[pure-silver] Re: other new darkroom

Shannon
You may also want to consider the environmental effects of using concrete, ie the major impacts that people tend to associate with concrete are the use of cement, which is produced in an energy intensive process, and the extraction of raw materials such as virgin aggregates. Just a thought!
Having said that, my own darkroom has a concrete floor with ceramic tiling and is awkward to stand on for significant periods (for example lith printing) without some form of anti-fatigue mat. 

Chris

At 22:31 30/05/2008, you wrote:

You're right:  standing on concrete all day is very exhausting.  That's
another reason I am re-thinking the concrete floor idea.

--shannon


On May 30, 2008, at 3:14 PM, Bogdan Karasek wrote:


Hi,

I just want to chime in on the question of  a concrete floor in the
darkroom.  This is from my personal experience with concrete floors.
I have my darkroom in the basement which has a clearance of 8 feet,
the ceiling is finished (joists and load bearing beams are hidden) as
are the walls but the floor is concrete.   When we first moved in here
18 years ago, we kept wondering why it was always so much more dusty
in this house as opposed the previous apartment we lived in.    The
basement concrete floor in our new home had been painted but the paint
was peeling and large parts of the concrete were exposed.  This was
the source of our dust.  So one summer, we emptied the basement and
decided to do the job properly.  First, I scrapped off the remainder
of the old paint, washed the concrete floor with muriatic acid, (a
must to have clean concrete) using stiff brooms and rinsing with water
and mops; when dry, the special gray paint for concrete was applied, 3
coats.  Since that operation, the dust level has dropped dramatically
and I later installed my first darkroom in the basement and dust is
not a problem.   I use the washing tubes in the laundry room to
develop my film, wash my prints, do my toning.  Believe me, you do not
want to spend the day standing on a concrete  floor..... it's murder
on the feet.  My solution was to lay down several sheets of 3/8
plywood in the area where I did most of my standing and covered that
with thick rubber mats, the kind they use in children's playrooms,
they are about 3 feet square and interlock with each other and come in
different colours.  Now my feet thank me after a day of darkroom work.

I understand the need to be able to wash the floor if you spill some
chemicals, so much easier to mop a concrete floor,  but a wooden floor
will do just as well.  And your feet will thank you.  ;)

Cheers,
Bogdan

Shannon Stoney wrote:


In addition to packing up and moving my city darkroom, I am thinking
of building one in TN in the country. It will be an outbuilding built
from scratch.  Any suggestions?  I know you have to have a wet side
and a dry side, and I am a stickler for perfect ventilation, and I
want to have a concrete floor.  Other than that I am open to
suggestions.

--shannon
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--
________________________________________________________________
 Bogdan Karasek
 Montréal, Québec                     bogdan(at)bogdanphoto.com
 Canada                               www.bogdanphoto.com

                    "I bear witness"
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