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