TL;DR
An attic baffle is the foam or cardboard chute stapled to the roof deck between rafters at the eaves, holding insulation back so air from the soffit vents can travel up the underside of the roof to the ridge. Without one, blown or batt insulation slumps into the eave and chokes the intake half of the ventilation system, inviting condensation, mold, and ice dams.
What it means
An attic baffle is the foam or cardboard chute stapled to the roof deck between rafters at the eaves, holding insulation back so air from the soffit vents can travel up the underside of the roof to the ridge. Without one, blown or batt insulation slumps into the eave and chokes the intake half of the ventilation system, inviting condensation, mold, and ice dams. Each is paired with a blocking dam so wind washing does not degrade the insulation edge. They are required at vented eaves under IRC R806 and installed before any attic insulation tops up.
Where it sits in the glossary
Attic baffle is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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