I have Coretec Hayes Oak which is a wide plank and you can purchase the treads. I like it b/c it's wide and covers the whole tread so it isn't piecy like some LVP stairs! I've had it for 4 months. No scratches on the steps which did have wood tread previously.

I'm going to say that you have ONE HECK of a decent flooring installer working for you!!!! No. I'm not kidding. I would say 95% - 99% of the time a flooring 'dude' (or some guy who swings a hammer who told you s/he could install flooring) just throws it down and runs for the hills. You have an honest person working for you. The quote he gave included a LITTLE bit of levelling. Your concrete is NOT good enough to have 'spot' patching done. I've always suggested to my customers to budget $2 - $5/sf for CONCRETE slabs. Your quote for concrete work = $2/sf. That's RIGHT ON TARGET. Good to know that you have TWO honest performers here. Yes, concrete is a B!TCH to deal with. Yes vinyl needs FLAT...but then again so does laminate, hardwood, tile, etc. The ONLY things that do NOT need flat = sheet vinyl, sheet linoleum and carpet. Yep. The things that role out and that can wrap around a telephone pole. So...you have THOUSANDS of dollars worth of flooring (I'm guessing around $4500 - $6000). That is MORE expensive to waste than it is to install. Right now you have a wonky concrete subfloor. That is normal and to be expected in a basement. You will only pay for this leveling ONCE. After that you will have a great surface to work with for the next 60 years. The concrete slab guys will get you a much better surface. The INSTALLER will then do the 'few' patches he has quoted for you. The two put together will create the 'acceptable surface' you need to put down ANYTHING OTHER THAN carpet.

new floor is ripped up and he's now screwing the old floor down. i asked how he knows where the joists are (absent crawling in the crawlspace). he said from when the other guy cut open the floor he can tell where 2 pieces of plywood joined together and that should be over a joist. i asked if he could use stud finder and he said no cause is more metal under the house. i guess it makes sense but unsure it's really the way to tell where joists are. he's doing 2 rows of screws on each joist. sadly now in winter the floor isnt squeaking as much as summer. so my plan to walk all over it before the new floor went in will not be a good test. sigh. this guy is so much better than the other 2. he's doing the patch that should have been initially done because of the slope. maybe thats why the other 2 arent here.

I’d love to see pictures also.