I'm floored

[ghinson]

What is the best flooring for a darkroom. I am hoping to finish out a room in my basement to be my darkroom. Not wanting to wait, however, I am using a windowless room in my office right now. Works great. However, I was not too careful about the floors, waxed tile type floor. I now have bir orange-brown spots all over the path from the developer tray to the stop bath. And they do not come up. Not with the usual cleaners. Not with straight bleach.

1) Any suggestions on cleaning this stuff off the floor?

2) With this in mind, what makes the best floor material for a darkroom, for when I start the basement?

Thanks.

 

[Sean]

Mine is half vinyl and half rubber matting, seems to work well. I learned the hard way to stay away from all carpeting..

 

[Fotohuis]

I can also suggest vinyl and the type which is not to slippy if water or some chemicals are spoiled.
Carpet will always give a dust problem.

If you are talking about a wooden waxed floor you will have a big problem with chemicals. A lot of them will react chemically with the cellulose.

Regards,

Robert

 

[zenrhino]

What is the best flooring for a darkroom. I am hoping to finish out a room in my basement to be my darkroom. Not wanting to wait, however, I am using a windowless room in my office right now. Works great. However, I was not too careful about the floors, waxed tile type floor. I now have bir orange-brown spots all over the path from the developer tray to the stop bath. And they do not come up. Not with the usual cleaners. Not with straight bleach.

1) Any suggestions on cleaning this stuff off the floor?

2) With this in mind, what makes the best floor material for a darkroom, for when I start the basement?

Thanks.

I'd think quarry tile would be pretty good. That's what we used in the kitchens I designed and ran, and you can scrub them down with the most brutal of chemistries and they hold up just fine. They also take well to acid etching if you need extra traction.

That may be a bit of overkill, though.

 

[Todd Barlow]

I used a imitation wood tongue and grove laminate overtop of a foam insulator. Then I laid down the thick foam interlocking pads in the areas where I spend the time standing the most.

I have found that dust is not a problem and neither is cleaning up the spills. I suspect the foam pads may need to be replaced in time. I also used chaulking to seal between the floor and the baseboards.

Todd