Haven't used Ames, but we just finished using Sani-Tred. Be forewarned that interior water proofing is frowned upon in this forum as not being the 'right' way to do it.

We used Sani-Tred in two spots in our basement. Yes, I know the 'right' way to use Sani-Tred is to coat the WHOLE basement in it, but that would have been cost prohibative.

From what I can see so far, the two areas that actually had water intrusion are still bone dry. One, a small back room with poured concrete walls that had never been painted, has been dry for over a year. The other area, a corner and area under a window (also poured concrete), has only been finished a few months ago, but after several rains remains dry.

Working with Sani-Tred wasn't difficult. It was applied in 3 steps (you can find more info on their site), and I can say that the PermaFlex base coat has a catalyst that smells REALLY bad. The Liquid Rubber Base and Thickening Activator (LRB and TAV) don't smell as bad and are great for filling small holes and cracks. The PermaFlex can be a pain in the rear to apply - its really thick and sticky.

We did have to prep the walls before we could use the Sani-Tred products. They had been painted previously so we used their 'Off the Wall Coating Remover' and a pressure washer to strip the paint. That was the least difficult part of the project! The stripper didn't smell (it's orange scented) and it's completely water soluble/environmentally friendly so I didn't worry about sending it down the drain. We didn't even use the super high powered pressure washer they recommended, and it still worked well.

I will say that we never had a HUGE amount of water intrusion. It was really more seepage, but we would get small streams of water from the one corner. Even after redirecting downspouts, regrading the land and paving the gravel driveway. Those all helped reduce the streams to damp spots, but we still had water. Sani Tred may not be the best solution if you have massive amounts of water intrusion, but for our predicament it worked just fine.

Glad you had a good experience with Sani-Tred, and that stripping your walls went well - that can be a hellacious job in/of itself.

We're going to give Ames Blue Max (elastomeric) a go on our basement walls. It's a bit of a gamble, as I still don't know of anyone who has used it yet. We'll do a small test area first and see how it goes. A quick calculation looks like we can use Ames on our walls for about half the price of Sani-Tred. We don't have any water coming in our basement; but want to ensure that it stays dry, reduce the high humidity, and mitigate radon penetration.

On the less-critical areas of our walls; the top portion that is above grade and one entire wall on the down-slope side of the hill that our house sits; we are probably going to use DryLok Extreme - this should save us a bit more money without compromising intended results.

We are going to seal the floor too - possibly using Ames then putting a sub-floor over it; even though it isn't specifically mentioned for floors.

Still hoping to hear some reviews from some Ames users. We'll post results when finished - but probably won't get to it until spring 2011.

Optional addendum:

Agreed; basement sealing/waterproofing is best accomplished using outside techniques at time of construction. But unless the builder and homeowner really have their act together, this is seldom practiced/accomplished - minimum building codes are usually grossly insufficient in this area. Even if you don't have water knocking on the outside foundation, unless the builder has sealed the outside walls with a quality vapor impermeable coating/barrier and poured the floor over a suitable barrier, you are still going to get high humidity and radon penetration into your basement (in most areas). Even if you aren't going to finish your basement or use it for anything, this can still be a problem for you - radon risk is real and mold/mildew may result from high humidity.

Outside foundation waterproofing & theory is whole separate topic and I'm sure there are plenty of existing threads on this site with excellent info.

I'm considering using the Ames BlueMax product on my basement. There aren't many reviews out there and wondering how your project turned out. Any info. is helpful. Thanks!

To Anyone considering using Bluemax Blue Max by Ames, this is for you.
This product does not last. Used on a basement following all there instructions the product dissintigrates when exposed to the alkalinity of concrete..making it useless. After 2 years the whole wall where the product was correctly applied it started to blister and dissintigrate due to exposure of water passing through the concrete wall. Photos where sent to the company and they where questioned and believe it of not but they do not know the difference between efflorescence and effervescence !!. The owner .."mr Ames" claiming to be a ex professor kept calling it effervescence ...telling me they do not know their field. You are better off buying contact cement at your local hardware as it will work just as well. total waste of money. And a bad company to deal with..very dissapointing. Yes I suggest using sanitred as we ended up having to redo the entire basement...but try to handle water also on the outside of the basement !!

I used Blue max on my foundation. I just built a new house and did my basement foundation with it, the outside before I backfilled. I then did a few places on the inside. I also used it under all floor tile in the house and wall tiles in my custom shower and my wife's custom tub. It is great!

CeeCrJr does your new house have drain tiles/sump pump for the outside footings? Where do you live and what kind of soil do you have?

My 1924 Rock Island yard is pure clay, as far down as I can dig. When the ground is saturated, it's not going anywhere except by evaporation. Previous owners at my place tried "sealing" the interior concrete block walls, nothing worked. Interior weep holes at the base of the concrete blocks, with drain tile along the footing, and a sump pump (directed to the alley) does keep it dry. Now that the concrete blocks are always drained the basement humidity is less than 35% (even when the sump pump is busy for several days).

What I'm so curious about is this: if - like in the case of your house - the outside's constantly getting wet through the pores of the concrete (but the inside's completely waterproofed), could that cause the house to one day just sort of crumble down - fall apart?!! I know that probably sounds silly and I admit I don't understand construction (truly know how houses are built!) but I just find it so hard to imagine that concrete - which is known to be porous - is meant to handle all that water without putting the rest of the house above it at risk somehow. Thanks!

First you have to understand how a basement is built. In my case we poured a foundation, then the walls were poured on top of the foundation. The people that built it used an inferior water sealer on the outside. Thus the leak. Concrete is a porous product thus water can move in and out without taking away from the strength of the wall. ie Dams that hold back large lakes are concrete and water moves thru the concrete but does not weaken the dam. So no it will not cause it to break down and fall in. Not in our lifetime anyway. It is a mess, but it does not take away from the strength of the home. Hope this helps. What is so great about the Ames products to me is that they work on the outside or the inside. Trust me the "the stuff is great" just follow the instructions and it does work. There are plenty of how to tapes on the computer, at Ames.com to show how to use each product.

ames has been around since 1774 & 'blue max' since 2002

I have used Ames Blue Max and Maximum Stretch, both work great and no complaints. We live in our basement and we have had a very wet year. No water yet. We are very happy.

I have several 1920 and 1950 era duplex homes in Cleveland Ohio area where Basements are known for there dampness and disfunctioning footer drains. Digging up around house is just about impossible due to close proximity of houses to each other. Personally I Have removed as much previous applied paint as possible, clean walls with a disinfectant, applied muratic acid to etch, rinse then used fiberglass wall straps drilled into slab and sill board and epoxy to prevent wall movement 4in straps 4’oc. 12” wide straps if walls are not cinder block but old clay tile block. Sealed bad spots with water plug. Then applied a layer of Ames block and wall. Just like blue max but I think it is more adhesive and well white in color. Then ensuring down spots and gutters take water away from foundation and slope soil or flower beds away from home and use a visqueen (impervious plastic membrane under flower beds and souls against house typ. 4’ from house if possible) under slopped soil. This has always dried up basements for me. Have renovated over 20 pre wwII homes own 7 rental units. But since I am a state registered professional structural engineer I would also say eliminating any hydrostatic pressure from walls is indeed best but sometimes not possible and in that senerio the above has worked well for me.

Waterproofing problems in basements

I would evaluate a chemical application of concrete waterproofing that allows the concrete to breathe but doesn’t allow water vapor or moisture to flow through the concrete. Xypex or Master Seal’s 500 crystalline concrete water proofing. It will grow into the concrete even from the negative side. Will let the concrete breathe but would also help prevent the rebar from rusting. It works indefinitely in the presence of moisture.