Our ICF home was never installed with a capillary break between our footing and stem wall. Our water table is fairly high, and I suspect moisture is wicking up and entering our home causing increased humidity. Our home uses ICF for the entirety of the exterior walls. I have thought about different ways to try to retroactively provide a moisture barrier from the soil... perhaps excavating below the footings and placing poly underneath. That still leaves the inside of the footing though. Am I doomed to having to constantly run the dehumidifier? We have adequate ventilation and a correctly sized AC. Do you guys have any ideas?

How long have the ICF walls been there?

First buy a moisture meter to discern where the problem is emanating from. Then decide the course of action. I have never used a capillary break. Our standard answer to a wet excavation site was to use a product like Form-a-Drain for the footings. Proper drainage around the footing is the key. As a side note I notice that when we have rain, like yesterday my sidewalk is dry before the asphalt road. This would leave me to believe that the concrete does not absorb as much water as believed, hence not as much wicking.

Is you ICF exposed or covered in drywall? If you have drywall you will see water on the dry wall.

Are you finding water on the wall or on the floor?

I am questioning if this is really your problem if you aren't seeing actual water. The foam in ICF doesn't let water through, much like a coffee cup, but at the joints between each block water can come though easily. That water usually stays in the crack between each block and runs down the cracks until it hits the floor and then you can see it. I have had this and then chipped the floor concrete and foam away to direct the water back around the cement floor and to the footer drain.

Water can also be in the house and be condensing on the cold wall...You can wipe the wall down and place plastic over the wall in see if moisture is collecting under the plastic....You way be able to tell by where the water is collecting on the plastic if it is coming from the wall or out of the air in the house.

What is your outside humidity in your area? Where do you live?

It is quite likely the problem is not moisture wicking up and entering the home, though it is possible. Given the fact that it's an ICF home, it is far more likely that since the home is tight, you aren't leaking out the warm, humid air; and replacing it with cold, dry air. In other words, the buildup of humidity is a problem common to all tight homes. Leaky homes don't have as much of a problem because it all leaks out.
Sources of humidity include breathing, cooking, bathing, pets, plants, firewood, etc.
The way the humidity is addressed is very climate, house, and family specific. In CZ6, we can usually take care of it with an HRV in the winter and modulating AC in the summer. Shoulder seasons can be a bit difficult to do without a stand-alone dehumidifier. With a large home and few family members, the numbers can flip pretty quickly.

How do you know you have adequate ventilation? How do you know the AC is adequately sized? What climate zone are you in? Home size, family size, ERV or HRV, etc.

Your footings may be wick resistant. Concrete about 4500 psi or more won't wick water. That is why it is in the code to be 5,000 psi

the original poster hasnt come back in some time.

But, what products are available that would be a good capillary break in this situation? inquiring minds want to know!

PS that is interesting about 4500 psi concrete. I did not know that.