Q: I’m planning to install vinyl siding on a detached garage that’s built on a concrete slab. The siding instructions suggest that I “compress the floor plate” before installing. What does that mean?
A: It’s often necessary to weigh down the elevated subfloor of the room where vinyl siding is going to be applied (often by stacking drywall in an empty house under construction). This allows for floor-plate compression, which, if not addressed, can result in buckled siding where the floor meets the wall. But if you plan to install the siding on a slab-mounted building, then that slab is unlikely to move so weighing it down won’t be necessary.
