I installed a modern anachronism

The mailbox will one day go the way of the pay phone and Blockbuster stores. Nonetheless, I thought I needed a mailbox for my new house, so I bought a modern design post-mounted box from Deus Modern.

As usual, I installed it in my own unorthodox way to suit my unique situation.

You see, the typical method of mounting a mailbox post is to use a post digger to create a narrow and deep hole, insert the post, and pack it with concrete. This would not work for me, as the maximum height for all of the mailbox posts that I could find on the market was 53". I like to keep my front gate locked, and I needed the mailbox post to clear my 48"-tall fence so the mail carrier could access the mailbox without having to open my gate.

This meant that using the standard way of installing a mailbox post would leave less than 5" of the post below grade. (In addition to the 48" fence height, the mailbox had to sit a few inches above.) I didn't think this would provide nearly enough support and stability for the post, since 53" mailbox posts are typically buried around 11" below grade.

So it occurred to me to take a very heavy piece of broken paver from a paver that my fence installer had cracked and bury it a few inches below grade to provide a ballast and stable surface for me to mount the post to.

Since a standard mailbox post has no mounting base, I created one of my own by drilling a few holes on the sides at the bottom of the post and bolting eight 4" corner braces (two on each side of the square post):

After digging a large hole in the ground, I put down some stone dust to create a level surface to rest the broken piece of paver on (the stone dust was moist, so it looks like wet cement in this picture, but it is not cement):

After placing the broken paver in the hole, I drilled into the paver and screwed my mailbox post with the mounting brackets into the paver using masonry screws:

Despite my best efforts to level the paver, the post would not sit level, so I slid mending plates underneath the brackets on two sides to level the post. (One mending plate is shown wedged underneath the bracket on the right in the picture above.)

Even though the brackets were galvanized steel, I was concerned about them rusting from the constant exposure to ground water from rain. I was also especially concerned about rust from the holes that I had drilled into the mailbox post, and particularly galvanic rust from water coming into contact with both the mailbox post holes and the bolts, which I assume are different metals. So I sprayed a bunch of Permatex automotive undercarriage protector to waterproof all of the metal bits that would be sitting below grade:

After burying everything and installing the mailbox to the post, here is the end result:

One important advantage that my installation method has is that it is much easier to remove the mailbox post or to adjust it as compared with the standard way of packing the post in concrete. I can simply dig up the dirt, scrape off the waterproofing, and unscrew the brackets.

One day soon enough, the mailbox will be such an anachronism that I might was well have a phone booth in my front yard. But maybe UPS, FedEx, or Amazon will have a use for it. The box is large enough for small packages.