converting a shed into a darkroom

[wilfbiffherb]

Hi,

For anyone interested in converting a shed into a darkroom i wrote a tutorial on how i did mine http://www.twelvesmallsquares.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/for-i-am-man.html

I have also done a tutorial on how to make some inner doors which you can find here http://www.twelvesmallsquares.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/improving-shed-darkrom.html

hopefully this will be useful to someone

 

[r-brian]

I used a 9x13 shed at my old house as my darkroom. I did install an old kitchen sink and faucet and plumbed the cold water to the outside with a hose bib on the end. Just had to connect a hose from the house to the bib and had cold water for print washing. The drain was plumbed out to the grass. Also ended up installing a small AC unit in one of the windows because the New Mexico summers get really hot. It was a pain to get up and running but when I did, it work like a charm.

 

[mweintraub]

How did you deal with warm water for warming chemicals / pre-wash / etc?

 

[MDR]

Nice, regarding the vent U shaped pipes, light can't travel around corners so use a sort of U shaped chimney made with plastic pipes or oven pipes, the pipes have to be painted dead matt on the inside. See att. for ideas. (note the pipes sizes are exagerated)

 

[grahamp]

Much the same as mine ( http://grahampatterson.home.comcast.net/~grahampatterson/grahamp/darkroom/darkroom.html ), though I had the building and just had to insulate and panel it.

I find an electric kettle is more than adequate for warming up solutions. A litre or two of near boiling water goes a long way. I have a stainless steel jug that does a good job when stood in a bath of hot water.

Having a Jobo for film work takes care of a lot the temperature issues. I also have a small space heater that can stabilize the temperature in the building in an hour or so. Not that it gets much below freezing in this part of California.

Note about electric heat sources - watch your total wattage if you are using an extension or distribution block on the end of an extension. An RCD/GFCI device in the line would be wise as well.

 

[wilfbiffherb]

All good suggestions here. no idea what an RCD/GFCI device is im afraid! For heating i use a jobo for film and a plate warmer for tray processing. its only an 8'x6' shed so it warms up pretty quickly on body heat alone.

 

[bobwysiwyg]

Basically devices that detect ground faults, that is standing water a touching and electrical device or outlet. Could save your life. In the U.S. it is a code requirement within so many feet of a water source.. six feet I think.

 

[Terry Christian]

What Bob said. GFCI = Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter.

It looks the same as a regular outlet except that it has a test button in the middle. If something goes wrong with the grounding, such as a short caused by moisture, current will immediately cease. If you don't already have them in your house, as long as you have a ground wire present you can replace your existing outlets with them -- easy to do.

 

[wilfbiffherb]

ah ive got one of those built into my extension lead so should be ok hopefully

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

It's pure genius! If you want something bad enough, once can figure out a solution. My friend is an avid outdoorsman and he has a kayaks and other items he stores in his Tough Shed. He told me it's not that expensive and it's assembled pretty quickly.

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[grahamp]

RCD = Residual Current Detector. I used to use a plugin one when I lived in the UK. For the darkroom in the US I replaced the primary socket (outlet) in the building with a GFCI one.

 

[r-brian]

How did you deal with warm water for warming chemicals / pre-wash / etc?

Actually the 'cold' water in New Mexico is right around 68-70 F most of the year. In fact, in the summer I have to add ice to get it down.

 

[Simonh82]

Thanks, these are really useful articles. I picked up your idea of using rubble sacks for black out material from your original darkroom build http://twelvesmallsquares.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/how-to-light-proof-darkroom-on-budget.html. I'm probably going to have to move my temporary bathroom darkroom to a shed soon as my parents in law are moving in and space will be tight.

How big do you print in this space? What size trays can you accommodate?

 

[wilfbiffherb]

It's pure genius! If you want something bad enough, once can figure out a solution. My friend is an avid outdoorsman and he has a kayaks and other items he stores in his Tough Shed. He told me it's not that expensive and it's assembled pretty quickly.

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Very nice! Just pick yourself up a cheap secondhand shed. i got mine for very little and it had a decent floor already put down into it. My greatest cost was insulating and paneling the walls.

 

[Black Dog]

Thanks for the rubble sack tip and well done!