# Insulation & Baffles



## Bruce50 (Mar 15, 2011)

Hello, Thanks to anyone who can offer some advice,I'm confused on the proper application for the insulation "baffles". I'm re-finishing an attic room which will have attic space above the living area with vents in each gable end of the house, and a sloped ceiling to the wall plate. there are no ventilated soffits, or soffits of any kind at the plate. I have 2 X 6 rafters and wanted to use R-19 insulation. Should the baffles be used on the slope, or is it only useful if the there are vented soffits as opposed to my solid wall plate ? If there is no soffit venting and the baffles are just keeping the insulation from contacting the roof sheathing, is that also part of their design ? Different distributors are giving me different opinions. Some say, since there are no vented soffits I should use R-11 instead of R-19 for increased air space, another distributor says use the baffles and use the R19 as the baffles will give me adequate air space. When I removed the existing drywall there was only R-11 but it was randomly stapled to the roof sheathing and as a result there are a number of "damp" areas where it's stapled. There are also areas of sheathing that had to be repaired. As a result I'm a little hesitant to just throw up some insulation and drywall it. Any help will be* greatly* appreciated, Thank-you! :confused1: Bruce


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

Talk to your Building Department about non-vented roof over the sloped area ceiling; http://www.buildingscience.com/docu.../irc-faq-conditioned-attics?searchterm=attic+

Then just vent each end of the knee wall attic and the peak attic, yet getting the R-value required for your local area.

Gary


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