Designing/Thinking about a darkroom

[John Kasaian]

Just some thoughts---
I wash my negatives and prints outside in a VersaLab washer and water the foundation landscaping at the same time.
Drying screens are easily built.
A folding plastic table from Costco can increase your counter space yet store easily when not needed
Cleanliness is next to godliness---believe it! Do not tolerate dust in your dark room.
Enlargers do not like to wiggle.
For a sturdy counter with storage, find two identical "old school" filing cabinets (real thick steel, not the flimsy stuff they use today) look in a Re-store or used office supply and put a solid core exterior door on top. If you use this on the "wet side" invest in a plastic laminate for easy clean up. On the "dry side" you can run power cords through the cut out for the door knob.

[Drew Wiley]

I have a ten foot sink, and wish it were a twenty foot sink!

[ac12]

From what has been mentioned, consider separating the stuff that HAS to be in the darkroom from the stuff that can be outside. Example, mounting can be done outside the darkroom. This reduces the needed darkroom space and counter space needed inside the darkroom.

I think you should really think about the LARGE prints. I found 16x20 about the biggest that I can handle in a tray, and even that is difficult to handle, so 11x14 is my practical maximum size for trays. So the larger size prints, I need/use an alternative method to process. Example, I bought a 16x20 drum, to use for 16x20 prints. And a drum takes a LOT less space than the equivalent size in trays. As was mentioned, set up for the largest "normal" size print (whatever that might be, maybe 8x10, 11x14 or 16x20), then go to a commercial darkroom for the infrequent HUGE prints. This reduces your cost, as the darkroom cost will go up as the print size goes up. The sink will likely be a HUGE expense, and the larger the sink the more costly it will be. Example 16x20 prints, tray might be 20 inches wide x 5 trays = 60 inches. That is 8.3 feet of tray space. On top of that you need space to clean stuff, and the print washer. So you are taking about a sink 10+ feet long, or more. What will it be made of; stainless steel $$$ or fiberglass or ... The longer the sink, the more important the supporting structure is ($$), to prevent flexing and cracking/leaking the sink.

You also really want access to a window to vent the darkroom fumes. You have to make an exhaust with a light trap. So an inside room is not the ideal choice for ventilation. My mother did not like the smell of the kitchen, the day after my brother and I used it to print.

The other is that in your parents home, you need to have a setup where you can break down the darkroom, if they sell the house, or if you move out of the area. Example, I have a great darkroom at my parents home ... 2,500 miles away from me. I spent a lot of effort building it, but the darkroom does me no good now. So don't go spending a LOT of $$$$ and effort into it. Even if you buy your own home, you may move, and your darkroom gets left behind.

[Luis-F-S]

Let me see if I've got this right. You've never printed and don't have a darkroom but you want to build one to print 30x50 and up? Yeah right! I've printed for some 40 years and 99.9% of my prints are 8x10. I've printed a few 11x14 and I know what I'm doing. My current darkroom is 8' x 11' and it houses an 8x10 and a 4x5 enlarger. I think you need to establish some realistic criteria before you figure out what to do.

[Drew Wiley]

Big prints are a fad right now. Most beginners don't realize just how much gear, space, and general expense can be involved, especially if all the chuckholes of the
learning curve are factored in. I could personally handle up to 30x40 inch prints in trays, though nobody does. It would take more of a swimming pool than a sink. Big drums are convenient for RC prints, but soggy fiber-based prints will collapse in them after a certain point. Kinda like wanting to fly a 747 before obtaining a
learner's permit for a car. Nothing wrong with ambition. But it's a lot more like running a marathon than a sprint. Most people give up a few miles down the road.

[Harold_4074]

The last couple of posts make a good point; some realistic thinking may be in order here.

Unless you are independently wealthy, you probably won't be climbing far on the learning curve while paying for 32x40 (or larger) printing paper (and chemicals). And while the glamor of huge prints is appealing, unless you have a high level of technique and future "homes" for them, the novelty may wear off rather quickly. (If expense were no object, you presumably wouldn't be considering putting a darkroom into your parents' home anyway; leasing space in a commercial building would make more sense.)

When I reached the point of making prints that were worth displaying, I came to the realization that an 11x14 print on a 16x20 mount takes a [I]lot[I] of wall space; practically all of my prints are 8x10s, either given away or stored in portfolio boxes in a closet. The 11x14s are mostly made specifically for gifts, or (by default) contact prints.

I could do 16x20s; I have negatives which would hold up under that much enlargement quite nicely. But what would I do with the prints? The old rule of "viewing distance = 3x print diagonal" means that they should be seen from about seven feet away. In my house, that would pretty much rule out all but two rooms (living room and family room) and neither of them has enough wall space for more than three or four prints on appropriate mounts.

All things considered, a darkroom sized for 11x14 makes a lot of sense; you can do 8x10 and smaller without having to take three steps between successive operations, and you can explore 16x20 without unreasonable inconvenience. Steve Sherman's reference to kitchen design is spot-on; a kitchen that is too large is tiring to work in, and if you are going to do enough photography to justify a darkroom, you will want it to be comfortable and efficient for whatever tasks you will be spending the most time doing.

[Ted R]

Perhaps modest ambitions are a good starting point, make 8x10 prints from 35mm negatives. These can be mounted and framed and a set of prints can be bound to make a book. See if you like spending a day in the darkroom before investing significant expense in large sinks and trays.

[Eric Woodbury]

Random Thoughts. Look through the post of all the darkroom pictures here. Excellent reference. Look at Clyde Butcher's darkroom. Consider the value of real estate in SF. Maybe make a 16x20 printing darkroom and if the desire hits, have 3 x 5' prints made by an inkjet service (blasphemy, I know). My darkroom is 9x12'. It's very comfortable. I have an 8' and 3' sink, with two enlargers that between them can handle negs from 35mm to 8x10. I can easily make 16x20s and could probably pinch out a 20 x 24, but in general, I like to print 8x10 and 11x14. After a few years, it's hard to store all the prints, so figure that too. \

Have fun.

[angusparker]

Feel free to come and visit my home dark room and see how I arranged it. I think we've met before and I'm in San Francisco too.

My darkroom is about 16x20 feet with a dry room and a dark room. The dark room is designed with both silver and alt processes in mind. The ventilation system is key. I have done prints up to 20x24 uncomfortably, 16x20 is doable and 11x14 optimal. I also have an area for a Jobo processor to mostly develop film.


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[Drew Wiley]

Yes blasphemy; but wide-format inkjet has revolutionized making big prints. I still personally prefer the look of true optical prints as well as darkroom workflow.
But that more plebian option certainly doesn't save money. You get murdered on the inks and the paper. At least with optical paper, you're paying for some real
silver.