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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.

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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.

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  • Thanks for your response. The tough thing, as I mentioned above, is that I'd rather not take out these tiles! They're old and I don't want asbestos exposure..which limits my access to the foundation and the joists.
    – Riggy
    Apr 12, 2020 at 19:43
  • There is usually an exterior access to the crawlspace. Can you eliminate foundations issues from the exterior? I think you said 1 in over 1 foot and that is a very high level slope. I get that things like this is normal in old houses (I have one) but not all things are equal for seriousness, etc. You may choose not to address it but I recommend making that decision based on the knowledge of the 'what' in what needs to be addressed
    – Ack
    Apr 12, 2020 at 20:00

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