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

On Sep 9, 6:29*pm, "joe" wrote:

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?

Joe - I am sure others will chime in here, but a couple of things come
to mind. Just because a guy knows floor installations doesn't mean he
is an knowledgeable entomologist.

Working with these jobsite guys on a regular basis, they tend to think
of things in pretty general terms, so you might want to take something
they say out of their line of work with a grain of salt.

My personal experience in bidding a termite repair job is that no
matter what it is or what is in the way, termites will eat it. OK,
metal excluded. I have seen them eat resin paper, but in the same
place have eaten plywood subfloor, OSB subfloor, white oak flooring,
and yes, even "treated" screeds. I think they eat the paper because
it is there; I don't think it attracts them.

But to find the right kind of underlayment, you need to match it to
your floor. That means you need to put out some more information. Is
it fastened to screeds? Is it an engineered wood installed over a
solid subfloor? Is it a traditional
1x 2 1/2" solid floor?

The flooring will dictate the kind of underlayment that you need, with
the final decision being a consideration for your subfloor attachment
method.

Check these guys out. They even have a help line.

http://tinyurl.com/6gd83j

Robert

wrote in message
...
On Sep 9, 6:29 pm, "joe" wrote:

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?

Just because a guy knows floor installations doesn't mean he
is an knowledgeable entomologist.

==My thought exactly.==

But to find the right kind of underlayment, you need to match it to
your floor. That means you need to put out some more information. Is
it fastened to screeds? Is it an engineered wood installed over a
solid subfloor? Is it a traditional
1x 2 1/2" solid floor?

==solid 3/4" oak (Orange borg bruce pre-fin flooring) over plywood subfloor
over crawlspace. Also a second floor hallway and bedroom.==

The flooring will dictate the kind of underlayment that you need, with
the final decision being a consideration for your subfloor attachment
method.

Check these guys out. They even have a help line.

http://tinyurl.com/6gd83j

Robert,

Thanks for the input, and the link.

jc

joe wrote:

Recently, I was told that termites *love* the red rosin paper by a
professional installer.

I would pose the question to a insect expert or local cooperative
extension service vs. a floor installer. G