Hardwood flooring installation - 15# felt vs red rosin paper

Sep 09, 2008 3 Replies
J

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


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N

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.

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J

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.

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for the input, and the link.

jc

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B

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

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