I wish I knew then...what I know now

Hey folks,

I'm in the process of building my first darkroom. It's going to be a 12x8 structure in my back yard. It's got water and electrical hook-ups avaliable, and I am going to build my own darkroom sink, too. I wanted to find out what set-up, design, or functional things you guys wish you had done when setting up your darkrooms. Or after using it for awhile, realized something you thought wouldn't be a big deal, has ended up being important. Any advice is extremely welcome, as it's always easier to do it right the first time than to have to go back and fix unexpected problems.

Happy Shooting (and printing)!

Gee teepoe, where the heck to start. Dust. Whatever you do, stop dust. Next, interior temp stability. Then, comfort. You have to walk without stooping and sit without banging your knees. Clean, comfortable air. Need that. And a super-clean, warm place to dry your film. Make room for a dedicated drying cabinet.

My biggest grief was keeping the negatives clean in my old basement darkroom. It's an ongoing problem. Let me know how you fare with your new darkroom

I will be sharing my darkroom with a washer and dryer. Talk about dust! I was going to put one of those HEPA dust filters in there and run it for a while before the darkroom work. Think that will work?

I haven't seen any mention of it recently, but at some time in the past, the usual advice when building a dark room was to pump filtered air into the darkroom, rather than suck it out the hood area above the chemicals. This helps prevent dust from coming out of the cracks. If per chance this doesn't adequately remove the chem smells, then add a smaller fan above the chems. The key is to make sure a slight positive air pressure is kept in the darkroom. Even if your darkroom is completed, if you are having much of a problem w/ dust, you can always add filtered air blown into the darkroom
Best wishes, JD

The three folks above have given you some good advice. I worked for a big company that put a lot of temporary darkrooms in the darndest places. You would be surprised what you can put up with. Make sure the enlarger table is rock steady and level. Good luck.