How many of you have a adequate darkroom?

[rayonline_nz]

Interested to know ..

 

[MattKing]

You are missing a critical option.
My darkroom is a bathroom most of the time, but a darkroom when I set it up for that purpose.
It has a 4x5 enlarger in it almost always, along with the toothbrushes and fluffy towels!
But when I use it as a darkroom, I regularly load developing reels with film or make 11x14 prints - and sometimes 16x20.
There are a lot of bathroom darkroom users here: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/bathroom-and-other-temporary-makeshift-darkrooms.35581/

 

[fiddle]

I think its adequate enough. dark space in basement, work bench for enlarger / trays, water supply about 10 feet away next door. Unfortunately im not an adequate enough printer......

 

[rayonline_nz]

You are missing a critical option.
My darkroom is a bathroom most of the time, but a darkroom when I set it up for that purpose.
It has a 4x5 enlarger in it almost always, along with the toothbrushes and fluffy towels!
But when I use it as a darkroom, I regularly load developing reels with film or make 11x14 prints - and sometimes 16x20.
There are a lot of bathroom darkroom users here: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/bathroom-and-other-temporary-makeshift-darkrooms.35581/

I guess that is a darkroom with water supply!
Me on the other hand, living with others etc .. just don't ability to even use a bathroom, plus all our rooms have windows here and even if I attempt to seal the windows I get a big argument.

 

[rayonline_nz]

I think its adequate enough. dark space in basement, work bench for enlarger / trays, water supply about 10 feet away next door. Unfortunately im not an adequate enough printer......

To me that is the 2nd option, no water supply in your darkroom / temp darkroom but you have a workaround for water.

For myself I even thought about sealing my bedroom window and put water trays on my desk and then run to the bathroom to wash it down with the shower head so .. I don't get in a argument with others here but it was prob not the best idea.

 

[MattKing]

No windows in my bathroom .
But with (mostly) 9 foot ceiling, it is okay to work in.

 

[NedL]

Mine's a small closet in my study. No water, but the thing I like most about it is that it's always ready if I want to use it.

 

[mshchem]

No windows in my bathroom .
But with (mostly) 9 foot ceiling, it is okay to work in.

So, I have to ask. Do you have a functioning toilet when you are in darkroom mode? That's the best thing about the Jobo processor, gives me a few critical minutes during processing. I get my hands into warm water and nature calls. I quit drinking beer years back, beer and having to invert my Paterson tank every 30s was incompatible.

My first darkroom had corrugated grocery boxes for wallboard in an old coal bin in my boyhood home. It was great! Small spaces can be liberating. I have quite a bit of space but I frequently use 1 tray and change out the chemistry rather than get out a bunch of trays.

 

[Pieter12]

I have a darkroom that occupies the back 1/3 of a 1-car garage. No running water, no drainage. I bring water in in gallon jugs, and take used chemical out in those same jugs. Washing is done outside, connected to a garden hose and draining into the ground. Works just fine.

 

[Frank53]

I just move d to another house. No darkroom yet, but starting to build one in my garage next week.
Regards,
Frank

 

[mshchem]

I have a darkroom that occupies the back 1/3 of a 1-car garage. No running water, no drainage. I bring water in in gallon jugs, and take used chemical out in those same jugs. Washing is done outside, connected to a garden hose and draining into the ground. Works just fine.

That's awesome. I feel stupid using water that goes to a sewage treatment plant. I suspect that after the first 2 minutes of rinsing a print the water is potable. I run a pump to recirculate water in my "archival" washer. I need to wait until Iowa legalizes growing of medicinal plants, keep out any selenium, have a nice hydroponic setup

 

[mrosenlof]

My wife and I are downsizing. We are moving away from my darkroom of 25 years, but a new smaller version is in the planning stage. I get a 4x4 foot (appx) closet, and will expand it about 5 or six feet into the garage. I think I can put together a good plan.

 

[jamesaz]

Adequate for my current needs. 12x14sq.ft with sink (kreonite w/chiller), drains, hvac, exhaust fan. I can do film, b/w & color up to 4x5 and print both. (Also VDB & cyanotypes. Going to start gum printing when my current "C" print project is wrapped up.)
In one of its previous incarnations there was a bathroom in part of the space so when I renovated, since the drains were already in I put in a shower (doubles as eyewash station should need ever arise) and toilet so instead of my bathroom being a darkroom my darkroom has a bathroom.
Beyond the door is my fridge, filing, photoshop and inkjet printing, finishing area and gear storage. So yeah, I'm happy with it.

 

[MattKing]

Do you have a functioning toilet when you are in darkroom mode?

Yep.

 

[rayonline_nz]

Any of you live in an apartment who have a darkroom with/without water supply? I guess most darkroom people are living in houses and where you have compatible members.

It's WW3 - no can do to seal the windows cos every room has a window here including bathroom and toilets, the others won't approve of it. I also don't have a wardrobe in my bedroom. Well it is a wardrobe but it is prob only 30cm wide.

 

[mooseontheloose]

I voted for option 2. I live in a small 2-bedroom apartment. I converted the smaller bedroom (5 tatami mats - about 7.5 m2) into a dry darkroom. I told my landlord I was going to do it and he had no issues with it. There's a fairly large window, but I took down the curtain rods and have permanently affixed black-out plastic curtains (popular here in Japan for darkrooms) against the window with tacks in the walls. Luckily, the window faces the interior of the apartment building (it's shaped like a square donut) so I don't have to worry about the sun shining directly against the window, because if it did I'd have to do something else to keep it fully light tight during the day. As it is now, it faces east so it's not really an issue since I rarely work in there in the morning, and by noon that side of the building is completely in shadow. I also have some hooks above the outside of the door and can attach another blackout curtain to that when I am using the darkroom.

The room is big enough for my 6x7 enlarger, a full-sized fridge (for film and paper and sometimes distilled water to bring temps down in the summer) and two desk-type tables. The tables can hold up to 4 11x14 trays when needed, although I tend to work smaller than that. I also have a large wardrobe (with shelves) that hold most of my chemicals. Other items that are rarely used or are too large to be stored elsewhere are under the tables. It's only a couple metres down the hall to the bathroom, and another few metres beyond that to the kitchen. I have a big measuring cup (5L) that I fill up with water and bring to the darkroom to mix my chemicals. When I'm done, all washing is done in the kitchen sink which is large and flat and can hold up to 3 8x10 trays (or 1 11x14). Film is also processed in the kitchen, I use a changing bag to load the tanks because it's more comfortable for me. All film and paper is hung to dry in the bathroom.

I don't mind this system at all, it's the best dry/makeshift darkroom I've had over the past 12 years. That said, I would like to own my own home so I could set up a completely integrated, fully functional darkroom with running water. I'd like to work more with alternative processes but doing so in a dry darkroom with carpeted flooring and limited ventilation is not really feasible for some of the processes I've been wanting to try.

 

[rayonline_nz]

I converted the smaller bedroom

That;'s a nice luxury to have Often bedrooms are used, space for many are scarce enough. A challenge for a studio / 1 bedroom place hahah.
Setting it up at one's own bedroom is a bit too crazy but I have thought about it.

 

[antmar]

I turned the smaller room in my apartment (just 3x2.5m) in a double use room, home office and darkroom. It can be darkened in two steps (close the window and the door) and with these two steps backwards I have daylight again (doesn't really work during the night). As you can see in the photos the whole idea was based on the use of Nova Darkroom Processors cause they keep the chemicals fresh for longer times, they take incomparable less space and I always have my darkroom setup and ready to use in seconds. Later I added two bigger Processors, one 40x50cm for B&W and one 30x40cm for color prints although I don't do much color these days. Unfortunately I don't have water supply but the bathroom is next door and the "double use" as office and darkroom was (and still is) very attractive as I have my PC monitor next to my enlarger and I can see and study my film scans just before printing them.

I want to add here that with my home office/darkroom I feel much happier cause this way I take less time from my "family time", I am next to them, I feel them all the time, I can share more time and also share my hobby with them, they can participate and I can ask their opinion, I can stop and start when it is best and I with an "always ready" darkroom I can do shorter printing sessions instead of printing marathons.

 

[James Bleifus]

I’m not sure how to classify myself. I have a dedicated bathroom but it isn’t light tight. I couldn’t take the heat (literally; I’m in Southeast Asia) so I switched from silver to Ziatypes. That lets me leave the doors open and A/C on. Film is done with a changing bag and a Mod54.

 

[donkee]

My corner of the basement darkroom has been packed up to move into a new 8'x20' ex-storage room that will have plumbing grafted to the water and drain in the bathroom next to it. I figure that if you have a storage room you have a need to fill it, so no more storage room. I have to pull the carpet and the paneling next then drywall and figure out what I want to use for the flooring, the plumbing will be easy too. The next project after that is a smallish (about 12'x20' with 7" ceiling) dedicated studio. Now that it is just the dogs and me in the house I really don't need all those rooms for living in. It may sound like a huge house but it is only 1360 square feet.

 

[mooseontheloose]

That;'s a nice luxury to have Often bedrooms are used, space for many are scarce enough. A challenge for a studio / 1 bedroom place hahah.
Setting it up at one's own bedroom is a bit too crazy but I have thought about it.

I did it before, when I was living in Canada. I was living in a basement apartment that had a very open plan. The bathroom was shower and pedestal sink only, and the ceiling not high enough for my enlarger. My bedroom was huge with a door and one small window. So I put the enlarger on a table and had the window blacked out with multiple thick garbage bags. It was like sleeping in a cave, but I was single then as I am now, so could pretty much do what I wanted.

As for my current situation, when I moved to Kyoto I knew I wanted a 2-bedroom apt so I could have a permanent darkroom. But the real estate agents couldn’t understand why I needed so much space as a single person. I just told them I was using it as an office and that seemed to appease them. That said, it was hard to find an apartment where the bedrooms weren’t tatami mat, had patio doors/balcony, or had sliding doors. I was lucky with the apartment I got.

 

[John51]

My largest bedroom is used as a workshop. Hobby room if you're my LL. I'm currently setting a darkroom in there too, it's big enough.

I thought that the triple sash windows would be a problem but fitting the blackout was easy enough. <£20 for 9 square meters of blackout sheeting. Will be only 5 paces from the wet side to the bathroom, I suppose that counts as darkroom with water supply.

 

[choiliefan]

Bathroom.
Last place it was in the mudroom.

 

[nsurit]

Yes, purpose built darkroom when I built house. Two sinks, tempered water supply, room for three enlargers. Drying cabinet and racks just outside the darkroom. Don't do like I did and wait until you retire to have something functional.

 

[logan2z]

I have a similar setup to 'antmar'. My dry space is in a permanently blacked out spare bedroom that contains two enlargers. My wet space is in an adjacent bathroom that is also permanently blacked out and contains a Nova four slot processor. The Nova is always ready to go so I can be up and ready to print in a matter of minutes. I also use a Nova EcoWash print washer that takes just a few seconds to hook up in the bathroom's shower stall.