Inaccessible toilet cistern

[ManicTeaDrinker]

Hi all, having a bit of an issue I'd appreciate some advice on.

The toilet in our bathroom is running constantly, so I wanted to check out the cistern and see if it's an easy fix. It's a concealed cistern which you should be able to access through the flush plate, however whoever installed it managed to do it in such a way that the cistern is too high and it's impossible to even get your hand in between the top of the cistern and the underside of the worktop above, let alone look into it (see images).

Bathroom_1

• ManicTeaDrinker
• 10 Jan 2020

Cistern_1

• ManicTeaDrinker
• 10 Jan 2020

Fine, I guess I need to take off the worktop in order to get inside. So I've stripped off the sealant that was all around the worktop, but the worktop won't budge. It seems like it's been stuck down with something, and no amount of brute force I try to apply will get it off.

Any suggestions on how to proceed without totally destroying the bathroom?

Thanks!

 

[terryplumb]

Have you split the silicone seal at the front edge ,between the underside of the worktop and the top surface of whatever it sits on ?

 

[ManicTeaDrinker]

Have you split the silicone seal at the front edge ,between the underside of the worktop and the top surface of whatever it sits on ?

Yeah - split the seal at the underside too.

 

[terryplumb]

Yeah - split the seal at the underside too.

Can you push something like a wall paper stripper through ,at the front ,under worktop , fully in a few inches ? And the full length ,left to right ?

 

[ManicTeaDrinker]

Can you push something like a wall paper stripper through ,at the front ,under worktop , fully in a few inches ? And the full length ,left to right ?

Mostly, but there are some places where I can only go in a couple of centimeters before I hit something solid feeling.

 

[foxhole]

Can you see how its held inplace looking up thru flush plate? Worse case cut thru top 400mm from right edge and remove small section to access .The rear edge may be tiled in. You could cut large diameter hole in top directly above flush unit and use a flooring grommet to make good.

 

[Alec_t]

there are some places where I can only go in a couple of centimeters before I hit something solid feeling.

Could they be fixing screws? Are there any blanking dowels visible in the top surface of the worktop?

 

[leegsi]

Silicon is quite strong.

If it was me I would put a block of wood under the front edge and hit that with a lump hammer to to to release it without damaging the worktop