Darkroom design

[Dave Miller]

One essential of darkroom construction is to ensure that the structure is water-tight, particularly if like mine it is in a shed exposed to all mother nature can throw at it.
One thing that I did not consider is what happens when the unwanted water source is internal, like the broken drain pipe I found as I splashed into the shed this morning?

 

[SuzanneR]

Ouch! That's harsh! Maybe one of those "wet-vac" vacuum cleaners?

 

[Dave Miller]

Ouch! That's harsh! Maybe one of those "wet-vac" vacuum cleaners?

Thanks Suzanne, actually I thought a pair of wellington boots appropriate. The a/c is currently running full blast in "dry" mode. On the brightside the floor is nice and clean.

 

[Sinarfar]

Or putting your darkroom under the laundry room, when the washing machine fails and dumps water all over your darkroom. Then you try to clean it up and leave 50 rolls of developed 120 negatives neatly stacked on top of each other (not in sleeves) from your once in a lifetime trip to Venice, Italy. All is fine after the leak, until you realize that days later, the high humidity from the leak has caused all of the developed negatives to stick together. All ruined.

I now sleeve and file immediately. Wish I learned that one earlier.

 

[Woolliscroft]

Wet dark rooms: yes been there. The UK's 240 volt mains electrical system has many advantages over the US' 110 volt system, but safety isn't one of them. You're probably way ahead of me, but if you haven't done it already, I would isolate the shed electrically until you are absolutely sure that everything has completely dried out.

David.

 

[SuzanneR]

Again... that's harsh! Did you try soaking the stuck negs in water? Sometimes, that'll help to unstick them, but requires a lot of patience.

 

[rbarker]

Ouch, Dave. Sounds like a good excuse for building a two-story darkroom, so you can have a dry floor and a wet floor.

 

[Dave Miller]

Ouch, Dave. Sounds like a good excuse for building a two-story darkroom, so you can have a dry floor and a wet floor.

Good idea, but I don't think I can get that one past the wife.

 

[Leon]

nightmare dave - did anything get ruined?

 

[Dave Miller]

nightmare dave - did anything get ruined?

Only my pride!

 

[MurrayMinchin]

That Sucks!

We moved the washing machine and clothes drier out of the laundry room into our bedroom closet, and it's now a full-on darkroom. It has what I can only HOPE is an adequate emergency drain in the floor! Loose anything?

Murray