On 1/9/2024 2:41 PM, -hh wrote:
On Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at 10:32:46 AM UTC-5, DFS wrote:
Repairing subflooring and joists that are 4' above the ground.
Stepped onto an unsecured board and fell onto one exposed 2x10 floor
joist, landing on my back with full force of 215lbs bodyweight. Lucky I
didn't fall straight down and smash the boys. But it knocked the breath
out of me, room was spinning for a little while, and then the pain hit.
A "bang up job". Sounds fortunate that you didn't go through and then
have a 4ft fall with potential head injury / etc.
As usual, "it happened so fast..." I did fall all the way through, but
hit the joist first, then eventually landed on my feet and standing up.
The real problem is all my weight landed on a single joist, so the force
was concentrated on a 2" strip on my back, from lower to base of neck.
I had a semi-similar slip-up
years ago while repeating crossing across some joists in an attic .. and missed.
Ended up with the joist slammed into the hip & leg dangling into the room below.
ouch. Did you walk away?
Excruciating and ongoing. You've heard about pain that "takes your
breath away"? That's what I have. Move a fraction of an inch in the
wrong direction and it literally makes me shout and gasp. Absolute
agony. Breathing deep or coughing is very painful, too, so I figure
it's cracked ribs (didn't hear a snapping sound though).
Normally, I'd suggest the ER for some X-Rays to confirm, but they're getting utterly slammed .. a lot of CoVid19 & RSV respiratory distress cases. I personally
know three people that got stuck in the ER within the past ~month for 24+ hours
because of overcrowding and no hospital beds to move them to.
Thank <deity> I haven't required an ER visit so far. Way too expensive
and time-consuming.
I fell about 50% directly on the spinal erector muscles (which are
fairly thick via weightlifting) or it could've been devastating.
FYI, be careful, as it still might be: an injury in that muscle group can be prone to
a condition of chronic inflammation if they don't really-no-kidding fully heal up after
such a trauma.
One exercise I recommend for the back and spine are hyperextensions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmhFxZzlrbI
Work your way up to sets of 15 reps with a 25lb plate clutched to your
chest. It'll burn, but I always felt muscles surrounding your spine is
a great way to protect it.
This is going to sound ridiculously conservative, but strongly suggest
taking anti-inflammatories 2x/day for the next 2-3 months as well as avoiding any lifting
or work that's "not very light" for 3-6 months to reduce the odds of repeated re-injury.
I know that messes with your plans, but the alternative is a ~decade of problems.
No heavy lifting for 3-6 months and years of problems? You're scaring
me. I expect no long-term consequences whatsoever. If there's even a
hint of pain in 2 weeks I'll be concerned.
I'm trying to meet a closing date in mid Feb. My punch list includes
removing a lot of carpet, removing a bunch of semi-heavy boxes, and
repairing a section of droopy ceiling. So I'll need most of my strength.
I normally do everything myself, but may have to hire help for this one.
But no wrists or neck breaks, and no skin punctured (I flattened or cut
off all exposed nails).
Probably not a bad idea the next time you're at the Doc to get a tetanus shot anyway,
as they need to be renewed every 10 years. Current practices are to not push them,
under the rationale that if you do have a 'rusty nail' injury, getting the shot within 48hrs
is adequate ... but thais assumes that First World medical care is available and that one
notices a puncture would *and* can get an appointment promptly. Given how messed up
everything's been lately, not a particularly wise bet to make.
Pure stupidity. When I went to Home Depot I always said "I need to buy
some OSB and lay it down across the joists to walk on" but my SUV was
always crammed with stuff so I put it off, and just laid down some
2x10s. One was a couple inches out of place, and tilted up when I
stepped near the end. And down I went.
Yeah, there's always "one more thing" that's needed, and something that's more
for reducing risks on a job site is an easy thing to de-prioritize. It reminds
us of why OSHA regulations are regulations and not merely suggestions:
they'd otherwise get skipped. But I do have some plywood across those joists now ...
That's the very first thing I'll do when I go back. The whole job is to
fix water-damaged wood. Property was built in the 60s or 70s I think,
and wasn't maintained. Water got in under a sliding door and ruined the subflooring and several joists (plus minor damage to 10 others). So I'm "sistering" them with new wood bolted onto the original, adding caulking
and wood sealer and paint, new subflooring, etc. Should last a long time.
and the original drywall patch has been superseded by redoing
the entire ceiling, so the point where the 3x3 hole was is now undetectable. But I still know where it was :-)
Yeah, I have a small section (1'x1') of drywall to repair. Undetectable
is the goal.
-hh
Thanks for your thoughts, -hh!
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