I’m Thomas Rowley, and I’ve been making, fixing, modifying and generally interfering with things for most of my life.

This website is a collection of things I’ve actually tried, built, repaired or investigated — particularly the sort of jobs where the information available elsewhere either isn’t very helpful or assumes that you already own a workshop full of expensive equipment.

The emphasis here is on practical DIY.

Some projects work beautifully. Some require a bit of modification. And occasionally something doesn’t work at all. When that happens, I’ll tell you rather than quietly removing the evidence.

What you’ll find here

I’ve never been particularly good at leaving things alone. If something can be repaired, modified, built from bits lying around, or approached from a completely different direction, I’ll probably have a go at it.

The site covers a mixture of practical projects and investigations, including:

• building and workshop projects
• insulation and building materials
• Styrocrete and aircrete
• tools and equipment
• repairs and modifications
• experiments and things I’ve made myself
• solutions to ordinary problems around the home

The aim isn’t to provide an official engineering specification for every project. It’s to show what can actually be done, how I did it, and what I learned along the way.

A note about the projects

DIY always involves judgement.

Materials, tools and construction methods need to be appropriate for the job, and something that works perfectly well for one application may be completely unsuitable for another.

Where something involves structural work, electricity, machinery or other significant risks, I’ll say so.

This is a record of practical experience, not a substitute for professional advice where professional advice is required.

Have a look around. You might find something useful — or something that gives you an idea for your own project.