Installing vinyl siding to an unlevel garage

[pbrow1]

Hi,
This is my first time installing vinyl siding (Certainteed from Mendards) and I am doing a small, very old garage. There is no sort of backer board under the current siding, it is also the inside wall of the garage. The current siding ends when it meets a flat concrete slab that extends about 10 inches out into the yard. The front of garage is also quite uneven and it drops about 3 inches from the left side to the right. A concern I have is if I start on the right and I install the metal starting strip level 2 inches up from the lowest point - this is what the instructions say- then it will run into the concrete slab. If I start on the left, there will be a few inches of exposed old siding below the starting strip when it gets to the corner and possibly around the other side. I don’t think I can remove the concrete and I am wondering what is the best path to take. The other three sides are sloped too, but all are built up a few inches so I don’t think clearance would be a big issue. My other concern is that if I do put up siding that is perfectly level it will look crooked in relation to the soffit and window frame lines, because they both follow the slope of the garage. Would it be better to install the siding ‘crooked’ so that it would follow the natural lines of the foundation, windows and soffits?
Thanks for your comments.
Pat

[Pokey]

Install a piece of j-channel down to the concrete around the perimeter of the garage. do not use a piece of stater strip at all, then rip the siding to match the slope of the concrete. I'd achieve this by finding the lowest spot, and at that point measure up the overall dimension of the piece of siding and making a mark, then use that point to snap a level line around the entire garage.

[Pokey]

As for the slope at the soffit/fascia, maybe you'd be better to have the siding follow that slope on the ends without the gables. Not to sound rude, if it were me i'd just tear it down and start over.

[Pokey]

Ok, i just looked at your picture again and scrap the gable end ideas as it is a hip and actually i wouldn't tear it down, wow my memory sucks. Also it doesn't look too far out so maybe just measure down from the soffit a set length and install the siding at a slight slope. My eye will forgive something that isn't level vs. having a ripper at the top that goes from 1" to 5".

[Richard A Hetzel]

How about stucco?

Is there no sheathing behind that siding? What kind of siding is it?

I think I would install your new siding so that it will be parallel with the fascia on top, and I might remove whatever existing siding would show beneath the bottom course, and replace it with pressure-treated plywood and cover that with coated metal coil stock.

Then plant some little shrubs along the bottom.