Yes, you heard that right. I am one of the few residents of Saint Paul with a civilized mailbox.
First of all, let me describe:
In fancy neighborhoods, like Midway, the mailman or mailwoman walks up to each house and delivers mail at the front door into a slot. About 70 years ago, someone decided it would be a good idea to deliver it to the front of the house, not necessarily the door. It was more insulated.
That was a great idea. In theory, Let me show you a futuristic computer graphic of this concept:
Unfortunately, this makes the mail slot have a very low capacity.
Well, our postal couriers, being the clever folk that they are, plus they don’t have time to figure out every single house, like to find a magazine, roll it up (or fold it in half), and stick the letters, client checks, and whatever else you have, and just jam it in the slot. Another technical schematic is needed:
So I had the task of making it bigger.
It must have been installed before the house was finished, because there was a large metal box in between the walls.
First ripped off the front slot. You can see the top of the metal box.
Here;s what the inside looked like (sort of):
The wall was in the way:
You can see the metal box in the prior picture, If you can’t, it’s better in this one:
Now to make the replacement. For a couple days, mail just went into a basket that I set on top of the insulation to help guide mail onto the floor (it rarely caught it)
At the store (Saving BIG Money, as one can only do in Midway), I got materials to make a new, bigger, better mail slot (I call it a “mail box”). I needed wood, trim, paint, a hinge, and a knob. I was looking at knobs and saw the perfect one. I loved everything about it.
Except I was looking to spend $2.50 on a knob, so I chose something a little more boring.
In the end, with a little fanagling and lot lot of help from my Dad, I had a quality finished product so I can finally have a good mailbox.
Problem for three yeas solved! Thanks for the help Dad!
