Moveable Darkroom?

Mark_S · Mar 20, 2015

As a result of my day job, I have been relocated several times during my career, each time giving me the opportunity to build a new darkroom.

I am going to be relocated again this summer, and along with it I will be building a new darkroom once again. I am also getting to the age where I am thinking about retirement, and expect that this next move will have me in the new location for 6-8 years before I make the final move to a location where I will retire and never move again.

I am pretty happy with my current darkroom. The house had a workshop addition built onto the back of the garage which gave me an 18' x 10' room to work with. I have additional space in the house where I store negatives and do finishing (mounting, framing).

I am thinking of building a separate structure which will serve as darkroom and photo workshop with space to store negatives, do the finishing tasks etc. Ideally I'd like to have about an 18x10 darkroom, and the second room of about the same size. I don't want to build another darkroom which ends up in the hands of someone who won't use it, so I was thinking of building this structure on an I-beam frame - such as what a mobile home would be built on, which would make it easier to move in a few years.

Has anybody tried this - what pitfalls did you run into?

dosilverhalide · Mar 20, 2015

A man in England? did just this several years ago. He moved it several times on a flat bed truck when he had to move. Unfortunately I don't remember his name at the moment, but the story was on the internet. If I can find the story, I'll contact you. J

M Carter · Mar 20, 2015

Have you seen what people are doing with shipping containers? They can be had (at least here in TX) for $2k and up... and they're designed to be put on a truck. People are really pimping them out, or welding several together.

snapguy · Mar 20, 2015

look

You might want to take a look at those big ocean-going-type shipping containers. You can make most anything out of them. Or, a travel trailer. It has been done.

dosilverhalide · Mar 20, 2015

I've done a small amount of thinking, what I do best, and believe the article was in a past issue of Black and White Photography magazine, out of England. Don't remember the issue, but probably back 5 years or so, its all digital now.

hgaude · Mar 20, 2015

M Carter said:
Have you seen what people are doing with shipping containers? They can be had (at least here in TX) for $2k and up... and they're designed to be put on a truck. People are really pimping them out, or welding several together.

"Pimp your Darkroom" - next season on the Analogue Channel!

Sorry, my sense of humor, I couldn't resist

adelorenzo · Mar 20, 2015

Self-contained portable military darkrooms come up for sale from time to time. Already plumbed and wired to go. For example:

http://petapixel.com/2012/01/11/us-army-darkroom-aluminum-shelter/

DREW WILEY · Mar 20, 2015

Here you can buy military surplus portable darkroom. They'd be sufficiently hot and smelly, and given the camo green paint, would double
as a duck-hunting blind. If you can get a semi to back up onto your lot, you can lease or purchase an air-conditioned cargo container with
actual insulation.

Patrick Robert James · Mar 20, 2015

How many more times are you going to have to move? I would just keep doing what you are doing until you settle into your retirement house then go nuts!

You could also build one of those "mini" houses that are a bit of a rage now. They are built on a trailer I think so they can easily be moved. A shipping container would be cheap, but might not be aesthetically what you are looking for, and moving it would be an issue.

blansky · Mar 20, 2015

I see storage sheds at Home Depot type places that are wood, have shingled roofs, doors etc that I thought would make a good darkroom for around $2000 dollars I think and would work for moving around.

blansky · Mar 20, 2015

Dead Link Removed

I've seen a few of these around and thought they would work for a darkroom.

HowardDvorin · Mar 20, 2015

Think about a used travel trailer. It will have heat and maybe a/c, plumbing,wiring,and wheels[

there might even be a rerigerator to store film and such.

Firestarter · Mar 20, 2015

dosilverhalide said:
A man in England? did just this several years ago. He moved it several times on a flat bed truck when he had to move. Unfortunately I don't remember his name at the moment, but the story was on the internet. If I can find the story, I'll contact you. J

That could be Les Mclean ? he has a shed darkroom he has moved properties with. http://www.lesmcleanphotography.com/

I also remember many years ago reading an article in Amateur Photographer magazine ( Uk ) about a guy who used a railway goods carriage for a darkroom which I imagine could also be moved using a crane etc to a new location.

DREW WILEY · Mar 20, 2015

Those little storage sheds would take a lot of work to seal up the light leaks and add ventilation. The doors are the biggest problem. I thought
about using something like that for a big RA4 processor to keep the fumes totally away from my darkroom building itself. But then I'd still have to go in and out with big loaded light-tight tubes. Think I'll just stick with my current method of using my big roller processor on a portable cart out on the patio during mild weather. I could add an awning too if necessary; but in the winter I normally have plenty of black
and white work to do, and working in the sink room is fine for that. The way big labs do it - a slot in the wall with the processor in another
room would require me to take out a building permit on a new room, though if it was a detached legal-sized portable shed, that probably
wouldn't apply. We just cleared off the old dilapidated orchid shack, right down to the slab, but haven't even had time to think about what
will go there next.

Joe VanCleave · Mar 20, 2015

Check out the "tiny house" movement, micro-sized dwellings usually built on a trailer frame, for mobility. I could see it being rather straight forward to build one as a dedicated darkroom. Wouldn't need windows. Ensure ventilation is adequate. Use a holding tank for rinse waste water, etc.

~Joe

Rick A · Mar 20, 2015

HowardDvorin said:
Think about a used travel trailer. It will have heat and maybe a/c, plumbing,wiring,and wheels[

there might even be a rerigerator to store film and such.

That's my thought on it. You can leave it set up and just plug in at any convenient location.

lecarp · Mar 20, 2015

I use a 30 ft Airstream Land yacht, just pack up and go.

Moveable Darkroom?

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