When water proofing ICF below grade comes up as a topic the answers almost always go to a "plastic" dimple material of some kind. delta MS for example. I hate working with the stuff, and having to hide the top edge from view with an exterior baseboard of some kind is rediculious. I would like to run stucco below grade if I can water proof the ICF first. Isn't there an answer? thanks K52

The reason dimple material keeps coming to the top of the discussion is because it is dimple material. It forms an open space between the wet surface of the soil and the foam surface. If any water does get in there, and it inevitably will, it will flow freely down to the bottom where it drains away harmlessly, if there's proper drainage!  Peel and stick and liquid applied coatings don't provide free drainage the same way.

Foundation walls leak because there is water and hydraulic pressure. You can't prevent the water from getting there, so the best solution is to prevent hydraulic pressure. Dimple is the only material that really does that.

From my own personal experience with building this house there is no readily available off the shelf solution for trimming the top edge of dimple plastic that will blend into the foam. I understand your frustration with that aspect of it.

A peel and stick or spray on membrane should be the first membrane, then followed by dimple membrane. But if you don't like dimple I have seen the waterproofing outfits put on a 4' x 8' x 1" sheets of the a course yellow fiberglass, it is not a membrane but water flowed freely the length of the sheets to reduce hydrostatic pressure. I do not know what it is called.

It is my understanding that you terminate the dimple board approximately 1" below grade. Then your stucco gets run to the top of it.

I think dimple material works quite well for waterproofing.  However, I try to never forget that one of the best ways to hold down hydraulic pressure on a below grade wall is to use clean river gravel or clean number 67 fractured granite or hard limestone for the backfill up to within one foot of the surface and then slope the earth away from the home.  

I am continually amazed about how many homes pass final inspections without the proper slope on the ground around the house as specified by the code.

thanks for the help so far. i see that dimple is unavoidable. k52

is the answer any different if I indicate that the grade beams and ICF's are beside a crawl space not living space? thanks again K52