hi all,

we purchased 30+ cases of LVP for our basement floor after tearing out carpet and finding a layer of old 12x12 vinyl (no asbestos). we prepped areas that needed it; there were some "craters" from a prior attempt at framing a room - those were filled with leveling compound. there were also a few areas around the edges that needed to be filled with the same compound.

the existing tile is glued down very well so we decided to simply lay the LVP on top of it - which is acceptable in most articles/directions that you read online, including from the manufacturer for this specific LVP.

after laying a few of the rows on the prepared surface, i am finding that the existing vinyl is uneven! i am not sure if this means the concrete underneath is also uneven; i would need to remove the vinyl tile to find out - and this means committing to removing ALL of it (700 sq ft worth).

we cannot afford to level the entire floor with leveler; it is too much of a hassle in the state that our basement is in. also, it would be a huge effort to remove the tile that exists as it is REALLY glued down and we've pretty much already committed to laying the LVP on top of it.

ARE there any options/suggestions out there to even out the install as we go along and find "dips?" can we raise the existing surface perhaps by inserting a few tiles between the existing and new LVP to even it out? would that be a bad idea?

the picture below shows an example of how far off the floor is in one spot; this is the case in several spots already. we confirmed the existing floor is uneven using a long level; the LVP is even - the existing floor is not.