Darkroom and lighttight door.

Hello Everyone,

Well I am getting down to the final phases and I need to know how to make the interior door light door. THe exterior door coming in should be fine but the interior door look like it is going to leak light fom the bottom and all around the sides. What is the best way to stop light coming in?

The doors go on next week

Thanks,

Kev

I can tell you what I do on my darkroom:

To take care of the light leaks on the sides and top, I used weatherstripping(?), that fridge door seal looking stuff, in a "D" profile (you will see what I mean when you go out to buy some). I glued this on the inside of the door frame, where it seals the frame and the door tight.

I then hang black-out material from the top of the door, which blocks out any pinhole size leaks that might remain, and tuck the excess under the door after I close it.

This takes care of any significant light leaks in my darkroom. No fogging so far.

At first, the handling of the black out may seem like a nuisance (you have to tuck it every time you close the door), but I really don't mind it anymore. I did put a hook by the door, so I can drape the black out to the side when the door is open (thus avoinding tears on the black out).

This is a pretty cheap and simple solution.

Hope this helps,

André

I was admiring the effort put into our very old and unused school darkroom. To get rid of the leaks the door opens inward-push to open and the door jam has the molding extended about an inch on top and both sides with weather stripping. There are three strips of thin weather stripping. One on the door and two on the moulding. The one on the door fits betweent the two on the moulding. This stuck out because none of the rest of the building had this much thought put into it. The bottom of the door has a thick rubbery flap on the fron and back of thedoor. Because there are two doors to get into the darkroom there is zero light leaks. There is nothing special about the outer door. The distance between the outer door and the inner door is maybe three foor square and has a light in it that can be turned off and on. with the light left on there are still no leaks at all into the darkroom. This leads me to believe the long forgotten photo teacher designed the darkroom.

The first step is to get the door fitted with very little clearance at the head and jambs. Paint the door including top and bottom edges and install the hardware before nailing the stops to the jambs. The stops can be fitted tight to follow any warpage that might be in the door. There is a special darkroom door seal that is attached to the face of the door at the lower edge. The device has a pin that is depressed only when the door closes completely and the lower edge of the seal is forced down to the floor. Hardware supply houses can order one for you if they do not have one in stock. The easier solution is to buy or mill a 1/2" tall hardwood threshold that has a flat vertical surface that you can fit to be very tight against the door. Also you can purchase black felt that has an adhesive backing on one side. If space allows you can have a shower curtain rod above the door and slide a blackout curtain across the door and jamb. Weatherstripping is available with rubber or felt that can seal tight at the head and jamb.

Ace Hardware sells a self-adhesive polypropylene weatherstrip which has a V-shaped cross section. Out of the box it's actually flat, but is scored down the middle so you can bend it. With the vertex of the V mounted in the direction the door opens (of course), the closing door compresses the V and forms a weather-tight seal. It's also pretty darn light-tight. I have this stuff on my darkroom door (which is one door only and not an exterior/interior arrangement). It's been there for four years or so and has worked very well. The Ace number is 5026836.

One of the reasons it's nice for my installation is that I could use the existing door unmodified; important when you don't want to have to replace a door and match paint so you can sell the house. And if you've ever changed the light trap in a Hasselblad back, you'll notice that the light trap closely resembles this weatherstrip, albeit in a much lighter gauge.

For the bottom of the door you'll probably need some sort of a threshold; either one which fits snugly underneath or one which the door closes flush against. For my door I installed an adjustable threshold with the rubber strip. Between it and the V weatherstrip, the door is light-tight enough for film, which is to say, no leaks.

-Will