Rubbermaid manufactures a line of plastic mailboxes designed to be rugged yet attractive, while protecting mail and packages from the elements. The few parts and snap-together features of these mailboxes make them simple put together and install. The mailbox mounts on an inexpensive 4-by-4 wooden post, purchased separately and set into the ground. The entire assembly and installation process of a Rubbermaid mailbox and post usually takes less than an hour, plus any time to allow anchoring concrete to set. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Place the body of the mailbox, called the wrap, onto the mailbox base. Snap or screw the base in place on the wrap, depending on the model.
2. Insert the pins on the sides of the mailbox door or doors, depending on the model, into the holes along the front and rear inside edges of the wrap.
3. Align the mounting grooves on the bottom of the mailbox base to those on the mailbox post and slide the mailbox on until it locks in place on the mailbox post.
4. Dig a hole with the post hole digger around 20 inches deep. Place 2 inches of gravel at the bottom of the hole for drainage.
5. Insert the 4-by-4 post into the hole. The post should extend above the ground at least 24 inches. Mix the concrete and pour it into the hole around the post. Plumb the post with the carpenter's level. Allow the concrete to cure for 24 hours.
6. Place the opening on the end of the hollow mailbox post onto the 4-by-4 post. Screw the mailbox post to the 4-by-4 post with two wood screws on either side of the post.
7. Attach any Rubbermaid mailbox that does not come with an integrated post to a special post bracket, available from Rubbermaid. Screw the post bracket directly to a 4-by-4 post set in the ground at a height between 4 and 5 feet above ground level using four wood screws.
Tags: mailbox post, 4-by-4 post, above ground, depending model, into hole, mailbox base
