If Walls Could Talk and a New Mailbox

If walls could talk what would they say?

All the gory details of neighborhood gossip…
…the tales of late nights with little babies… first kisses.

If we knew what our walls knew, we might be a little enlightened.

My house is over 60 years old.  I’m sure the walls have a few stories to tell.

Probably the next best place to find stories around the home is in the mailbox…love letters, bills, birthday cards, college acceptance letters, baby birth certificates….the mailbox is a pretty import feature of the home.

A mailbox is mail’s first impression of your home….and around here, we are all about positive first impressions.

This post is in collaboration with Home Depot.  All opinions of new mailboxes that make a good first impression are my own.  See my disclosure for me info.  

This mailbox has definitely seen better days.  At one point, someone actually backed into it.  A stake was driven into the ground to help support it.

Looking to install a new mailbox?  You might be surprised how easy it is!

Here are the steps in install a new mailbox.  Be sure to read all the manufacturer’s directions before you install.  Your situation might be slightly different.

1- Remove the old mail box:

The original mailbox was in concrete.  Luckily, there was only a few inches of concrete. It was fairly easy to remove using a shovel.

2- Dig a hole for the new mailbox:

Depending on if you are installing the new mailbox in the same location or moving it…you might need to call 411 to determine where all the utilities lay under the ground.  It’s free….it always pays to be safe.

The USPS standard height for a mailbox is 40-45 inches  from the top of the road to the bottom of the mailbox.  The mailbox should also be set back 6-8 from from the curb or edge of the road.  You can find all the details on the USPS website for all the specifics and requirement of the mailbox placement.

3- Place post in hole.

Place the post in the hole.  Use a level to ensure the mailbox is sitting properly. We ended up using some painters tape to tape our level to the mailbox post. This way we would quickly check for levelness.  Check the height of the post to make sure it is sitting at the right height.  Add more dirt or take more out depending on if the post needs to go higher or lower.

4- Add Post Hole Cement

There is a special type of post-hole cement that works really great for this job.  Pour the dry cement into the hole until is gets 3 inches from the top of the ground.  Follow the cement instructions and add water to the cement. Make sure the post is still level prior to adding the water.

The cement you want for this job is the one in the red bag...here is the link. 

Wait 20-30 minutes for the cement to get hard, then it’s time to add the mailbox.

5- Add the mail box:

We went with the Arlington Premium Steel mailbox.   We opted for this mailbox because of the large box size, in order to accommodate all the large love letters we receive…. 🙂 I also thought that the heavy duty galvanized steel construction of the mailbox would have a longer life.  The mailbox came with all the instructions and hardware to install.  It was quite simple.  Don’t forget to add your house numbers…this mailbox makes it easy to customize your house numbers!

Doesn’t it look so pretty!

There are a bunch of other mailbox designs and colors to pick from.  Go check out all the other mailbox options!

If walls could talk…I wonder what they would say…
…they would  tell all the great stories.

And speaking of stories, this mailbox will definitely be the talk of the neighborhood… it’s that pretty!