Finishing area separate from darkroom?

[David Brown]

It looks like I may be moving soon. Good news/bad news and all that regarding the darkroom. I will have to dismantle the current darkroom and it will be a while before I get another up and running. (Although I may use a spare bathroom in the interim).

The "good news" is that the space I have been "allotted" for a darkroom is about 12x18 feet! My current darkroom is 7x9. I do all finishing outside of this space, in a work area that serves other purposes as well.

The initial impulse is to partition the large space and have a suitable darkroom, and a separate room for mounting, framing, etc, and maybe a little tabletop shooting set-up. However, if I don't put in a central HVAC (and that's looking more difficult - never mind the expense), I will have to settle for a window unit. A window unit will be much more efficient with only one big room, as opposed to trying to make it work in two smaller rooms because of the partition. And (before you suggest), two smaller window units is not practical.

So, the question to you all is this: Any problems stroring prints, matboard and finishing equipment in the same room as one does processing and printing. I know people do it, but I just wanted to see what other people have done, and why.

Or, mountain out of a molehill?

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9000/4.6.0.167 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

If it can be air tight so that you do not risk airborne chemical contamination, I see no problem with that as a temporary solution.

 

[David Brown]

Thanks. I am looking for a permanent solution.

 

[George Collier]

I've been thinking on Chris's comment about keeping airborne contamination - I'm not sure I would worry about that. After all, my enlarger is 6 ft from the sink, on the "dry side" of the darkroom, and I don't think I have this problem even within the darkroom. I am careful to run an exhaust fan while working, and am careful about mixing chems, to keep from stirring up the dry chem when pouring into the mixing container.
You will be storing all of your finishing stuff in containers and can always do a wipe down before beginning work on that side.

See if others post from experience.

 

[jeroldharter]

That is a nice sized room. For a split darkroom, you would need to put the wall up so that you have two 9 x 12 rooms. Ideally, the door for each would be on the short end so you don't lose any counter space.

If you want one large room for economy and HVAC efficiency then you could put countertops along the two 12 foot walls and a large island in the middle, e.g. 6x6 feet so that you can walk around it and work from all 4 side. To maximize that space you could abut the island to one wall so it could be 8-9 feet long by 3-6 feet deep.

Another idea would be to keep the single room but make a half wall in the near center, say 4-5 feet tall either splitting the island or abutting it.

Either way, make the sink as deep and long as possible. Use dust friendly materials (e.g. semi-gloss paint and vinyl floor). Install a central vacuum (a mounted shop vac would be cheapest) with the motor unit outside the room to further reduce dust and noise.