Yeah, I hear you on the self-leveling compound. I’ve only used it once, and that was because the previous owner thought particle board was a good subfloor in a bathroom—total mess. Otherwise, I’m with you: shims are the way to go. My place is a ’58 split-level and nothing’s square or level anymore. I just measure top, middle, bottom—pick the smallest, like you said—and order a hair under.
One thing that bit me once: got too confident and didn’t check for twist in the old frame. Ended up shimming one corner way more than expected to get the sash to operate smoothly. Not a huge deal, but it took extra time fiddling with it when I could’ve caught it up front.
Perfection is overrated in these old houses anyway… sometimes you gotta embrace a little wonkiness. As long as it doesn’t leak or stick, I call it a win.
I’ve only used it once, and that was because the previous owner thought particle board was a good subfloor in a bathroom—total mess.
Yeah, “perfection is overrated in these old houses” is basically my motto at this point. I ran into the same thing with twist—measured everything three times, but totally missed the frame being out of plane. Ever try using a laser level for that? Helped me spot a weird bow in the wall I never would’ve noticed with just a tape.
You ever just accept a little daylight around the trim and call it character?