On our first trip to our new cottage, we came highly prepared with an SUV and an enclosed 5×8 trailer packed to the brim with all of the things we needed to make it ours. We had had over a month to prepare for closing on our new property and had bought everything on our checklist that we thought we would need at move-in. However, within the first 24 hours it became apparent there were, and would continue to be, lots of things we needed that we hadn’t bought in advance.
Like most cottages “up north” in Wisconsin, ours is in a remote area. Only recently did our town starting getting consistent cellular service with the installation of a new cell tower a few years ago. There is a lone general store and gas station on the lake primarily used by boaters to fill up their tanks and anyone nearby who ran out of something basic like eggs, laundry detergent or domestic beer. Anything more than that and you will need to drive the 30 minutes “into town” where a population of 2,500 people gets you a grocery store, hardware store and dollar store.
In an attempt to save ourselves an hour roundtrip, we quickly ordered a handful of things on Amazon for next-day delivery only to be disappointed as one after one they got marked as undeliverable by USPS. Utterly confused, we called the local post office who informed us that we did not have a mailbox and without one, they would not be able to deliver mail of any type.
We were completely dumbfounded, both that we didn’t have a mailbox as well as that we didn’t notice that we didn’t have one. However, it’s surprisingly common in vacation areas like ours where the majority of owners visit infrequently or for short stints at a time. We are completely dependent on Amazon and love its convenience, so installing a mailbox became one of our top priorities to get sorted. There’s a decent bit of things you need to do in advance of installing the mailbox.
Determine Mailbox Placement
If you have a curb, your
contact your local US Post Office placement if you dont have a curb
diggers hotline
Buy Your Materials
- 4×4 post – must be treated wood
- Post Digger
- Post level
- bag of Quikrete
- Mailbox (see below for reuirements)
- Tape Measure
- Hand Saw if you don’t have power saw (or ensure post is cut to size at store)
Choosing a Mailbox
the USPS has specific guidelines when it comes to mailboxes.
they also recommend next generation mailboxes
Installing your Post
- Dig your hole so that the it’s 24″ deep
- Cut your post to lengtht so that is is 41-45 inches above ground
- Level it and prop it up
- pour in quikrete 3-4″ from top
- Pour in water until it’s saturated and water isnt going through anymroe
- let it set for 40 minutes before burying
- Let it cure at least 4 hours before installing mailbox
- Attach bracket mount ot post
- Attach mailbox to bracket mount
- DIY
