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#1
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Diary of a DarkRoom Build
Following a bit of interest and questions on a sub-topic mentioned in my 'introduction', I thought it a bit of fun to post a diary of my Darkroom Build and kitting out.
I am building it from raw sheet and timber materials to save cost. This is only possible because I have been abit of a DIY enthusiast over the years and so have decent tools - most markedly so being a decent circular saw for all that cutting and a heavy duty drill for wall hole punching (for services). After site clearing, I setabout building the timber-framed darkroom as an 'extension' to the brick part of the house exactly two weeks ago - Monday the 11th July (2011). Building got really delayed last week after I did my back in by falling backwards onto a house brick (which had been used to hold parts of the roof in place and was then, with many others, left 'littered' about the lawn - careless workmanship that caused me a lot of pain). The first 2 shots show the outside from both main sides (the other being on the boundary line). The build uses 15cm feather-edge pressure-treated timber mounted on double thickness 3" by 2" timbers with a plastic vapour barrier immediately under the feather-edge. The roof is a flat roof, with 1 inch moisture resistant flooring-grade chipboard topped with a damp-proof plastic membrane and bitumen impregnated fiber-based corrugated sheets. The floor is a sprung floor on 3" by 2" timbers using the samemoisture resistant flooring grade chipboard. I am not sure about that window opening at this stage and that may go. By 'double-thickness' I mean that the 3" by 2"timbers holding the walls and ceiling would doubled-up to give 6" by 2". This permits the deep insulation shown in the remaining two photographs.The blue vapor barrier is also clearly shown together with the start of the inner skin - 9 mm mdf boarding. The insulation is cheap as it is meant for insulating existing houses when bought from my local Wickes shop - 170mm thick 'fiber-glass' rolls sheet that is heavily subsidized - I considered this 'fair' as the same insulation is being used to insulate the attached brick part of the house as I subsequently turn that into another bathroom - it too will be 'clad' in the same way so that the whole darkroom and bathroom extension blend into one.(In the third picture, the timbers had yet to be doubled so show as 3" by 2"on the left, the insulation filled wall directly ahead had been doubled). I have already noticed that the room is much much cooler than the 'outside' air when the Sun is directly shining into this part of the garden. Fingers crossed.
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If you never make a mistake, you never learn. |
#2
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If it is not too late I would add a vapour barrier on the inside of the insulation to stop the risk of condensation on the surface of the vapour barrier behind the boarding. The general rule is Insulation on the cold side and vapour barrier on the warm side. Your vapour barrier on the back of the timber cladding is a wise precaution to keep moisture out.
Tony |
#3
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That show the insulation will do it's job. It is a nice looking darkroom.
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Mitch http://photomi7ch.blogspot.com/ If you eliminate the impossible whatever remains no matter how improbable must be the truth. |
#4
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Another week and both the shell of the darkroom, service access and basic workbench layout is completed.
All walls and ceilings were double-skinned with 170mm insulation between the outer feather-edge timber and the inner 9mm MDF. Joints have started to be sealed with simple decorators caulk. For storage, I have a 3 part approach;
The 3rd photo starts to show the 'U' shaped workarea of the dry area and the 4th photo shows the 'separate' wet area with standard sink unit and wet worktop. There is a hole in the bottom right for all services into this darkroom from the adjoining room (which is also being fitted out as a new bathroom). The 5th photo shows how much lower I have had to make the enlarger table than the standard workbench height. This is to fit the Durst D695 enlarger that I currently have on my bedside table! Outside, the new roof area was utilized via a rainwater gulley system to feed water butts and the last photo shows the (stained) darkroom adjoining the (yet to be stained) recently clad single-course brick part of the house which has also had the mega-insulation trick (I did not want to insulate the brick building inside the room as I would loose too much space so simply extended the darkroom idea 'onto' the new bathroom. I am now left with the problem of properly kitting out the darkroom and dust-suppression. I have already had to store electronic bits in the new darkroom so painting gives me some problems. I plan to start with the floor and varnish it with flooring grade varnish a few times - but leaving it a couple of days between coats so as to allow it to fully harden. Then I will slap several coats of paint on the walls AND the workbenches sanding down between coats to get rid of all that 'furring' that you get when you paint fresh wood. When all painted/varnished, a good vacuum followed by a wipe over with a damp cloth should see the darkroom start to become usable as a first pass. My first 'dark' test was a laugh!. Shut the door on a brilliantly sunny day and, after just 2 mins, could clearly see my hands! NO light from the walls/ceiling/floor (success) but LOADS of light from around the door and even cracks in the door - well I did get it for £3 from the local reclamation yard. Lots of work there. I finished fixing the roof later in the week when a recent accident permitted more mobility of my back. It's a good roof and has survived a couple of periods of rain. Cheap too using bitumen impregnated corrugations.
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If you never make a mistake, you never learn. |
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