It was really about time we replaced our old mailbox. Parts of our house may be falling into disrepair, but hey! check out that sexy mailbox. Abra Kadabra, Distractya! The new mailbox makes us feel a little better about the rest of our messy situation at least. And we’ve gotten a few compliments from passersby. Most improved mailbox award goes to … us!
New Mailbox
Now for the before 🙈
Yes, this is actually what our mailbox looked like before.
So embarassing, not to mention not functioning for anyone. The poor mail lady. At least we have a wraparound driveway to make her like us somewhat. Free turnarounds for all!
As you can see, the whole post was rotten. Rotten to the core. So Joe tethered it to the truck and yanked the whole thing out.
I know this seems like a silly thing we could have done sooner, but it hasn’t been high on the list, and the mailbox has been hanging on like a trooper. Our friend even hit it with their car on 4th of July – not to call anyone out (*cough* Sam *cough*) – and it even withstood the impact. We knew we’d be replacing it soon, so no harm no foul. Honest.
But aside from that, the newspaper box had completely unhinged itself and took to filling with rain, so our newspaper would get wet. When that part broke a couple weeks ago, we knew it was time. So we leveled it and started at ground zero.
Out With the Old, in with the New
We picked up a preassembled post at the Menards lumberyard and packed that into the hole. This time, we opted for something readymade rather than to DIY the post, although feel free to go that route! We found it more cost-effective and convenient after weighing our options.
Keeping everything level, we temporarily braced the post while securing the mailbox.
We found this cedar mailbox at Fleet Farm and it matches the post almost perfectly.
Something about cedar just looked good to us. If we could do the whole house in cedar, we would. It holds up over time (fingers crossed) and has a woodsy look to it. Not to mention that amazing smell!
So far so good.
U.S. mail approved ✉️✔️🇺🇸
Sealing the Mailbox
We happened to find a can of indoor/outdoor polyerethane from the previous homeowners to use. It was still good. Score!
This will seal in that gorgeous cedar color and help extend the life of the mailbox. (I applied two coats.)
In time, it would otherwise fade to a grayish color. You can see it looks slightly different when the poly is brushed on; a little darker and richer, and has a glossy sheen. I think this step is optional – the cedar hue would last awhile, but why not seal it in just to be sure? Seemed to us like an easy thing to do upfront.
Outdoor Lights
If you know Joe, you know nothing is complete without some sort of lighting. Using a saw, he leveled the top of the post to top ‘er off. Footnote: I think we switched over to a sawzall.
You know, I’m not sure where he bought these lights but I know he got two of them. There are quite a few kinds, like these, if you want to be classy. No promo, I just think they’re cute!
And I also think they should be called “Night Caps”. Free idea for ya.
Houston, we have mail.
Our nice mail lady can now go about her day in peace.
And I know you’re curious how the light looks at night, right?
It’s a beacon for all of mankind. But seriously, we’ve gotten so many compliments from random people walking around the neighborhood. One lady even said, “Oh I saw the one before, it looks so much better!” So a lesson to everyone: Set the bar low and soak up the applause. It’s the little things in life.
