Gas Lantern Mounting on Siding — The Contoured Plate Fix

When Your Siding Has a Slope: How Flambeaux Solves the Mounting Problem

Published as part of the Flambeaux Lighting How We Build It series — real solutions for real installation challenges.

Most lantern manufacturers never think about your siding. They build a flat mounting plate — and they leave the rest of the problem to you.

The thing is, siding isn’t flat. Every board sits on a slope. Vinyl, hardie board, lap siding — all of it angles slightly outward at the bottom, the way it’s designed to shed water.

Put a standard flat mounting plate against that surface and you’ve got a gap on one side, a stress point on the other, and a lantern that doesn’t sit straight.

The traditional fix is to cut into the siding. You’re removing material, inserting a flat backer, and hoping the patch work holds up. It’s time-consuming, it’s expensive, and it introduces delay into a project that was already moving.

We’ve got a better solution!

@flambeauxlighting Not all homes are built the same… so why should every lantern be? ✨ At Flambeaux, we custom craft lanterns to fit YOUR home’s unique siding, style, and vision — from brick and stucco to Hardie board, vinyl, wood, and more. Every detail is built with precision so your lighting looks seamless, elegant, and made just for you. 🔥🏡 Because great lighting shouldn’t just fit your house… it should elevate it. #Flambeaux #CustomLanterns #ExteriorLighting #LuxuryLighting #HomeDesign ♬ Saturday – wizzow

The Contoured Mounting Plate

At Flambeaux, we can manufacture a contoured slope mounting plate — a bracket machined to match the exact pitch of your siding. When it sits against your wall, it makes full contact across the entire surface. The lantern hangs plumb. Nothing flexes. No cutting required.

It’s a small detail with a significant outcome. The lantern looks right because it’s mounted right. The seal against the wall is clean. And your installer doesn’t have to improvise.

Why This Matters More Than It Looks

A mounting plate that doesn’t sit flat creates more than an aesthetic problem. Over time, movement in that joint — from thermal expansion, wind load, or simply seasonal shifting of the siding — works against the fasteners.

In coastal environments, that’s compounded by humidity and salt air. A flush, full-contact mount is simply the more durable installation.

For contractors and builders, there’s a scheduling dimension too. A job that requires unexpected site work — cutting siding, sourcing a backer, waiting on a patch — is a job that moves on the calendar. Getting the right hardware from the start is the easier path.

What to Tell Us When You Call

If your home has vinyl siding, hardie board, or any form of horizontal lap siding, mention it before your order is placed. We’ll ask a few straightforward questions:

• What type of siding — vinyl, hardie board, wood lap?
• Approximate pitch of the siding board (your installer will know this, or we can help you measure)
• Mount type — flush mount, bracket mount, or hanging?
• Location — coastal areas may warrant aluminum hardware rather than steel

From there, we can build the contoured plate as part of your order. No separate vendor. No back-and-forth. It ships with the lantern.

Special Situations Are What We Do

The siding challenge is one example of a broader principle: we specialize in helping you get what you need on almost any application. Unusual wall depths. Angled rooflines. Windy coastal locations that need a thermocouple rather than an electronic igniter. Exterior columns with non-standard profiles. Post-tops on custom diameters.

We’ve been building these lanterns by hand since 2004. That means we’ve seen most of what a real installation looks like. If your situation doesn’t fit the standard path, it almost certainly fits ours.

Not Sure If Your Application Is Standard?

Call us before you order. Five minutes on the phone is worth it. We can tell you exactly what hardware your wall needs — and build it to match.

Reach us at 1-866-799-8443 or visit our contact page to start the conversation.