A customer's complaint about gaps made me change my casing method

Last month I installed some pre-hung doors in a house built in 1920 near Akron. The customer pointed out gaps between the casing and the wall that I thought were small. They said it looked unprofessional even after caulk. I started pre-sanding the casing edges to match the wall curves before nailing. Now I set the casing with a 1/16 inch reveal and use shims behind it. Has anyone else had to adjust their trim work for older houses?

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diana_west271mo ago

The 1/16 inch reveal is actually the standard for most pre-hung doors, so you're on the right track there. But sanding casing edges to match wall curves can sometimes cause the joints to gap worse over time if the wood expands and contracts. Instead of sanding the casing itself, have you tried using a contour gauge to trace the wall's shape onto the casing before cutting? It saves material and keeps the edges crisp.

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pat_fisher241mo ago

Totally agree @diana_west27, the contour gauge trick saved me on a crooked old house.

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