Moving House & Building a New Darkroom

So my wife and I are relocating and I don't think my shed darkroom will survive the trip. Fortunately, though, the house we are moving into has a nice sized stone outbuilding. It needs lightproofing and fitting out but I think it will make a great space, certainly a steup up from my shed.

As there is plenty of space inside I will be building a sink out of MDF/plywood and coating it in epoxy which will make a nice change from running into the house to use the shower to wash my prints. Also there is plenty of room for benches and a finishing station.

My question is more about the setting up of the darkroom. I'm not a builder but am handy at DIY. I wanted to grab as many tips as I could before getting started. As you can see from the photos the walls are bare stone and the roof is just slate over some timbers. Should i just render over the walls or should I setup some stud walls and install insulation and plasterboard? Does the roof need insulating? Any ideas for ventilation at all?

I was wondering about getting the outbuilding plumbed-in and wired-up. There is a pipe leading to the boiler in the rear of the house so there must be a water supply nearby. Failing that I can connect a pipe to the external hose and draw from there. The prblem comes with wiring and waste water. The nearest drain is about 3 metres away but uphill by a metre or so so I may have to install a pump. Or perhaps collect my waste in a water butt for decanting into the drain maybe? The main circuit board is 2 rooms into the house - does this mean I will have to lift the floor to run a new wire? Of course any plumbing or electrical works will be undertaken by a qualified workman, I will just do what works I can myself.

Sorry for the ramble and thanks in advance for the help!

Simple, live in the "Charming Stone Cottage " .

Hehe, a fine suggestion but not entirely sure the wife would agree to it.

Insulation is definitely your friend.

I've done my fair share of remodeling - I'd do studs and drywall with insulation, and find out from a local how to do that so the studs don't get rot from any stone they connect to, if a vapor barrier is appropriate and so on. In the US I'd use treated studs and have caulk or a barrier where they contact stone or concrete. Ventilation - a bathroom fan is probably fine, give it its own switch. You can rig up various hvac (tin) single-wall pipe or flexible (dryer hose) if you want it to suck closer to trays and so on, but overall ventilation is probably fine if you're not, like, heating up selenium for lith prints. Drywall walls and ceiling look nice and clean, and they don't shed dust like rough materials can.

Think about HVAC depending on the seasons, it should be comfy in there, and anything you do would make it a nice office or art studio when you sell someday. Consider things like humidity for your area and how to deal with too damp or too dry conditions.

Electrical leave to a pro, at least getting the current to the building. Codes in my area would require a separate breaker box in the outbuilding. My house has a crawl space so wiring was easy, but in the US, outdoor breaker boxes have knockouts to add conduit connectors, so conceivable you could run conduit from the outside to underground and just need a thin trench for the wire. You want everything GFCI protected since the environment is so wet (sinks and lots of water). If the floor is stone, you may want a rug or pad for comfort of your feet. If I were plumbing it, I'd use PEX tubing since I have all the tools and it's easy to work with, but if you use a pro, see what he advises. Think about convenience, which may mean a couple taps, and maybe one a hose can connect to, that's really nice for washing trays and so on. I've use eBay for sink and tub faucets and gotten good deals, that stuff can get pricey!

Look into the latest LED safelights, my darkroom is very bright and I like it a lot!

Paint the inside WHITE. White will reflect the safelight making the darkroom easier to see in. The darkroom at my parents home was lit by two safelights with 7-1/2 watt bulbs. And it was brighter and more visually comfortable than the school darkroom with 4 safelights, but painted BLACK.

But paint flat BLACK around the enlarger, to eliminate fogging/loss of contrast from reflected enlarger light.

If you don't have enough vertical height, for the enlarger column with the head all the way up, lower the bench top, and sit on a stool.

Filter the air blowing INTO the darkroom. This creates positive air pressure, so you are not sucking in unfiltered dusty air from cracks around the darkroom.

Position an exhaust fan intake BEHIND the chemical trays. Especially the smelly one(s), stop and fixer. And put a switch on this fan, because you won't need it running all the time.

Think real hard about the sink height. Since you are DIY might as well make it fit YOU, so you are more comfortable.
Make a somewhat wide edge, so you can lean on the sink, which many of us do, and not have your arm be sore from a narrow sink lip.

Think about how you will wash your prints. Putting a 16x20 washer into a tall sink makes it difficult to use, because the top of the washer might be at face level. So you are reaching above your head to load/unload the washer. Consider making a separate bench surface low enough to conveniently load/unload the washer. That is a lesson learned the hard way.

I second the fatigue/foam rubber mat by the developing trays.
And if you stand to use the enlarger, there also.

Make the switch for the WHITE light slightly difficult to use. I put the white light switch above my head, so I had to deliberately reach up for it, to prevent accidentally turning it on, during printing sessions.
If you do film, you also need to protect/guard the safelight switch, so you don't accidentally turn it on.

Make a film drying cabinet. The vertical height is a major consideration for 35mm film.

Plan the workflow so that it is convenient for you.
I am right handed, and I prefer to move from Left -> Right, for developer->stop->fixer

I anyone else will work the darkroom with you, you need to plan the layout for 2 people. So you don't get in each other's way, or turning off the safelight over the enlarger does not disrupt the other person processing.

gud luk

Hi everyone, thanks a load for all of the advice. I think I will look into insulating it properly then it will last. Hopefully we won't need to move house ever again! Thanks for all the handy tips.

Get one or all of these books:

Building a Home Darkroom, Kodak Workshop Series, 1991
Build Your Own Home Darkroom, Lista Duren and Will McDonald, 1990
The New Darkroom Handbook, Joe DeMaio, Roberta Worth, Dennis Curtin, 2nd edition 1998

They will be used, but should be available at Amazon, or (in the USA) at Half-Price books hpb.com

And definitely insulate, ventilate, and make the space as comfortable and efficient as possible. You'll do more and better work the better the darkroom is.

Cheers,

Here is a link to another Kodak darkroom design publication: http://125px.com/docs/techpubs/kodak/ak3.pdf

If you have problems with drainage, have a look at those rolling plastic barrels that camping/caravaners use to move water and toilet waste.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Streetwize...EK5K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499461506&sr=8-1

Thanks for the article and book links guys. Ill look into the caravan liquid container too!

wilfbiffherb said:

As there is plenty of space inside I will be building a sink out of MDF/plywood and coating it in epoxy which will make a nice change from running into the house to use the shower to wash my prints.

Click to expand...

How'd the sink turn out?

wilfbiffherb said:

So my wife and I are relocating and I don't think my shed darkroom will survive the trip. Fortunately, though, the house we are moving into has a nice sized stone outbuilding. It needs lightproofing and fitting out but I think it will make a great space, certainly a steup up from my shed.

As there is plenty of space inside I will be building a sink out of MDF/plywood and coating it in epoxy which will make a nice change from running into the house to use the shower to wash my prints. Also there is plenty of room for benches and a finishing station.

My question is more about the setting up of the darkroom. I'm not a builder but am handy at DIY. I wanted to grab as many tips as I could before getting started. As you can see from the photos the walls are bare stone and the roof is just slate over some timbers. Should i just render over the walls or should I setup some stud walls and install insulation and plasterboard? Does the roof need insulating? Any ideas for ventilation at all?

I was wondering about getting the outbuilding plumbed-in and wired-up. There is a pipe leading to the boiler in the rear of the house so there must be a water supply nearby. Failing that I can connect a pipe to the external hose and draw from there. The prblem comes with wiring and waste water. The nearest drain is about 3 metres away but uphill by a metre or so so I may have to install a pump. Or perhaps collect my waste in a water butt for decanting into the drain maybe? The main circuit board is 2 rooms into the house - does this mean I will have to lift the floor to run a new wire? Of course any plumbing or electrical works will be undertaken by a qualified workman, I will just do what works I can myself.

Sorry for the ramble and thanks in advance for the help!

Click to expand...

Is this in the United States and/or is it in a cold or hot climate? If the climate is either cold or hot, I would go for insulated walls and ceiling. Stay with the fiber-glassed sink. You seem to be on the side of a hill. Is there any place below you that you could drain waste water into? I would pipe in cold water rather than use a hose, Once the cold water is inside, a small electric water heater (5 gallons or so) will supply you with hot water. A circuit board at the darkroom will not add much to cost and make things simpler for the electrician......These are just a few suggestions. Some books have been recommended. The one I referred to most was the one written by Joe DeMaio (sp?)......Regards!