]

Err, let think about that for a nanosecond, nope

[123-go in reply to Flivoless]

Drat!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

So the moral of the story is if you have lower back pain, go and attack a toilet. 

Sounds a bit drastic to me!😳…. think I’ll stick to more gentle exercise, but each to their own 😂🤣

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Hmmm - think I'll put up with the backpain! Not least because my toilets are the sort that are suspended on the wall which brings in a different range of skills ...

[Exflex in reply to PMRpro]

Although I’m an engineer (retired) it never ceases to amaze me how cantilevered toilets stay on the wall. The answer of course is that it’s the tension in the screws / bolts that ‘see’ the load, ie the tensile extension in the elastic range.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Exflex]

They are bog standard here, love them, nice smooth tiled floor to clean underneath instead of the crevices of a UK pedestal and cistern hidden behind the wall! Helps having solid concrete walls though ...

[Flivoless in reply to PMRpro]

Bog standard - very good 👋

[Exflex in reply to PMRpro]

It does, solid walls and good long high quality bolts.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Exflex]

Never ceases to amaze me how things LAST here (doesn't really, no rush for the cheapest ...). The extractor fans in the bathrooms are the originals - about 18 years old - and have never wobbled so far. My daughter has had 3 or 4 in her bathroom in the 12 years she's lived there. As for washing machines - all my continental ones have lasted well over 10 years, hers don't usually make the end of the warranty! We are upset when things don't get to 20 here!

[Poshdog]

I tried Bhangra dancing (for 10 mins) and was freed from shoulder and neck stiffness for several days! 😅

[tempusfugi]

Blow me, Flivoless, I had to lie down after I read your post🤣 Such energy you must have! I am a wimp, I've decided.

As for the discussion on cantilevered toilets above, I must say I do rather like them but have a feeling the walls of my house might fall down, if I had one installed!

[Flivoless in reply to tempusfugi]

No need to worry. The wall-hung toilets are actually on a sturdy metal frame behind a wall. The weight is actually going through the floor not the wall, so it could be just a a basic stud wall.