Basement darkroom?

mehguy · Aug 21, 2016

hi,

I've been thinking of moving my darkroom to my basement. But there are some windows down there. Since I usually do my darkroom work at night, if I closed the blinds and waited until it was dark outside, will I be safe? The enlarger and wet station will be around 30 feet away from the windows.

frank · Aug 21, 2016

Very likely safe, but you can test by leaving a piece of photo paper out for a few minutes in the "dark", then process it to see if has been affected by any light. (Leave the safelight off too. Test it later.) An object like a coin can be placed on this paper during exposure to the dark, to make it easier to see if the paper received any exposure. (Or place a book over half of the test paper.) If there is a discernible difference between the covered up part and the exposed to dark part, fit better blinds on the windows.

Then you should do this test a with your safelight, to test its safety.

Colin Corneau · Aug 21, 2016

It's easy enough to block out a window. Don't take chances with your work and materials.

MattKing · Aug 21, 2016

Colin Corneau said:
It's easy enough to block out a window. Don't take chances with your work and materials.

Lots of people on APUG have developed ways to temporarily block out windows or isolate your working area from stray light. They do their printing, then restore their working area to normal.

Blackout curtain material is your friend.

My original darkroom area was about 4 feet by 6 feet, without running water but just around the corner from a laundry washtub. Can you set aside an area like that in your basement?

mehguy · Aug 21, 2016

MattKing said:
My original darkroom area was about 4 feet by 6 feet, without running water but just around the corner from a laundry washtub. Can you set aside an area like that in your basement?

My basement is very wide spread and is one large room, basically. I could try shuffling around a storage room to make them accessible for darkroom use.

silveror0 · Aug 22, 2016

Also think about chemical fumes and adequate ventilation. Some family members may find the fumes objectionable. If you're the only one around, no kids/pets who can get into chems or create dust/hair etc, you're fortunate. I had to ban my wife and step-daughter from my darkroom after they tried to use it for storage of dusty boxes to get them out of sight during extended holiday periods (without even asking my permission). A mild explosion could be heard by neighbors when I found that stuff in my man-cave. The door is now locked with a "dust free zone" sign on it. End of gripe.

Andrew O'Neill · Aug 22, 2016

Cover up the window with blackout curtain. For my darkroom in Japan, I used velcro to attach it around the window. Even black construction paper will work. I got really tired of waiting around until it got dark... and in Japan there is a lot of light pollution!

Neal · Aug 22, 2016

Dear mehguy,

Dead Link Removed. My darkroom is in my garage and I cover two different windows with it. Never a problem.

Good luck,

Neal Wydra

AgX · Aug 22, 2016

Colin Corneau said:
It's easy enough to block out a window. Don't take chances with your work and materials.

And seen the overall effort and costs of preparing a room for darkroom work, even with all equipment already in house, I assume the effort and cost for making and installing blinds of lesser importance.

Otherwise check under brightest night condition and take into account chances of accidential lighting as from car headlights etc.

Jim Jones · Aug 22, 2016

A roll of black vinyl film from a farm & garden store costs less than just one sheet of blackout curtain, and is useful many other things. More than one layer may be necessary to completely block daylight. It may not block IR. Sometimes a sheet of foamcore can be cut to fit into the window frame and covered with the vinyl for an easily removable light trap.

Jesper · Aug 22, 2016

I use aluminium foil between the panes of glass. It takes about two minutes to install and can be removed even quicker without a trace.

Luckless · Aug 22, 2016

There is a lot to be said about the utility of blackout frames that fit snuggly into the window frames. Little to no visible hardware on the windows themselves, and easy to make latches on them that don't look nearly as out of place as pieces of velcro.

Taking the minute or two to wander around and securely black out the windows each time is worth it to avoid the risk of an unexpected car with high beams wandering by while you're in the middle of something.

Also remember to look around the room for odd ball light sources. Lots of things have LEDs and such these days. A member of another forum I read awhile back had solved a mystery of random muddy to completely exposed prints when most were fine: His smoke detector on the other end of the room. It was more than enough to slowly ruin anything he set out on the table, and his inconsistency was due to whether or not he got distracted by working on something under the safelight.

wombat2go · Aug 22, 2016

On issue , if there are gas fired water heaters and furnace down there , is the unexpected blue flame coming on right at the crtitical time before the film is in the tank.
(from bitter experience)
So I turn the controls to "off", and usually forget to turn them back on, so get some hot tongue when somebody has a cold shower next morning.

Ronald Moravec · Aug 22, 2016

block out the windows. I used to use black cardboard set against the glass and a secondary frame over the total window and extending beyond. Perfect even for daylight.

One key point is light does not go around corners. Put a large wall block across the furnace and water heater. Take care not to get it too close and cause a fire. That is why large and further away is better.

MartinP · Aug 22, 2016

silveror0 said:
Also think about chemical fumes and adequate ventilation. Some family members may find the fumes objectionable.

Definition of 'fumes' is '...A fume or fumes refers to vapors (gases), dusts and/or smoke given off by a substance as a result of a chemical transformation such as reaction, heating, explosion or detonation...'

This is probably not the case with normal black-and-white processing. I think the word you are looking for is 'smell'. Reasonable ventilation is very wise however!

silveror0 · Aug 22, 2016

I

MartinP said:
Definition of 'fumes' is '...A fume or fumes refers to vapors (gases), dusts and/or smoke given off by a substance as a result of a chemical transformation such as reaction, heating, explosion or detonation...'

This is probably not the case with normal black-and-white processing. I think the word you are looking for is 'smell'. Reasonable ventilation is very wise however!

Sorry, I stand corrected. Thanks. Next time I'll use odor.

Luckless · Aug 22, 2016

Oxford would disagree with such a narrow definition of 'fumes'. Personally I find the fumes from the Ilford fixer I'm currently using to not sit well with me, but ironically it doesn't remotely bother anyone else in the house.

Ko.Fe. · Aug 22, 2016

Neal said:
Dear mehguy,

Dead Link Removed. My darkroom is in my garage and I cover two different windows with it. Never a problem.

Good luck,

Neal Wydra

Thank you for this!

My wife likes small pillows and usually they are somewhere around in the basement, four of them is enough to block light from basement window, but this solution is much more elegant, doesn't cost much and not conflicting

MartinP · Aug 22, 2016

Stick the smelly tray near the extraction vent then. Oddly, much of the smell is probably acetic-acid rather than ammonia, despite the fixing agent being ammonium thiosulphate. 'Odourless' fixers do exist, though I'm not sure what they use to lower the pH in place of acetic-acid.

RalphLambrecht · Aug 23, 2016

mehguy said:
hi,

I've been thinking of moving my darkroom to my basement. But there are some windows down there. Since I usually do my darkroom work at night, if I closed the blinds and waited until it was dark outside, will I be safe? The enlarger and wet station will be around 30 feet away from the windows.

most likely you will be fine but only a safelight test will tell.

John51 · Aug 23, 2016

My daughter used the 'adheres to glass' blackout material for the nursery. During the 2nd summer, the double glazed window cracked. Seems the heat builds up and has nowhere to go.

No idea if single glazed windows are ok with having that stuff left on permanently though.

M Carter · Aug 23, 2016

I used what was on-hand - black seamless paper and black gaffer's tape. 3 years and still holding. (The room will be gutted someday so I'm not worried about any mess from old tape.

I bought some dark blue blackout curtains on ebay for the doorway and I have no light issues. Plenty of ways to skin this cat.

mehguy · Aug 25, 2016

Could a garage be used perhaps?

MattKing · Aug 25, 2016

mehguy said:
Could a garage be used perhaps?

Yes. As long as you can make it dark, control temperatures, have access to water and have electrical power.

I wouldn't use an unheated/un-air conditioned garage in Southern Ontario.

AgX · Aug 25, 2016

At the typical garage doors over here the wind is blowing so to say.

Basement darkroom?

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