Darkroom and real estate

[Pieter12]

I noticed that the pieces of hardwood were shorter than in my place, ranging from 12-24”.

In some houses built in the 20's. short pieces of hardwood flooring were used in the middle of the rooms. The idea was that most people would have some sort of rug or bed there, so it would not show.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I have a friend that specializes in refinishing old hardwood floor. Yeah, there are lots of companies that do that. But he actually removes and flips over each individual strip to obtain a virgin surface. There are lot of classic home in this area from the 1900-1920's which used white oak strip and parquet, along with purpleheart filagree and trim design. Some of these houses were designed by famous architects like Julia Morgan and Bernard Maybeck. For several decades I was involved in restoration consultation, supplies, and equipment.

Every so often there would be an old widow worrying about the salability of her house, who would spend a lot of money getting it modernized : drywall and off-white paint covering up old-growth redwood walls, and padding and new carpet over the old hardwood floors, maybe ply subflooring too. Then some young techie couple would buy it, and later accidentally discover the original woodwork, and themselves spend a ton of extra money tearing out all the drywall, carpeting, etc, trying to restore the original look.

 

[gone]

Condos are odd ducks in the US. If you own one, you really only own the inside. Everything outside is co-owned. And while zoning is usually local, a condo association has it's own rules that are spelled out to every prospective buyer.

If you happen to own an apt or home in New Orleans's French Quarter, or any historic area near it, their Vieux Carre Commission will go into your home and tell you what color you can paint your INSIDE walls. Ditto on floors, lighting, etc. Which is why things still look authentic there.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Condos are odd ducks in the US. If you own one, you really only own the inside. Everything outside is co-owned. And while zoning is usually local, a condo association has it's own rules that are spelled out to every prospective buyer.

If you happen to own an apt or home in New Orleans's French Quarter, or any historic area near it, their Vieux Carre Commission will go into your home and tell you what color you can paint your INSIDE walls. Ditto on floors, lighting, etc. Which is why things still look authentic there.

I can already hear the shrieks from the people in Montana about the personal right to choose wall colors in the Constitution based on the color decoration section of the Articles of Confederation which is based on the Plymouth Rock memo that was engraved on the rock along with the date 1620 prior to the Pilgrims landing.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I did an awful lot of architectural color consultation over the years, along with technical restoration stuff. Victorians were a lot of fun. A number of the leading paint companies came out with drab"Historical" color cards and matching formulas, and a lot of that found its way into historical site "authentic" formal requirements. The whole fluke, however, was that all of it was based on faded-out remnants of what was originally something very different indeed. For instance, upon chemical analysis, much of Jefferson's wall color in Monticello assumed to be a drab greige was originally almost psychedelic vivid green true verdis gris. Once that was discovered, those wall were "unrestored" back to their original metallic loudness. Verdis gris is copper-based, somewhat toxic, and tarnishes quickly, so has to be re-applied every few years. There are many analogous cases.

 

[PrairiePhotographer]

My darkroom is a mostly repurposed basement storage closet measuring about 6 x 10 feet. I’ve needed to shield small LED Lights that prove that the sump pump is ready for action! A nearby laundry room (about 20 feet away) serves as my source of water and drainage. Works well enough.

 

[Sirius Glass]

My darkroom is a mostly repurposed basement storage closet measuring about 6 x 10 feet. I’ve needed to shield small LED Lights that prove that the sump pump is ready for action! A nearby laundry room (about 20 feet away) serves as my source of water and drainage. Works well enough.

I needed to put black electrician's tape over the smoke detector's green LED lights so that it would not fog the paper.

 

[faberryman]

I needed to put black electrician's tape over the smoke detector's green LED lights so that it would not fog the paper.

Do you really think that would fog your paper? Did you do the coin test before and after? I'm pretty skeptical that the LED lights on Howard Hayes' sump pump would be a problem.

 

[Pieter12]

Do you really think that would fog your paper? Did you do the coin test before and after? I'm pretty skeptical that the LED lights on Howard Hayes' sump pump would be a problem.

Why risk it? A piece of tape over an LED is no big deal. It's more trouble to do a test. All the LEDs in my darkroom (except the timer) have been taped over--surge strips, stereo, GFCs. And you wouldn't want some stray LED light to fog your film, even though it might be safe for paper.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Do you really think that would fog your paper? Did you do the coin test before and after? I'm pretty skeptical that the LED lights on Howard Hayes' sump pump would be a problem.

Duh ... I would not have done that if it was not a problem. You need to give people other than you some credit.

 

[Sirius Glass]

My laundry room has turned out to be my darkroom for loading and unloading film. It has no windows, is next to the kitchen where I develop my film, and easily becomes totally dark after the sun goes down and the kitchen lights are off. If I need to load film during the day, I either toss a towel over the crack between the door hinges and frame, or place my changing bag on top the washer. Since I digitize my film and no longer use a wet printing method, my copy-stands are setup on a desk area in the studio and ready to go whether it will be with my medium format digital setup or my APS-C setup. Life is simpler this way for me.

Often people go the digital route after developing because to the space, cost and logistical problems of setting up a darkroom with an enlarger, I almost when that way when I blew through a new set of inkjet cartridges, started looking into Craig's list in disgust and found the same type enlarger and drum print dryer that Kodak allowed employees to use off hours.

 

[faberryman]

Duh ... I would not have done that if it was not a problem. You need to give people other than you some credit.

Some people do things blindly because they read about it on internet forums. Sounds like you tested it and determined that the green light on your smoke detector fogged your paper, so that answers my question. I am a little surprised though. I have three GFCI outlets with little green lights in my darkroom, and when I ran the coin test they didn't fog my paper. The luminescence from my Graylab timer which was pretty close to the easel, also wasn't a problem. I guess every darkroom is different.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Tiny light sources might not fog paper, but could, for example, spoil sheet film development in a tray. Even the luminous dial hands to an old school darkroom timer would ruin many things I do. Such devices belong on a shelf below the sink, where the film itself can't see it. As per GFCI's, they're easy enough to buy without those lights. And I always find it interesting how, whenever the term "darkroom" comes up, some lawyer mentality will ask, "define dark". Dark means dark; it's that simple. Even my black and white printing safelight is on a momentary contact footswitch, and plugged in only for appropriate sessions.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I guess it depends on your view of the "art world." For some, it encompasses all forms of art and all who make it, sell it and display it. For others, its is the influential critics, collectors, galleries and museum curators (and trustees who approve the purchases) who determine the validity of what may be considered "art."

Often people go the digital route after developing because to the space, cost and logistical problems of setting up a darkroom with an enlarger, I almost when that way when I blew through a new set of inkjet cartridges, started looking into Craig's list in disgust and found the same type enlarger and drum print dryer that Kodak allowed employees to use off hours.

I have an Epson 3880 that I am retiring. I am now sending my image files out for printing.
The cost of inkjet cartridges ($686.95 for 9 color set @ B&H) is nuts if you are not making money printing on a regular basis.
Happy for those that can still stay at it. I am thinking about getting into collodion in the future and that might change things a little.

Tiny light sources might not fog paper, but could, for example, spoil sheet film development in a tray. Even the luminous dial hands to an old school darkroom timer would ruin many things I do. Such devices belong on a shelf below the sink, where the film itself can't see it. As per GFCI's, they're easy enough to buy without those lights. And I always find it interesting how, whenever the term "darkroom" comes up, some lawyer mentality will ask, "define dark". Dark means dark; it's that simple. Even my black and white printing safelight is on a momentary contact footswitch, and plugged in only for appropriate sessions.

The light is next to the enlarger and casts visible green light down on the table surface and yes it fogged paper.

 

[Don_ih]

Any uncovered light within 4 feet will probably fog paper.
It will definitely fog film.

 

[mshchem]

I was amazed by all the darn leds I found in my darkroom. Outlets, water softener,....... I have a smoke alarm near where I load film and not far from one of my enlargers, has a green constant led and a darn blinking red led. I have gone around with 3M electrical tape, I covered every one of the 500+ leds with a flap of tape. Doesn't interfere with the smoke alarm, water softener, outlet, TV amplifier......
I haven’t done a lot of testing, but having these covered eliminates the issue.

 

[albada]

I added a low-power green and blue LED to my enlarger (by the lens) for flashing. Even after dimming them way down to 1/27th of rated current, they still lit-up the area, and had to be dimmed by PWM quite a lot for flashing. So if you have nuisance LEDs in your darkroom, cover them! They are likely to fog paper, and will surely fog film.

 

[koraks]

I was amazed by all the darn leds I found in my darkroom.

For sure.
My darkroom is in fact a multi-purpose room that is my home office, my electronics lab (other hobby), music room (yet another..), darkroom (with a sink!), etc...essentially my man-cave, excepts it's at the top floor of our house. Due to its multi-purpose nature, it's positively teeming with leds and little status indicators. I even went so far as to replace several particularly nasty blue and green leds on computer equipment (especially USB hubs) with much dimmer amber ones. Others I taped over. Hadn't I done all this, it would have been impossible to darken this room for RA4 printing, let alone film processing.

Back to the original topic: I would add my 2 cts. to the notion that an existing bedroom (or in my case, generic room) can be repurposed as a darkroom. In our previous house I had a dedicated darkroom, but in the present home I have made plywood panels that I can insert into the windows so I can darken this room only as needed, I installed a little Ikea kitchen sink & worktop and extended the plumbing from the adjacent space where there were provisions for a washing machine. Flooring is PVC. I'm quite happy with the arrangement because it's so multifunctional. I can do my regular office work here during the day and then after dinner pop in the panels and turn on the enlarger. It takes just a few minutes to 'convert' the room into a functional darkroom. Since we renovated the entire house anyway, the additional cost of adding darkroom functionality to this room was quite marginal. The Ikea kitchen block cost maybe a couple hundred € in total; the rest was basically scraps.

 

[mshchem]

For sure.
My darkroom is in fact a multi-purpose room that is my home office, my electronics lab (other hobby), music room (yet another..), darkroom (with a sink!), etc...essentially my man-cave, excepts it's at the top floor of our house. Due to its multi-purpose nature, it's positively teeming with leds and little status indicators. I even went so far as to replace several particularly nasty blue and green leds on computer equipment (especially USB hubs) with much dimmer amber ones. Others I taped over. Hadn't I done all this, it would have been impossible to darken this room for RA4 printing, let alone film processing.

Back to the original topic: I would add my 2 cts. to the notion that an existing bedroom (or in my case, generic room) can be repurposed as a darkroom. In our previous house I had a dedicated darkroom, but in the present home I have made plywood panels that I can insert into the windows so I can darken this room only as needed, I installed a little Ikea kitchen sink & worktop and extended the plumbing from the adjacent space where there were provisions for a washing machine. Flooring is PVC. I'm quite happy with the arrangement because it's so multifunctional. I can do my regular office work here during the day and then after dinner pop in the panels and turn on the enlarger. It takes just a few minutes to 'convert' the room into a functional darkroom. Since we renovated the entire house anyway, the additional cost of adding darkroom functionality to this room was quite marginal. The Ikea kitchen block cost maybe a couple hundred € in total; the rest was basically scraps.

I discovered some of my overhead leds printing RA4. Also previous darkroom I had plywood panels that I would pop into two windows to make things dark.

 

[ragazzo]

This thread has been really insightful in helping me decide where to start in regards to building my own darkroom. I suppose the actual requirements aren't that complicated, and everyone needs to consider their own needs and circumstances to really decide for themselves.

 

[Sirius Glass]

This thread has been really insightful in helping me decide where to start in regards to building my own darkroom. I suppose the actual requirements aren't that complicated, and everyone needs to consider their own needs and circumstances to really decide for themselves.

Make lots of sketches of different layouts, before your start. That can save a lot of aggravation later.

 

[Larry Bullis]

I have a darkroom trailer problem. Years ago, we moved into a small house which had no place for a darkroom, so I bought a contractor's trailer and built my darkroom in it. It has served me well.

Now that I'm pushing 80, we need to downsize. We will be moving into an 828 square foot apartment. The trailer has not had its license tabs renewed for a long time, which will be a problem, as well as certain mechanical needs. Probably what I will need to do is to remove the contents, sell what I can, or donate to a cause - and deal with the trailer separately. If someone wants the whole thing, they need to know that it isn't insulated (problem is getting worse due to climate change) and to use it, one needs power, water, and a sewer cleanout. I have that where I am, but it would be hard to set that up where I'm going.

I'm attaching a list of what I have, all of which could be available. I'd like to know whether anyone has suggestions or interest in it; it's hard to advertise when you really don't know what you want to do, but I will do that separately. I am posting here because I would like to have some discussion.

With the advent of digital, the diminished value could lead on to look for someone to take it. I will miss the great Durst D659! I have arranged to use another darkroom which doesn't have room or need for what I have here.

 

[albada]

Microsoft Windows forced me to save the attachment as a file, and then open it separately. In order to save folks from that hassle, I'm pasting its text below. From Larry Bullis:

What I have that could be available:

1. A Wing-Lynch water panel (1/4 degree stable temperature, at flows up to 2 gallons / minute). I had installed about 6 of these in college darkrooms, loved them, and wished I could have one. They sold for $5000. I found one brand new at Boeing Surplus with its warrantee card (even then useless) still blank.

2. A ten gallon dual power (gas/electric) RV water heater.

3. A rather crummy but useful 6 foot fiberglass sink I found when a local lab upgraded.

4. A Durst D-659 enlarger (35mm and 6x9 cm), which is of comparable in quality to the best that Leica ever made. It has two lenses: a 105mm Durst Neonon and a 50mm Schneider Componon. These were not the original lenses, so the autofocus doesn't quite handle the focus. That is a bit cumbersome but it is still quite possible to get it focused manually without a lot of trouble. It is absolutely the finest enlarger I have ever used (and I have used a lot of them, right up to a 10x10 aerial Chromega Saltzman). These are vastly superior to any Omega or Beseler. (But if you want a Beseler or two, let me know. A friend of mine would like to get rid of three of them unless he already has).

5. An Omega D3V enlarger (4x5). This has the original 135mm Omegaron lens which is still functional and matched with its autofocus cam. I also use it with a 50mm Componon and a 75 mm or 80 mm Nikor, using a shim to set partial focus. It allows full manual focus and a permanently installed reduction bellows. This is the same enlarger I bought at J.K. Gill's in 1964. I have a cold light head (original Omega) that, although designed for a previous D2, can be used with the D3. I also have a wide size assortment of mostly homemade negative carriers of quite good quality.

6. Other stuff:

A. Thomas sodium vapor safelight. The bulb has recently been
replaced.

B. 3 great Albert 11x14 4 blade easels (the best ever!). They
are not necessarily in perfect condition but could be
restored. They are all completely useable as they are.

C. Kostiner 20x24 inch 4 blade easel in nearly mint condition.

D. 16x20 Dunwright and Vogel archival print washer. I have not
used this washer because it would have been very hard to
use in the trailer. It has 12 slots for prints, six of
which can be adapted to wash smaller sizes by removing
the smaller septa and adding rods to support the prints.
The other six are fixed for 16x20. 20x24 prints can be
washed by looping the prints from one slot to the
next. So if you are washing 20x24's you can wash half as
many as you could the 16x20's.

E. Lots of chemicals (I build my own developers from scratch).

F. Various timers. Two of them are digital enlarger timers. I think there are only 2 Gralab one hour clock style timers. I'm pretty sure there are one or more Time O Lites.

G. An old OHaus three beam balance.

H. A heating stir plate. This works well for mixing using
Vollrath stainless steel graduates (below).

I. A large stir plate for mixing in quantity using:

J. A great stainless steel hospital waste bucket that has a
removable base that rolls around.

K. 2 each 1 liter and 2 liter graduates.

L. Other various graduates, funnels, etc. Nothing special, but functional.

M. Safelights.

N. Assorted steel tanks and reels.

O. An old color densitometer.

7. A Jobo processor. I don't like them because I'm a klutz and can't seem to load the reels. This is not the big one, but I have used it and it does work.

8. A Photo-Therm Sidekick processor. I got this from a color lab when digital put it out of business. I have never used it. These can process black and white or color using Patterson reels, with recovery on I believe two of the chemicals. They are supposed to be really great - and were very expensive. I think I have a manual for it that I downloaded from Photo Therm.

9. In addition to the darkroom stuff, I have:

A. C&H Matte Cutter (large enough to handle 32x40 inch boards)

B. Heavy table, 5'x6'5". I use this for matte cutting and framing. I have
mounted a chopper for small moldings (3/4" x 5/8" max.) along
one edge.
C. Dan Smith's original custom made (huge) flat file. It has 5 drawers
which measure 21" x 50" inside.

10. I also have a Durst Duomat Enlarger. That is the sibling of the D659. Same quality, basically looks the same, but there are significant differences in practice in that it is ONLY autofocus, which can be an advantage in some environments but an obstacle in others. I do have the original optics for it which will need to be reinstalled. That is essential for the autofocus to work. These were the backbone of many newspaper labs because they were really fast. Slam the negative in it, scale it, and pop it. The only problem with it that I know of is that it has a spot on the condenser which I believe would appear in the print. Also, the lenses need to be reinstalled in the unit. I think that both of those issues could be solved.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I have a darkroom trailer problem. Years ago, we moved into a small house which had no place for a darkroom, so I bought a contractor's trailer and built my darkroom in it. It has served me well.

Now that I'm pushing 80, we need to downsize. We will be moving into an 828 square foot apartment. The trailer has not had its license tabs renewed for a long time, which will be a problem, as well as certain mechanical needs. Probably what I will need to do is to remove the contents, sell what I can, or donate to a cause - and deal with the trailer separately. If someone wants the whole thing, they need to know that it isn't insulated (problem is getting worse due to climate change) and to use it, one needs power, water, and a sewer cleanout. I have that where I am, but it would be hard to set that up where I'm going.

I'm attaching a list of what I have, all of which could be available. I'd like to know whether anyone has suggestions or interest in it; it's hard to advertise when you really don't know what you want to do, but I will do that separately. I am posting here because I would like to have some discussion.

With the advent of digital, the diminished value could lead on to look for someone to take it. I will miss the great Durst D659! I have arranged to use another darkroom which doesn't have room or need for what I have here.

This must be hard on you. I am sorry that you have to part with your darkroom.

 

[mshchem]

I have a darkroom trailer problem. Years ago, we moved into a small house which had no place for a darkroom, so I bought a contractor's trailer and built my darkroom in it. It has served me well.

Now that I'm pushing 80, we need to downsize. We will be moving into an 828 square foot apartment. The trailer has not had its license tabs renewed for a long time, which will be a problem, as well as certain mechanical needs. Probably what I will need to do is to remove the contents, sell what I can, or donate to a cause - and deal with the trailer separately. If someone wants the whole thing, they need to know that it isn't insulated (problem is getting worse due to climate change) and to use it, one needs power, water, and a sewer cleanout. I have that where I am, but it would be hard to set that up where I'm going.

I'm attaching a list of what I have, all of which could be available. I'd like to know whether anyone has suggestions or interest in it; it's hard to advertise when you really don't know what you want to do, but I will do that separately. I am posting here because I would like to have some discussion.

With the advent of digital, the diminished value could lead on to look for someone to take it. I will miss the great Durst D659! I have arranged to use another darkroom which doesn't have room or need for what I have here.

People will want the Jobo and the Phototherm! I have a couple of the Dunwright and Vogel print washers these are great!