Darkroom Size

1750Shooter

1750Shooter

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I'm finally in a position where I can build a dedicated darkroom onto my house. Any suggestions on minimum size. I'll be handling 35mm, 2 1/4, 5x7, & maybe 8x10. The large format I will only be contact printing so I only need room for a small enlarger. I'm planning on hot & cold water, but am open to other suggestions. Thanks for any advice.
 
I would suggest a room about 8' x 10' with a doorway in the middle of the 8 ft wall. Put a cabinet on one 10 ft wall for the enlarger and dry storage. Put a large sink and countertop on the other 10 ft wall with storage for trays and other wet storage.
I am just about ready to build one in my basement, a copy of my last one I hope. I have a enlarger cabinet that is 9 ft long and my two sinks total 10 ft long.
...Terry
 
Two major constraints are the size of the enlarger (a 5x7 can easily go over two meters tall and possibly require a reinforced floor) and the size of the prints you want to make which will influence the size of the wet-side (not forgetting the wash). If you think you will ever want to make prints over 50cm then make sure you plan in the space now! If you can find a vertical-slot processor then you'll save a lot of dev/stop/fix space, but would still need tray space for any toning, and perhaps the washing too.
 
My darkroom is L shaped. Think of a 3.6meter by 3.1 meter square. Then cut out a chunk that's 1.6 by 2.25

I guess I could also call it 3.2 by 2.0 meters square with an "alcove" that's 1.6 by 1.3 meters. The short side of the alcove connects to the main part of the room. The sink runs down the alcove and the main part of the room has the enlarger, some shelves and a drying rack.

My sink is 202cm by 62 cm

I have done 11x14 prints. In theory could do 16x20 but never have. I have a 4x5 enlarger. It's a bit cramped, but easy to work in. I haven't printed bigger than 8x10 for a while. I use most formats from 35mm to 8x10. 4x5 enlarger, so 8x10 is contact printing only.
 
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I recommend a 4x5 enlarger. It will handle all of the "smaller" formats you mentioned without issue and also allow you to enlarge from 4x5 if necessary. 5x7 and 8x10 I would leave for contact printing only unless you're willing to deal with an 8x10 enlarger which are quite large.
 
Make the darkroom as large as possible and for which you find economical to heat. Furniture can always be rearranged in a tighter orientation to make large empty spaces more cosy. My darkroom is a closet full of junk, the workspace is 3' x 3'. It's extremely depressing sitting in there and I haven't used it in over two months, preferring to send stufff out to the labs instead.
 
Paint the walls a light color. Yellow is a good choice. If you have a lot of light leaks from your enlarger, you might want the walls right around it darker, but overall reflecting light that is "safe" around the room is not a problem.
 
funkydog said:
Make the darkroom as large as possible and for which you find economical to heat. Furniture can always be rearranged in a tighter orientation to make large empty spaces more cosy. My darkroom is a closet full of junk, the workspace is 3' x 3'. It's extremely depressing sitting in there and I haven't used it in over two months, preferring to send stufff out to the labs instead.
Click to expand...

And, no matter how large, in a few years it will be too small.
 
But regardless of whatever you go with, you won't be a slave to a computer. You can be active, listen to music, walk around back and forth between enlarging and developing, etc. it's a freeing environment but not for the impatient ADD types.
 
The two darkrooms I have built have been of a long and narrow "galley" shape. Enlarger and darkroom sink along one long wall, and and eight foot counter-top along the other, with space for dry mounting press, light boxes, and film loading space. It's only six feet wide by 13 feet long, leaving me maybe a 22 inch aisle down the center. It feels cozy and efficient for me, with zero waste space. If two people were going to work at the same time, that center aisle would probably need to be at least four feet wide.

In your case, you want to add a darkroom onto the house. This sounds like new construction, not just a room walled off in the basement. Depending on the space available, perhaps a galley type design would work for you, by placing the long wall agains the exterior house wall. If you made it 8 by 16 feet, you should have room for all those enlargers (well, maybe 8 by 18 feet), and the new construction still wouldn't stick out into the yard too much.

In between the hot and cold water, you will want a mixing valve to regulate temperature. If you get a regulator valve, be sure and get one meant for low flow rates, like maybe a quart or two a minute. One meant for higher flow won't do a thing at the low flow of an amateur darkroom!

An under the counter refrigerator is essential for beer. A second one for film and paper might be considered, space permitting . . .

Lay it out on paper with rectangles cut out to move around representing the sink, counter, enlargers, etc. As Wilbur and Orville said, "If it works on paper, it'll fly."

Don't forget the doorway. And the door needs to be light-tight. Oh, and if you have enough space, a light trap is a wonderful luxury! You can walk in and out with no need for a light-tight door. Aids air circulation, too.

Good luck with it!
 
Yes don't forget the beer. When you get a buzz going on where you don't sweat the small stuff while making prints is where you'll start really seeing art rather than science happening. ;-)

And don't forget the selenium toner.
 
Other suggestions....

Other suggestions....

1750Shooter said:
I'm finally in a position where I can build a dedicated darkroom onto my house. Any suggestions on minimum size. I'll be handling 35mm, 2 1/4, 5x7, & maybe 8x10. The large format I will only be contact printing so I only need room for a small enlarger. I'm planning on hot & cold water, but am open to other suggestions. Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...

Besides hot and cold water......Rum, Vodka, and various mixes.:D
 
Depending on where you live and if you have one a basement is an ideal place for a dark room as it will require much less heat which in tern dries out the air and a bit of humidity in the air will cut down on air born dust and static electricity.
your darkroom should be large enough to comfortable house your dry side and wet side with enough separation to avoid splashing chemicals on the dry side. a room eight feet wide will give you a counter on each side with a three foot aisle. which I find comfortable. and gives enough splash protection for all but the most egregious errors in judgment. the width of the room can be as little as five feet and still work fine with the five by eight room you can continue the countertop across the back giving you a u shaped area about three feet by tree feet so every thing in the dark room is within easy reach. Keep you're running water on an inside wall if your above ground and make sure your room is well ventilated. If you're doing primarily black and white make the wet side one very large sink which will make clean up a breeze. Make sure your ventilation is filtered for dust. Dust is your biggest enemy in the dark room and the more you can eliminate air born dust the easier your work will be.
 
Roger Hicks said:
No. Really. Our last darkroom (in use for 10 years) was actually a little too big.

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...

Well, that was said a little tongue in cheek, but mine seems to fill up with extra equipment, supplies, prints and who knows what. My wine/liquor cabinet is not in the darkroom, so that's not a factor.
 
you might also consider the future possibility of doing ( large ) contact prints using a digital negative. Space for a small vacuum frame and appropriate sized trays. I recently re-started doing cyanotype prints, but many of the other alt.print types or even 'normal' contrant prints would be an option. The ability to print a digital negative was the new twist on an old process.

Casey
 
Oh, and if you have enough space, a light trap is a wonderful luxury! You can walk in and out with no need for a light-tight door. Aids air circulation, too.
Click to expand...

For a single user Darkroom, I would suggest against this because it's also a route for dust to get in.

Good ventilation is a must. Open trays when you're printing or washing make it humid, among other reasons. Positive pressure (blow filtered air IN) would be a great thing if you can manage it somehow. I made "Z" shapes out of black ABS pipe and elbows to make light-trap vents. You can certainly buy 'official' darkroom louvers also. I have a bathroom type fan sucking air out, so it mostly enters the room through those traps. I've considered filters on them, but have never gotten around to it.

I have an electrostatic air filter in the DR that runs on low all the time. It's been a pretty good dust-free environment for 15+ years now.
 
Thanks, friends, for all your input. I hadn't realized a 5x7 enlarger was that big! I hadvalready planned for a beer refrig & a film freezer, so I'm good there. Now I can sit down at my drawing board & get to work.
 
I'd recommend one of the virtual planning pieces of software as well for final visualization. I know google makes one that's freely available. Take a few measurements of all important things and start from there.

Also, if you're able to manage a Delta 8ft sink you'll be very happy.
 
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