Insulation Baffles

My wife and I started insulating the ceiling of the shed. This was the hardest so far physically for both of us. I am not sure I could have completed it easily if she wasn’t 6’2″ tall with “monkey arms.”

I can only do a few hours of work each week. I mean, if my body was fine, I would do more, but neither my wife or I am in good enough shape that we can do much more. I miss being in my 30s and being able to do a full 8 hours of physical work without being in pain for the next day, and being in bed for the next two.

The first order of business was the ceiling baffles. We got the shed option with a ridge vent. There was a bit of a mix up on the types of venting we needed, so we had a ridge vent and a gable vent. I did not realize the gable vent was on the sides of the shed. I will actually close that in because it’s not needed. Instead I used a 2″ hole cutter on my drill and went around and drilled out 2 holes in each bay of the soffit.

This was harder on my shoulder and collar bone than I would like. It’s at an angle and I no longer have the physical strength to really power through. It only took me a half hour, but it was physically a lot for me.

I don’t have pictures but I didn’t have any drop in vents for it, but I did have some left over replacement window screen, so I cut that and used some liquid nails to glue them in place. Very cheap, effective, and nobody is gonna see anyways. I will have to touch up the paint around the holes though as I had drill drift on some of them.

We opted for 2×6″ joists to fit the baffles and the insulation. My wife actually had to do the majority of the baffle work because again, I am short and it was just easier for her.

While she did that, I glued the screens in place, added puffy foam around the windows and doors, and generally did everything but put the baffles in. I did not have a handle on the expansion of the insulation “doors and windows” puffy foam, and made a mess. I will have to cut that down later.

As a side note we used a hammer tacker for this. It was the only device I had with staples short enough not to punch through the roof sheathing. It worked all right, but 1) it took a hot minute for me to figure out how to load it, and 2) asking two unfit people to use this device was hilariously hard. It was really hard at an angle, above our heads, to swing with enough force to make it work. I followed my wife with a hammer when needed to sink the stables.

In all, we got it in, and feel really good about it. We were careful to not put the baffles down too low, so that would flow from the soffit vents up along the roof to the sheathing.

I think, for two half broken Middle Ages people, we did a pretty good job. I am super proud of my wife, as she doesn’t normally do house fix it stuff, but she did a great job at getting it all in.