Posted this in alt.home.repair, thought I would try here as well. It does
have something to do with wood, after all.

I've used rosin paper as underlayment on many floors. What I'd been told
was that it acted as a moisture retarder rather than a moisture or vapor
barrier.

Recently, I was told that termites *love* the red rosin paper by a
professional installer. "Everywhere we've torn up an old floor and found
termites, they've been into that rosin paper". Now, there's a wooden
subfloor below the rosin paper and a wooden floor above it, so did the
termites really even have the ability to *avoid* getting into the paper? Or
does the paper actually *attract* termites?

This is all completly disregarding any of the noise/ease of installation
advantages/disadvantages of one underlayment vs. the other.


Appreciate any advice,

Jc