Vinyl flooring on tiles, pretreatment

Hello everyone, I would like to have vinyl flooring installed over my ultra-ugly, uneven tiles. I was told the tiles would need to be sanded, plastered, filled, and who knows what else, and then the vinyl flooring could be glued down. Well, sounds logical, but after I saw the price for the whole thing, I had to sit down first. Question – is all of that really necessary or are there other ways to reduce the amount of work? I am happy to pay for quality work, but not more than it’s worth.

It might be less effort to tear out the tiles, you could also do that yourself, and then level the floor with a leveling compound.

That's about 70m2. I am fit and strong, but that will be a bit too much. Plus the worry about what I might find under the tiles. I have had 2 people say the tiles need to be ground first and one who says that is not necessary. You don't know who to believe anymore.

You will see every unevenness under this vinyl... everything shows through because it is very thin. The joint pattern will certainly not look very appealing. Therefore, everything should be smoothed out.

Yes, I understand that. I’m just wondering whether the tiles *have to* be sanded down, or if it’s enough to fill the joints and level the floor. I’m currently thinking about whether it would actually be cheaper to remove the tiles. Is that even doable for someone who has never done it before, or will I completely ruin the screed? Everyone says something different. Thanks, by the way, for your answers!

You will also see your uneven tile texture... that doesn't look good either!

Of course, you can tear it out (my ex-husband did that in the entire bathroom back then)
Nevertheless, you will need leveling compound later, which is not easy on 70sqm