Hello and thanks up front for the long read and any help! We had an ICF home built in Colorado in 2013. A structural engineer designed the basement floor (floating, due to high clay soil) and the basement walls. An ICF contractor with extensive background in concrete work then GC'd the project. Please keep in mind, this was done and inspected with whatever code was in 2013 and I recognize things may have changed. The problem is that the below grade portions don't seem to have been properly waterproofed. Specifically, after heavy rain or snow melt, water was seeping in through the cold joint between the wall and floor (in this design, the floor was done first, then blocks stacked around the perimeter and then filled.) It took 3 years to convince the contractor to come back and excavate. He then blamed the structural engineer for not specifying a water stop method at the joint. Some remediation was then done, by us, which solved most of the problem. However, I am concerned I can't demonstrate and prove proper remediation when selling the home, and am worried about what's happening to the walls we can't access (under garage, under concrete driveway, under stone patio, etc). The only damp/water-proofing that was done on those below grade ICF walls was a painted on coat of BlueMax (NOT the blue sheeting, the paint-on product available at Home Depot). There was no peel and stick product used at the wall/floor joint, no sheeting product or membrane, no dimple board or membrane. So, main question: Back in 2013, was that considered an acceptable method of water-proofing below grade ICF walls? And, if more should have been done, who was responsible for that? Is it a structural engineer's job to specify this in their design? Or should an ICF contractor know what to do? THANK YOU!

You got what you got.....I would take an angle grinder and cut a slot all the way around right where the wall meets the floor, and then where the water collects use a hammer drill and drill down through all the cement to give the water a place to go... good luck....water proofing icf seems a little harder then poured walls.

We always used 2 systems. Liquid then dimpled over the top. Question I have is there no perimeter drain system? This would keep the water from going thru the joint. Right now I wouldn't build anything without Form a Drain. It just doesn't make sense.

Thank you. There is a perimeter drain...gravel, pipe, etc. I was able to speak to the structural engineer and he said much the same thing. However, his design called for the outer edge of the ICF blocks to meet the edge of the slab/floor. The contractor apparently over-poured the floor a bit, probably to give himself wiggle room. That creates a small lip around the edge where water can sit, even once it goes through the gravel/drain. So that likely contributed to the problem.