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