What am I going to forget (when building my darkroom)?

kwmullet said:

I'm in a similar situation. I just got the bid to do the framing on my circa 1949 1 car garage to turn 2/3 of it into a darkroom, and the front 1/3 into a retreat with a revolving door inbetween, and no entrance from inside the house. First thoughts that come to mind are:

• moisture barrier on the floors and walls (like Tyvek) You're getting a raised subfloor, right?.
• NO florescent lights in the darkroom. They continue to emit fogging light outside visible spectrum for a while after they're turned off.
• room for at least 2-3 people to co-exist comfortably. As a darkroom owner, you'll want to share the experience.
• Maybe put your (primary) enlarger on a big, sturdy rollaround cart with the biggest, heaviest industrial wheels you can find so if you get a hankering to make huge prints, you can tape or magnet the paper to a wall and move the enlarger back and forth on the floor.
• keeping your enlarger off the same circut as laser printers (their cycling makes voltage drop), or where other folks in the house are likely to plug in things with motors like vacuums. I'm probably getting a dedicated circuit.
• outlets in the ceiling to power safelights.
• use the thickest sheetrock you can afford with lots of insulation so (a) you can keep out as much of the outside noise as possible and (b) when you've got the stereo cranked up to 8 at 2am and you're having a good session, no one will call the cops 'cause of all the noise you're making.
• place your enlarger where passing trucks or kids running around in the house or doors slamming aren't likely to cause vibration during printing.

Air Supply (the concept, not the group) is an issue. In my case, we've got a higher capacity home HVAC unit than we need for the house specifically because we anticipated venting air to the garage-turned-darkroom. My current thought is to vent supply air only into the darkroom, then vent it out through an exhaust vent near the sink level to the outside. I'd keep the vent fan running on low when the darkroom is unoccupied, medium or high when it is occupied, and high when I'm doin chem mix. Occasionally, we turn off the AC or heat in the house and open the windows when it's a nice day. What I haven't gotten an answer to yet is if having that exhaust fan pulling air from the AC/Heater when it's shut down will pose a problem.

best of luck in your garage darkroom, David.

-KwM-

Click to expand...

I built a dark room last year coincident with the construction of my new home... I'll try to add on to the list above which I think is pretty good.

• I put in a good ventilation system with an exhaust fan that is roof mounted (they can be outside wall mounted). I have a lower light tight ventilation system below my counter top to create flow
• Place shelving for note books and manuals (I have shelving above my sink for chemicals as well).
• Put in a nice "soft floor tiling" to stop fatigue; or buy fatigue mats
• You can't have enough out lets I have about 8 (have 2 mounted high on the wall for clocks)
• As Susan Revy said, put in a sink larger then you think you need (don't put in a mixed heating system like the Sink II; I have that one and I wished that I had a spigot with separate hot and cold so that I could mix myself. Make sure that there is storage shelving beneath the sink; my sink is 6ft and I wish I had put in a 10 ft.
• I put in a kitchen counter top as my work space. It is too high for me. I wished my dry side work space was no more then waist high to me so that I can look down easier on the enlarging easel... this would have been a custom job but well worth it
• Don't forget that you have to have a drying line across the sink for haning film and prints (if you do RC). I do fiber base so I have a rack for my drying screens
• In my counter I have plenty of drawers and places for lenses, paper, and other dry side tools
• Since you are doing it in the garage, think of a floor drain if it is not too expensive (or include the one that may always be there); this will make it better for mopping. Hell, you can bring in a hose if necessary to spray down the floor
• NO WINDOWS ANYWHERE (this will make it easier to make it light tight)
• I put in (2) 200 watt capacity sockets for overhead lighting... you can always put in lower wattage bulbs.... I love the amount of light I can generate in there when I want to view prints. I have one switch on the wall next to my enlarger where I turn off. I have a 2nd switch on the right side of the sink where I turn the lights on after the fixer.
• Save wall space for spec sheets etc... At my age, I often for get my weights, measures, developing times and mixing ratios. I have them all on 8X10 cards hanging on the wall.
• Paint the walls any color as long as it is the brightest white you can find.... It really helps reflect your safe light. I have a Zone VI safe light and when I turn it on, it's like a mild evening light and you can see everything clearly.... paint should be flat
• Place a lock on the door to prevent a well meaning family member from letting "the dark out".

That's some of what I did....

A big trash can!

A humidifier or dehumidifier, or both (as circumstances require).

A built in vaccum, with the central unit a ways away.

A light box for transparencies and negatives.

Storage for things like extra bulbs for your enlarger and safelight.

A computer monitor copy holder makes a good instruction sheet holder for your sink; I have mine screwed into the plywood sink and my instructions laser printed out onto heavy card stock in big, sans-serif type face, housed inside plastic sheet protectors. Keep them in a spiral note book until needed.

For your utility portion of the darkroom sink, avoid ultra cheap faucets that use old fashioned valve faces, as they are LOUD and can drive you crazy with their high-pitched screeching as you throttle them back; they also generate irritated comments from other family members who are trying to sleep. Try for a ball-valve or similar type faucet that doesn't make as much noise.

If I had it all to do again, I would segregate the utility side from the processing side of the sink and put in two drains; try to avoid cross contamination issues that crop up because chemicals tend to back up onto the entire surface of the flat sink when trays are dumped and so on.

Put raised runners on the bottom of the sink to allow water to drain under trays and tanks, rather than puddle-up and possibly trap chemicals.

Build a peg bar sheet over the sink edge to drain/store graduates after washing or spend inordinate amounts of time washing, drying and stacking graduates after each session; the last thing you want to do at 3 am.

Sounds like you are working with much more space than I am, but still be aware of your space limitations and don't over crowd the room with equipment, making it uncomfortable to move around. I have had to rethink my layout and install a set of shelves in another room with my overflow equipment, expendables and other extra
"stuff", bringing in and taking out from the darkroom as need dictates. Not as ideal, but a workable compromise...

Put in an intercom and a phone extension.

Set up your fan to blow filtered air into the darkroom rather than suck air out. The positive pressure will result in less dust entering when you open the door. Measure different size trays before you build your sink. Then size it accordingly. There is nothing more frustrating that discovering that if only the sink were an inch wider you would be able to get that extra tray in. Put in a set of small spotlights on a dimmer above the area where you want to examine wet prints. When you have a finished dry print with just the right amount of shadow detail, take it into the darkroom, soak it in a water bath, put it on an angled surface under these lights for examination, and then adjust the light intensity such that you perceive the shadow detail the same way you did on the dry print.

Non't forget tongs!!

Troy Hamon said:

Finally, install your ventilation system to pull air directly across your developing surface, so fumes are not rising past your eyes. In my case, I brought the air intake down the wall in a big 4" ABS pipe, and ran it along 12" above my wet bench, drilling holes in it so it would suck air along its length. In my case, I went further and installed two fans, one to pull air out and one to push air in, so I can get positive or negative pressure.

Click to expand...

It is actually much easier to push air across the sink's surface than to pull it.

See what I mean with the description of my ventilation system here

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

and here

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

regards
Peter

rubber mats - standing on cement all the time is a real bummer.

drying racks

make sure you have storage shelves

(if you need to worry about dust, maybe a drop ceiling)

Don't forget the jacuzzi and the massage bench. There is nothing like getting a massage and then relaxing in the bubble bath while agitating a bit the film tank.

Four overhead outlet boxes, each one centered on one side of the garage, each outlet controlled by a separate switch, into which you can plug safelights. Requires a bit more wiring and conduit, but gives you a lot of flexibility.

An electrician to install a breaker box between the circuit which feeds the garage, and the things you intend to put inside.

Auxillary T connections in your water supply to the sink, terminating in brass pipe adapters, so that you can add an additional heater/cooler unit.

An easily-changeable cartridge filter in your cold water line.

Shutoff valves ahead of the auxillary T connections (and, in the cold water line, ahead of the filter) so you can change the cold water filter, add those water accessories, and change faucet washers.

At least one sink as deep as the standard laundry room unit.

Good luck.

/s/ David Beal ** Memories Preserved Photography, LLC

easy access to paper towels at the wet side (not having to walk to get one is a plus)

'lunch trays' 'caffeteria trays' useful for examining prints under white light, you put the print on the tray (squeegee if needed) and you can rotate/tilt the tray all you want (avoiding reflections and such is hard when the print is stuck in 1 spot)

a way to turn on the white lights from very close to your wet side, very useful for examining test strips and work prints while they are still in the fix *flip on the light for a quick peek, find out its a junker, toss it in the nearby trash can and turn off the light and print another* all without doing more than reaching your arms out

have a lot of space for stuff that is around you when working on your enlargements, I think an ideal setup is something that surrounds you, if possible like a corner desk.., I work in this way and find it very useful compared to a normal counter.... i keep my printing paper and negatives and log book to my right side and my dodging/burning focusing sheets to my left side..... easier than having them all stacked up in the 2x2foot space i have available on a counter

a big comfy chair !!! <--- if you dont like standing around a lot youll surely want a chair, and if you plan on spending a lot of time in the darkroom you can avoid the *leaning over staring at prints in the developer achey back syndrome* by getting a chair and having a sink that wouldnt be above your shoulders while you sit in a chair in front of it..

Beer fridge?

I've just finished converting my third bedroom into a darkroom - got lots of great tips from these forums and was feeling pretty smug that I'd covered absolutely everything and I had the best darkroom in the world when I closed the door only to have the door-knob come off in my hand - luckily I was on the outside of the door! My tip is - check your door handles and make sure you have some means of contacting the outside world just in case - you know how sods law works - the impossible WILL happen, its only a matter of time. And aren't plumbers just your very favourite people?? When I asked mine for a 'ballpark' figure for installing the necessary he muttered a very acceptable price - after the work was finished he actually hand delivered the account which was about three times the 'ballpark' figure - luckily I was sitting down at the time and had a mouthfull of cake so my kneejerk reaction was fairly subdued. Can't print with 'em, can't print without 'em!
I also built a set of drying racks under one side of the enlarger bench and because they're not closed off seemed to collect a ton of dust - so I attached velcro around all four sides, got a piece of rubber-sided curtain material, sewed velcro around that and just keep attached to front of racks when not in use - problem solved. Good luck with it all David, just accept that its going to cost a lot more than you think and have fun with it anyway.
Patricia.

Bed and night stand...

If you're taking over the entire garage, the Mrs. will likely suggest that you retire to there as well; I know mine would...

Joe