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Not again!

39 Comments

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They say the third time’s a charm, but after two different rammings by passing vehicles that damaged our mailbox and forced my husband to make repairs to the box and the post…. the town snow plow finished the job by completely obliterating our mailbox and sending it sailing into the void on Christmas Eve.

Here’s a picture of the husband valiantly searching for it next to the empty post…

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We had no idea where it was, or how far away it travelled. Which meant another replacement.

This isn’t a fun project even in nice weather, but in deep snow, 7 degree temperatures and a brisk wind?

It’s hellish.

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Especially when you didn’t realize the mounting hardware and post adapter required weren’t included until you started the job.

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Temporary solution?

Bungee cords.

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The day after Christmas my DIY husband decided he could mount the box without the post adapter it needed.

I disagreed vehemently but was ignored…. and out came the sawzall. After removing the offending rear part? He came inside when he realized he’d broken the door off.

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This stupid mailbox cost $100… but the door was only held on by a tiny bit of glue on the little hinge strip seen above.

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We tried every glue we had in the house but nothing held… and since my husband cut a piece of the metal off the back, it’s not like we could return the box to the store.

Solution?

Screw it.

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Literally and figuratively.

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Then file down the pointy screws so the mailman doesn’t slash his wrist open when he delivers mail.

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It’s not pretty, but it works.

Until the next big snow storm.

🥴

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39 thoughts on “Not again!”

  1. Glad you were able to get it usable.
    We had ours stolen once! It was a gorgeous barn-style box on a nice treated post. It was taken by young mischief makers and tossed under a bridge about six miles away. We were able to find it and put it back, this time set in concrete!

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  2. Good job under nasty conditions.

    I can’t believe the door was glued on. That is ridiculous in the extreme. It’s also hard to believe the box didn’t come with mounting hardware. I guess that’s a different kind of inflation.

    I hope this one survives the winter.

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    1. The plows take out a few every year, but I’ve seen at least 6 missing on our road in just the past week.
      Must be a new driver. 🥴
      People bitch all the time and want compensation but the law is clear.

      “In Maine, mailboxes on public roads are considered private property placed at the owner’s risk, meaning municipalities aren’t liable for damage from snowplows.”

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  6. Ugh. There are things you could do to harden the box against cars, but a snow plow? Not so much (unless you want to risk felony charges).

    Can you move the mailbox off the road and closer to your house? Or would that annoy the post office?

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  7. Mike set our mailbox in concrete and repaired it twice. In our backyard, when we first moved in so many years ago, we took the broken concrete box and made a planter near the bird bath. Kids used to go through hitting the mailboxes. I guess now the prank is kicking in the door which has not happened to any of our neighbors or us in Florida. I think I know why they go elsewhere. Looks cold but you are keeping busy.

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      1. We have lived her for 25 years. It was a fixer upper and we made a bid. We got it. Many made bids but they chose us! Interesting story. Yeah, I am glad Mike is a fixer upper kind of guy, like your guy! I made do a blog again on the Post Office Box Project now!

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      1. There are police in our area living, retired and active military, firemen. I don’t see it happening here but in Florida, in some really nice gated communities there has been a trend, lately.

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      3. I know. I get on Nextdoor from time to time and some information is good to know and some people I try to erase. I have been surprised at the juvenile incidences in very wealthy neighborhoods in Florida. There is no fear. Keep your eyes open.

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  9. Snowplows and mailboxes are so problematic–if it’s easy for the mail carrier to access, the snowplow is totally gonna take it out. I’ve spent some holidays searching through culverts in NH looking for mailboxes!

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  11. We have had a couple of mailbox issues, so I can both identify with this and praise your work here. I can’t imagine having to do that in the Winter. As the years have gone on, our goal is simply to have a mailbox where the door opens and closes, and it remains reasonably upright. It doesn’t need to be perfect no matter how we have to make it work, just that it works. Our current mailbox features several more screws in it than the directions called for…😁

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  14. What a drama! These are problems I never thought would be an issue, (I live in Australia), but I can totally see how easily it could happen with deep snow.

    Well done on developing a fix for the crippled post box.

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