Building a darkroom

fiddle · Oct 3, 2016

Just bought a house, the darkroom was not a factor in the purchase of the house, so I have a question for you all.
A sitting darkroom, or waterless darkroom..?

Basement is low, old house, maybe 6' from floor to joists. Can't get much height on the enlarger, not printing big, but still. Can always build low furniture and print sitting down........ has water and drain tho!!
Option 2, garage. All the height in the world, no water/drain. Keep a holding bath and go into house to wash every few prints.

What do you guys think.?
Thanks

cliveh · Oct 3, 2016

Why not stick with the basement, but mount your enlarger in a horizontal plane?

Leigh B · Oct 3, 2016

Mount the enlarger with a drop table like I did.

Its visible halfway down the left side, at the gap between the cabinets.

- Leigh

fiddle · Oct 3, 2016

Interesting Leigh, adjust when needed....
how was this drop table made/found.?
Thanks, I knew I could count on you all..

Leigh B · Oct 3, 2016

Hi fiddle,

The drop table is just a rectangular piece of heavy particle board shelving, cut to size (about 30" square).
It has aluminum right-angles on each side, running front to back on the side and under the shelf for support.

The verticals are metal shelf rails bolted to the cabinet walls, two on one side and one on the other.
These are the kind with insertable shelf supports every half inch or one inch.

If reasonable care is taken during construction, the resulting table can be quite accurately level.
By using only three support points rather than four, the table is unconditionally stable.

If you feel more "secure" using four support points, measure the rail locations accurately.
Alternatively you can install "risers" on the bottom between the rails and the floor to level the table.

- Leigh

jeffreyg · Oct 3, 2016

How tall are you? Six feet seems cramped. My first darkroom was in a converted garage with no water or drain so I used a holding tray and washed film and prints in the adjacent kitchen. That worked fine. When we built our current house forty years ago I got my dedicated darkroom as part of the house. If you have an outside garden hose connection you might be able to rig some plumbing from that. Also consider proper ventilation with an exhaust fan ... that's important.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

fiddle · Oct 3, 2016

Leigh, im thinking scissor lift here.. Dammit, Im creating more projects for myself...... .

Jaffrey, 6' was a rough number, Im 5'10, Im sure once i sheetrock the ceiling, it will be 6'.
It might be cramped, need to look more into this idea. Still havent given much thought, my initial reaction was to post here.
Id love it to be in the garage, but not having sewer, water. Its a detached garage, so leaving, going into the house, back and forth could get old quick.
I guess a hose for the water can be good enough for washing after the dev.
Like I said, initial ideas, trying to wrap my head around solutions without having to dig a trench into my garage...
Thanks all for the ideas....
Fidel

Leigh B · Oct 3, 2016

Hi Fidel,

While a garage sounds inviting at first pass, the devil is in the details.

It must be heated during low temps. The chemistry will not be happy in low temps.
That means it needs to be insulated ($$$). And of course there's air conditioning, more than in the basement.

It's not difficuult to install AC power underground. A cold water line with a local water heater might be possible.
Drainage can be an issue, although you can probably tap into the house drain in the basement.

All in all, the garage would need a lot of work to make it usable.

- Leigh

mehguy · Oct 3, 2016

I don't have running water in my darkroom. While it is very helpful, I can just climb upstairs to wash a print. Also, my darkroom is literally I stand in place and pivot myself from the dry and wet stations.

Old-N-Feeble · Oct 3, 2016

Wow... I complain (to myself) about my finances but could build a fully functional darkroom with running water, drain and electricity. Unfortunately, those are expenses I can't justify at this time but I could do it. I don't know whether to feel proud of myself... or ashamed.

Saganich · Oct 3, 2016

I once had a darkroom in an inhospitable location without water or climate control. Printing was usually only possible in the moderate months and I stored chemicals elsewhere. I had another darkroom in a spare bedroom (to the dismay of my landlord); no water but room temperature...much better. My last darkroom was climate controlled with a slop sink similar to a janitors room, wasn't a proper darkroom sink but having any sink was better than no sink. I say dig that basement floor down another foot!

Terry Breedlove · Oct 3, 2016

Well at 6'1" it is to short for me but if you can I think having the water right there would be to handy to pass up.

grahamp · Oct 3, 2016

You don't need a lot of water for processing film, and for printing only for actual washing. I ran a hose to an inside tap in my 'outside' darkroom so I can run the print washer there. That drains to the garden. For processing I have a large bucket under the sink. Plenty of capacity for my style, and there is always the sump pump option.

I insulated my shed when I converted it, plus I am in coastal California - low is a few degrees below freezing - and a small electric heater is fine for what passes for the dead of winter locally.

sepiareverb · Oct 3, 2016

I, by sheer luck, put my basement darkroom underneath the front stairs, and could cut through the ceiling to gain height enough for an 810 enlarger. Thankfully I realized this before I sold the enlarger.

I had a root cellar in my last house that had a trough cut into the floor so that we could stand up. No low storage, but worked well.

Jim Jones · Oct 3, 2016

I've set up seven darkrooms. Only three had running water, although water wasn't far away in three others. The last was built in a former chicken house. It had walking water: I walked in with jugs or buckets of water, and walked out with waste. The ceiling was maybe 7 feet, barely enough for a 5x7 Elwood enlarger setting on the floor. The last darkroom also had about a 7 foot ceiling, so I sat at a 4x5 enlarger and stood to use the trays. Temperature control may be more valuable than running water. If the darkroom temperature can be maintained at about the right temperature for the chemicals, everything else will be at the right temperature for processing. Do plan for plenty of electrical outlets. I have maybe 20 in the present darkroom. Most are in use.

Halford · Oct 4, 2016

Jim Jones said:
barely enough for a 5x7 Elwood enlarger setting on the floor.

That's encouraging! I'm currently trying to print from a Durst L1200 that is sitting barely-raised from the floor. Which is a pain, to be honest. Just need to find a suitable table that is no bigger than the very limited space I have under the stairs (This is a solvable problem, but the Laborator is heavy so I want something sturdy -- meanwhile I've just moved to a small town in a new country and don't have a car, so it might take a while to figure out where to get all I need!)

tedr1 · Oct 4, 2016

I think the point about temperature control has more weight than the water issue. Both you and the processing trays need to be at the right temperature to work well and a garage is a nightmare from the thermal stability standpoint. The basement probably has a near constant temperature and the temperature can probably be controlled more easily. So long as your head clears the ceiling I would go with the basement solely from the temperature standpoint.

M Carter · Oct 4, 2016

Good advice here (I vote basement myself) - the only thing I'd add is that (beyond the death of so many papers and films), the biggest change for darkrooms over the last few years has been safe light quality. Grab a couple or three of these $3 LED bulbs (choose "red"), get cheap clamp lights for them (they're standard edison screw-in sockets) and you'll be set. These days, you can see so much better in a darkroom.

fiddle · Oct 4, 2016

Basement it is!!!
Thank you all for the suggestions, all makes sense.
M Carter, I have a bunch of the red LED's that ive used and tested, so Im good on that front. Had a makeshift darkroom in a spare bedroom in my apartment before the move.
So this means Im building myself a scissor lift desktop for the enlarger.. New project!!!
Thanks again for all the input..
Fidel

plummerl · Oct 4, 2016

Also, if you can position the enlarger so it's between the joists, when you sheetrock, just leave a framed opening in the joists.

Jim Jones · Oct 4, 2016

Only one of my darkrooms had a drop table. The enlarger was wall-mounted. Beneath it were two parallel vertical sheets of plywood with horizontal cleats attached every foot or so. The cleats were carefully leveled, and provided stable support for the sheet of plywood that formed the table top. The grain of the outer plies of the table top should run from cleat to cleat for maximum strength. The plies of the sides with cleats should run vertically. Particle board might work for the sides if the cleats are securely attached. 1x2 inch furring strips are convenient for cleats. When the enlarger is used for small prints, an extra table top can provide a storage shelf.

Ronald Moravec · Oct 4, 2016

Leigh B said:
Mount the enlarger with a drop table like I did.

Its visible halfway down the left side, at the gap between the cabinets.

- Leigh

Similar to mine. I lowered a portion of the bench around 12" for a D2 and D6 Omegas. A 12" easel stand goes back in for print to 11x14, removed for larger and I sit down. Water & drain and air temp control not to be under estimated. You will need to cover the ceiling to keep dust down.

jgoody · Oct 5, 2016

I had a basement darkroom and as the house drain line was above the sink the plumber put a pump under the sink which raised the water so it could exit via a trap to the drain line. You flipped a switch to activate the pump -- a foot switch would have been better. Worked OK.
In terms of the shelf I would use plywood rather than particle board - basements can be damp and moisture and particle board aren't happy together - the stuff swells and bows. A dehumidifier might be your friend too. And hopefully there is some ventilation.

Leigh B · Oct 5, 2016

jgoody said:
In terms of the shelf I would use plywood rather than particle board - basements can be damp and moisture and particle board aren't happy together - the stuff swells and bows. A dehumidifier might be your friend too. And hopefully there is some ventilation.

All of the available build-it-yourself cabinets are particle board.

I built my darkroom in the basement 30 years ago using those, and there are no issues today.
It is unfortunately a relatively wet basement, with standing water on occasion (though not deep).

- Leigh

Jim Jones · Oct 5, 2016

The best of particle board is good; the worst is terrible. One should research this before extensive use of it.

Building a darkroom

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