How to Replace a Mailbox Post | Ask This Old House

Ask This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook helps a homeowner install a new curbside mailbox
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Time: 1 hour

Cost: $75

Skill Level: Beginner

Tools List for Replacing a Mail Box Post:
Post Hole Digger
Socket wrench
Drill/driver
Shovel
Wheelbarrow

Shopping List:
Plastic Mailbox
4x4 Pressure Treated Post
Fast-Setting Concrete Mix

Steps:
1. Before doing any digging, call your local utility locating service to mark underground pipes and wires.
2. Use post hole diggers to dig a hole 2 feet deep.
3. Cut the 4x4 post to 4 feet long. Insert two feet into the mailbox post and leave two feet exposed.
4. Attach the mailbox post to the pressure treated post using the supplied lag screws and the socket wrench.
5. Attach the mailbox to the post with the supplied screws.
6. Set the face of the mailbox 6-8” from the edge of the road and 41-45” higher than the road.
7. Mix the concrete with water in the wheelbarrow.
8. Hold the mailbox in place and fill around the post in the hole with concrete. Keep the concrete 4” from the surface.
9. Fill the remainder of the hole with topsoil.

Resources:
Roger installed the MailMaster Trim Line mailbox, manufactured by Step 2 (step2.com/).
For setting the post, Roger used Fast Setting Concrete Mix, manufactured by Quikrete (quikrete.com/).

About Ask This Old House TV:
Homeowners have a virtual truckload of questions for us on smaller projects, and we're ready to answer. Ask This Old House solves the steady stream of home improvement problems faced by our viewers—and we make house calls! Ask This Old House features some familiar faces from This Old House, including Kevin O'Connor, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook.

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How to Replace a Mailbox Post | Ask This Old House
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