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  #11  
Old 26th December 2013, 12:51 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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I carry out two 5 litre containers when required. I wash in the house. I have thought about a semi-permenant supply by linking up to an outside hose tap. It would be cold water only, and then you need to factor in drainage. I can work well without running water, but if you feel it is necessary, I would think it best to go the whole way with hot, cold and drainage.
Alex
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  #12  
Old 26th December 2013, 01:02 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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While professionally laid pipes connected to the main house waste pipe would be expensive, I wonder if a soak-away close to the shed might not be a possibility. Given that a lot of houses use soak-aways for their rain water from their roofs I'd have thought that the amount of water from a shed darkroom would be minimal by comparison so a small soak-away would be OK?

Just a thought

Mike
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  #13  
Old 26th December 2013, 05:43 PM
joenail joenail is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eriktheviking View Post
I've splashed out on having a shed custom built by a local guy complete with insulation and electrics. What's the best way of having water? I don't want a permanent water supply as this would mean digging up most of the garden for pipework and the budget doesn't go that far, but I do need a good water supply for print washing and chemical mixing.
Erik, I have a darkroom in my shed too, without water, and I manage fine. Chemical mixing and storage takes place in the house, because the shed's too cold when I'm not using it. And I wash prints in the bath.

You could maybe run a hose into your shed if you have a tap in your garden, but the water would likely be too cold for anything other than washing trays.

I suppose there would be a way of running some small, above-ground pipes/hoses from the house and into a sink, with another pipe running from the sink to somewhere else using a soak-away system as Mike said, but it seems too much hassle to be worth it really, as it's not difficult to just carry chemicals, etc. back and forth as and when they're needed.

Joe.
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  #14  
Old 26th December 2013, 10:27 PM
John King John King is offline
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My darkroom is at present in my garage which is part of the house and runs straight off the kitchen. I carry all the water to mix print developer from the kitchen and then a 2 gallon bucket of clean water to drop prints into after they have been fixed. At this time of yer it can get chilly but not so much as it stops me using it.
My house is up for sale at present so when I actually manage to move I have promised myself a customised darkroom with running water - Sheer luxury

The film developing stage is carried out in the utility room which also is also annexed to the kitchen. The utility room has hot and cold running water water so it is a convenient setup. Prints are also washed in the utility room too.
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  #15  
Old 26th December 2013, 10:34 PM
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Argentum Argentum is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eriktheviking View Post
I've splashed out on having a shed custom built by a local guy complete with insulation and electrics. What's the best way of having water? I don't want a permanent water supply as this would mean digging up most of the garden for pipework and the budget doesn't go that far, but I do need a good water supply for print washing and chemical mixing.
A small plastic garden water butt. They come with outlet tap and lid and you should be able to rig some pumping unit to take water from it. Then you only need to fill it from garden hose from time to time.

OR

A standard header tank which you can have a garden hose connector the ball cock which guards against overfilling.

http://www.plumbnation.co.uk/site/co...-tanks/?page=1

And if its on a stand then you can just turn on a lower tap for gravity feed.
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  #16  
Old 27th December 2013, 01:51 AM
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Argentum Argentum is offline
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Oh, and an outside tap on the house makes for using a hose to shed much easier.
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  #17  
Old 28th December 2013, 07:08 AM
Jeff Sheff Jeff Sheff is offline
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Morning Erik, I have a workshop that houses my darkroom about four metres from my house. I ran the pipes up in the air to get mains water there. This works fine most of the year but even with the pipes being insulated I have to turn the water off for the coldest days to prevent it freezing. When I built it I should have laid the pipes underground and I may get around to it one day. Regarding how to get water to your darkroom you only have two choices as far as I can see, a temporary hose pipe into a storage tank or bucket it across. You could store it in one of those square cold water tanks like the one used for domestic water in a loft.
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  #18  
Old 28th December 2013, 11:02 AM
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Steve Smith Steve Smith is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Sheff View Post
but even with the pipes being insulated I have to turn the water off for the coldest days to prevent it freezing.
It's wise to remember that insulation doesn't keep pipes warmer than the ambient temperature. It just slows the rate of change of temperature.

An insulated pipe outside in freezing conditions will very quickly freeze if no water of a higher temperature is flowing through it.

The best place for pipes is about three feet underground as the temperature at that depth is fairly constant all year round.


Steve.

Last edited by Steve Smith; 28th December 2013 at 11:16 AM.
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  #19  
Old 28th December 2013, 11:50 AM
Alan Clark Alan Clark is offline
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I've had a darkroom in a wooden garden building for almost ten years. It has no running water. The nearest garden tap is 20 yards away and the ktchen, with a hot tap, 30 yards. I don't really find it incconvenient, and have a very low-tech water system; two buckets. One lives in the darkroom, and is used as a slops bucket. The other lives in the house and is carried out full of warm water when I want to do some printing.
With no sink and water available to wash things a simple strategy is used to avoid the need to wash things. For mixing chemicals I have a 100ml glass graduate, and a jug to ladle water from the bucket. To mix developer at 1+9 I first fill the graduate with developer which is then poured into a tray, then it is sucessively filled with water nine times, to dilute the developer, by which time it is clean. The fixer tray is then filled in the same way, leaving a clean graduate for next time.
At the end of the session all liquids are poured into the slops bucket and trays and prints taken to the kitchen for washing. I then take them back to the darkroom and hang the wet prints on a line.

Alan
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  #20  
Old 28th December 2013, 06:56 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CambsIan View Post
Adrian, if you ( or anyone else ) were to consider going down the shed route, I would suggest a wooden one, not a metal one. The wooden type was for me was the easier one to attach the insulation, the lining etc., just screwed everything to the frame. I have a metal shed that I use for garden storage, but it does suffer from condensation.

wilfbifherb, I agree, it a great space, that works a treat with lots of advantages.

JOReynolds, thanks for the compliment, the tumble dryer was a small, but worthwhile concession to the "other half".

Ian
Any risk of dust/condensation from the tumble dryer?
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