Hello Folks wiser than I!
So here's my deal:
I'm currently going for an install of luxury plank vinyl in a small bedroom of a very old house…the only thing is, my sub-floor is patchy and odd with original hardwood+a patch + random squares of linoleum in one corner, offset by a very strange/unique mosaic type old-ass tile pattern filling out the predominate space of the room. The spotty nature of the sub-floor is only offset by the fact that this house is OLD AS HECK and basically slopes/settles down an inch or at about 2 feet in from the front-facing wall. I've attached a picture for reference with a level.
My questions are thus:
1) It seems that the main issue is the slope at the front of the room, albeit a big problem. The rest of the room is fairly ok, but I'd feel a lot better if I could just get a nice flat substrate. I DO NOT want to remove these tiles as I have no idea as to whether or not there is asbestos in the mastic or the tiles themselves. So what are my options if I do not want to mess with these tiles?
Can I just throw 1/4 or 1/2" subfloor over the whole room? If so, how can I address any potential deflection? Is it possible to put self-leveling-compound underneath the subfloor?
I'm really at a loss for an idea here given that I'm just not sure how secure SLC would be in this instance, yet I don't want to remove these weird tiles. If there's anybody out there who might have some insight for me, I'd really appreciate it.
Best Answer
Use the self leveling compound to level the floor and then treat it as any other floor applying the new flooring system per the manufacturers recommendations.
It would be a very good idea to determine the source of the sloping floor and address it, it might continue and you'll end up with a sloped floor again (as well as other problems). The source of the problem could include poor bearing soils, overloaded foundation and wood decay.