Idea for attic insulation baffles. What are your thoughts?

Ininkus

I am going to use blown in insulation to insulate the attic (well, there really is no 'attic') of my 24x24 addition. The trusses that were used are scissor-style cathedral ceiling trusses with a raised heel. The problem this poses is that I have to use a baffle, plus something to block off the soffit so insulation does not fill the soffit vent. I have seen one product on the market that is a cardboard blocker that sort of attaches to the attic baffle, but I had a different idea... tell me what you think of it and where there might be problems:

I have 3 rolls of left over heavy weight felt paper from the roof job. What I did was cut it down to size and fit it between the trusses, stapling it to the side just like you would faced insulation. This seals up the raised heel perfectly and protects it from wind, leaves ample space for air flow at the soffit vent, and then 3.5" of vent cavity along the roof (more than the attic baffles I might add). Then when I blow the insulation on top of the drywall, it can literally fill this cavity and work it's way up. So, do you think it will hold up? Is this a good solution? I am mostly worried about rot, but it should be very protected and heck... it's under my shingles on the roof!

Pics...

Mop in Hand

Good question! Although I can appreicate that fact of trying to use left over building material to save some money, however I'm not so sure this is the way to go about it. My main concern is the paper tearing while trying to fill the cavity. Although the insulation is lightweight enough, the hose may cause a problem. Some how I can see the hose hitting the paper, rips a hole in it, you have to stop, try to repair it, when the drwall is up, looks like a no fun situation. A little more work and some osb may be the way I'd go.

Chemist1961

What about the paper weakening with age and heat?

buletbob

I agree with the above !. I have done many of renovations that had the same idea with the felt paper. when We open up the roof to tie in an addition you just have to sneeze and the paper falls apart. and in some cases the insulation wound up in the soffets and blocked off the vents. you might want to re think this. ( cut up some old shipping boxes? ) bend it and this way you can stop it close to the outside of the plate so the insulation rests on the plate also. tho from your pictures it seems that you did this with the felt. BOB.

Ininkus

Thanks all. I was thinking a lot about this on my drive in today. Not that I want to be in my house for 50 years, but I certainly want to build it with the intent that it will be a nice home for the long haul. I agree, there is a chance that with heat and age this paper could (will) weaken, shrink, buckle, rot, and ultimately rip free of the staples and end up being a huge mess, with a difficult repair! Definately need to go another route.

Yes, I do have this attached at the outside of the plate, up against the siding the comes up through the sofit. Cardboard is not a bad idea, but do you think for the long haul it might do the same thing: deteriorated, buckle, fall apart?

Thanks for the thoughts and advice.

buletbob

I have seen it on older homes and it seemed to still be in go shape, But if your worried about it then plywood or Osb would work just fine.

ThunderCAT

I would use OSB Personally...

Maintenance 6

As cheap and easy as foam baffles are, I can't imagine trying to cut in anything else.

Ininkus

...it's a raised heel truss with sofit vents and blown-in insulation. If I used the baffles I'd still have to find something to block off the sofits.