setting up a dark room in unfinished basement

Hello,
I am looking at setting up a dark room in my bsmt. The only problem is
my bsmt is unfinished, which means it's all empty and to put up dry
walls to build a room it'll cost me lots of $$$. Has any one ever
setup a room for printing and processing in an environment like this
successfuly? Please help.
apkesh

Apkesh wrote:
Hello,
I am looking at setting up a dark room in my bsmt. The only problem is
my bsmt is unfinished, which means it's all empty and to put up dry
walls to build a room it'll cost me lots of $$$. Has any one ever
setup a room for printing and processing in an environment like this
successfuly? Please help.


If you can make the basement light tight you're laughing. No need for
drywall just cover the windows. I'm assuming you have a door heading
downstairs that you can close. The only reason I want walls is because I
keep getting lost walking to the sink with the lights off. Small rooms have
some advantages. All I did was setup a table for the trays. A second one for
the enlarger.

Nick

On 18-Feb-2004, (Apkesh) wrote:

I am looking at setting up a dark room in my bsmt. The only problem is
my bsmt is unfinished, which means it's all empty and to put up dry
walls to build a room it'll cost me lots of $$$. Has any one ever
setup a room for printing and processing in an environment like this
successfuly? Please help.

Basements are a great source of moisture and dust. It's worth some effort to
seal the darkroom and provide filtered air pumped into the darkroom for
ventilation and to keep the dust out. I used sheet flooring over the cement
to help keep the dust down. It's also easy to clean.

Since your floor is probably cement, get some pads like they use in
restaurants to save your legs.

If the ceilings are low, consider building an adjustable table under the
enlarger for your easel. I actually built a box above the rafters to make
room for the enlarger head when it's at the top of the column.

If you don't have a low enough connection to your plumbing drain, you can
use a sump pump and a large container (I use a horse watering trough) and
pump the wastewater up to the nearest drain (in my case it's the same drain
as the washing machine.)

Plan your electricals carefully. Make sure the circut you plug the darkroom
into has sufficient power. I had no choice and I'm on the same circut as the
gas dryer. When it starts it sucks enough juice to blow the fuse if I'm
running my heater in the darkroom. We don't dry clothes when I'm in the
darkroom. Be sure to use GFCI for all the outlets and devices in the
darkroom. I had a timer fall into the stainless sink full of water upon
which I was leaning. The GFCI tripped and the timer was toast, but I didn't
feel a thing.

Darkroom sinks are easy to build, but as more and more commercial darkrooms
are going digital you might be able to find a used sink. I found an 8 foot
sink including water baths, a built in print washer and a temp control valve
for about what it would cost me to build one out of plywood and epoxy paint.

Have fun.

--
Tom Thackrey
www.creative-light.com
tom (at) creative (dash) light (dot) com
do NOT send email to (it's reserved for spammers)

"Apkesh" wrote in message
om...
Hello,
I am looking at setting up a dark room in my bsmt. The only problem is
my bsmt is unfinished, which means it's all empty and to put up dry
walls to build a room it'll cost me lots of $$$. Has any one ever
setup a room for printing and processing in an environment like this
successfuly? Please help.
apkesh

I may get some 'feedback' on this one, but I recall reading in Ctein's book
_Post Exposure_ he put up a simple frame of wood and covered it with black
garden plastic as well as the exposed walls. Ctein is an expert printer and
well recognized for his work, so if this 'makeshift' darkroom works for him,
no reason it won't for you either.

Now, the plastic will minimize the dust, but temperature and humidity are
other things altogether. Water and drainage will also need to be available.

Putting up your own drywall and framing is not as expensive as one may think
if they can do the work themselves. If you have someone who shares your
interest in the darkroom and can lend a hand, that will make it much easier
(trying to hold a 4' X 8' piece of sheetrock with one hand while trying to
get the screw to go in with the other usually generates a new vocabulary).

Jim



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I have had darkrooms in basements most of my life... A plastic lined booth
is your best, quickest, cheapest answer ... did I mention that it is the
best as it makes controlling dust easy

Put up 2x4 and 2x2 framing walls just strong enough to hold black, 6 mil,
construction, plastic sheeting stapled to it... the heavy stuff - worth
every penny
The biggest hassle is the swinging door, which needs to be properly framed
to last... If your basement can be made dark enough, skip the swinging door
and put the opening so it points at a blank wall... If you need the
swinging door get some help from a buddy who has done house construction, if
you have not...

Remember to put down linoleum on the floor to control dust... Go to the
discount joints and get the cheapest, ugliest, stuff you can find...
Remember to tack sheet plastic to the overhead joists to control dust... Use
3/4 x 1 cross battens to keep it from drooping, and to give you places to
mount lights...
Set up a fan, with a filter, to blow air into the darkroom for ventilation,
and to blow entering dust out... You may need an additional source of heat
in the winter, I use a 1500 watt electric heater on the counter top for
mine...

I would then spray paint the inside of the plastic walls and ceiling with
white paint... A dark room needs adequate safelight to work by - and the
black plastic sucks up the light like a sponge and leaves it too dark for
me, but that's a personal decision...

You can build counters, but a pair of Home Depot saw horses, with a cheap
door laid across the top, and screwed/bolted to the saw horses, and the
whole thing screwed to the wall studs to stiffen it up, will work just
fine.. If it is too low for you, then use the door as the top shelf of a
flat box with plywood sides 6" to 12" high and a bottom shelf of plywood
(will need some 3/4" x 1" stringers to stiffen it), which is then laid on
the horses... This raises the top surface to your preferred height and gives
you a shelf underneath to boot...

cheers ... denny

"Apkesh" wrote in Hello,
I am looking at setting up a dark room in my bsmt. The only problem is
my bsmt is unfinished, which means it's all empty and to put up dry
walls to build a room it'll cost me lots of $$$.

Mine is a 6x10 ft area in a corner of the basment.
The added walls are framed with 2x2s and sheet cardboard stapled
to it (some plywood as well) -- leftovers from local construction sights.
Got some black gaffers tape from Epperson Photo in Oklahoma City and
that seals well all of the edge light leaks (like around duct work).
Caulk works well for frame edges. Some black plastic (from film & paper
packaging) also work well for covering edges.

Water comes from a near-by utility sink, via garden hose and drains,
also via garden hose, to the basement floor drain. Clean and practical.
Fortunately dust is not an issue unless things get really dry.
Just a little moisture in the air helps.

Temperature is the only environmental issue I struggled against.
But if bottles are not kept against the outside block wall then all is well.
Enlarger height might be a problem. I got a D5 5-foot upright and so
have to keep it on a small table. The main floor gets in the way.
(Should I punch a hole in the kitchen floor? What would the wife think?)
The 4-foot upright would have been more practical, but alas.

I think the entire darkroom facility cost me about $40.

You can build a good, clean darkroom on a budget.
Dust and light control are the environmental factors to keep control of.
Paint the walls black. It's the best $10 you can spend to keep your prints
contrasty.

Collin

I share the furnace/utility/laundry/cat-litter room as a darkroom. I just
cover the basement windows. The only problem with such a big room is
ventilation. I currently use none (the room is 25'x12') , leave the door
open, cover the trays, and limit my exposure to about 2 hours a week.
25x12x8 == 2400 cu. feet. At 10 air changes an hour, I need a 400 CFM fan.
I have plans to install one soon but it hasn't stopped me. Covering the
trays really helps...

You would think I have dust problems, but it isn't bad at all. Not even
with litter and a dryer


"Apkesh" wrote in message
om...
Hello,
I am looking at setting up a dark room in my bsmt. The only problem is
my bsmt is unfinished, which means it's all empty and to put up dry
walls to build a room it'll cost me lots of $$$. Has any one ever
setup a room for printing and processing in an environment like this
successfuly? Please help.
apkesh

(Apkesh) wrote in
om:

Hello,
I am looking at setting up a dark room in my bsmt. The only problem is
my bsmt is unfinished, which means it's all empty and to put up dry
walls to build a room it'll cost me lots of $$$. Has any one ever
setup a room for printing and processing in an environment like this
successfuly? Please help.
apkesh

Drywall isn't really that expensive. About $25 in materials for an 8 foot
square wall, including framing. You can do it yourself. You can find
instructions on the web. Since its not really living space, it doesn't
need to have the nice neat finish of your house.

I think that even if you don't do anything other than plastic, as several
others have suggested, that you should put down flooring and cover the
rafters to keep down dust.

Bob

--
remove the backwards "SPAM" to reply.

On 18 Feb 2004 20:24:11 -0800,
(Apkesh) wrote:

Hello,
I am looking at setting up a dark room in my bsmt. The only problem is
my bsmt is unfinished, which means it's all empty and to put up dry
walls to build a room it'll cost me lots of $$$. Has any one ever
setup a room for printing and processing in an environment like this
successfuly? Please help.
apkesh


feb1904 from Lloyd Erlick,

In a basement, the cement floor will be a big
problem. It will very likely release dust forever.
There will always be a moisture problem with a
cement floor below grade, in contact with the
soil. The severity of the problem will vary
greatly depending on location, climate, and the
lay of the land. (I saw a house in Toronto,
downtown no less, that actually had a little
trickle of running water going through its
basement. A veritable miniature river. The
succession of owners had given up trying to block
it and had settled for channeling it. Ground waer
in a city, yechh...)

Getting around this problem leads people to all
sorts of floor treatments, some of which are huge
errors.

Any type of covering or coating is an error on a
basement floor. Rugs or linoleum coverings trap
moisture underneath, and mildew will inevitably
result. Any floor cover like a rug must be
removable for cleaning. And it must be removed and
cleaned once in a while. The floor underneath will
need a scrub and sterilization, too.

Coatings like paint (I've used several different
types, including two part epoxy swimming pool
paint) always fail eventually, leaving a flaking
mess. There is always moisture underneath them,
i.e. between the coating and the cement.

The best solution is the easiest and cheapest.
Clean the floor to within an inch of its life.
Scrub it and rinse it and sweep it and vacuum it
and in general eliminate all dirt as well as you
can. Then seal it with a water based glue; I use a
product called Weldbond, diluted about 1+3 to 1+6
with plain tap water. Swab it around all over the
floor with the cheapest string mop you can get.
Let it soak in (that's why it's fairly dilute) and
dry. Repeat the process as many times as you feel
necessary. It can be done again at any time, even
when the darkroom furniture is in place, to renew
it. No smell, no fumes, no harm to photo
materials. Floor wax or polish can be applied
after the sealer is dry (I don't bother, though),
and they are easily renewable treatments, too,
with no big move of furniture needed. But the
strippers for wax and polish can be pretty stinky,
even though they are mild by comparison to paint.

If the walls are dusty, treat them the same way.

Ceiling dust can be cheaply controlled by stapling
two or four mil sheet polyethylene across the
ceiling joists. It's easy to cut through any spot
you want to work on later, and re-cover with more
sheet plastic.

The walls could be draped with the same sheet
plastic to control dust, too, depending how
stylish you'd like the place to look. Wall dust
will then collect on the floor at the base of the
walls, where it can be vacuumed and/or swept up.

If you use a canister or shop type of vacuum
cleaner, a long length of hose can be placed on
the exhaust port and led out of the darkroom area
to keep from blowing up a storm in there.

If you're not the owner of the real estate where
you're putting in this darkroom, consider
everything you do in terms of portability and ease
of taking it with you when you leave. My sinks are
on wheels, and the taps connect with laundry and
dishwasher type pressure hoses. I connect to the
house plumbing via the kind of valves used to
connect/disconnect washing machines. I did it this
way even in a place I owned for twenty-eight
years!

regards,
--le
_______________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits,
2219 Gerrard Street East, unit #1,
Toronto M4E 2C8 Canada.
---
voice 416-686-0326

http://www.heylloyd.com
_______________________________________

On 19 Feb 2004 05:39:12 -0800,
(Collin Brendemuehl) wrote:
....
Paint the walls black. It's the best $10 you can spend to keep your prints
contrasty.

Collin



feb1904 from Lloyd Erlick,

I think you're right, but I have an alternative to
paint (too stinky and messy for me...).

Just pin up (or tape if you prefer) black paper
(from seamless backdrop rolls) or black card or
even black plastic sheeting (maybe from the bags
photo paper comes in). There are probably only a
few square feet that are important in terms of
effect on the prints. Others may not be as
obstinate as I am about paint, volatiles, and in
general all the smells of moden life...

regards,
--le
_______________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits,
2219 Gerrard Street East, unit #1,
Toronto M4E 2C8 Canada.
---
voice 416-686-0326
lloyd AT the-wire DOT com
http://www.heylloyd.com
_______________________________________