Like most new homeowners, the minute we signed on the dotted line, we immediately became compulsive hardware store junkies. I think it was 6 months before we could admit we had a problem and by the end of that first year we’d begun 12-stepping our way back to reality. That being said, we’ve still got enough odds and ends hanging around to stock our own hardware store. It comes in handy for those spur-of-the-moment home improvement projects. For instance, in this case, all we needed for the mailbox project was, well, a mailbox. While my spouse ran off to buy said mailbox,
I gathered the other parts at home.

I recycled a nice chunk of pressure treated fencepost from the hide-it-the-mother-in-law’s-coming pile; I found half a bag of Quickrete languishing in the garage; and thanks to that little habit we’re recovering from, we’ve got enough nuts, bolts, and other hardware to last us for the next 20 years. 

Next, we harvest the post hole digger from it’s lair in the back yard, grab a 5 gallon bucket and the shovel and take off for the curb with our supplies in hand. We’re on a deadline here.

Looking up and down the street for signs of the dangerous Post Lady, we see that the coast is clear and get straight to work. The soil here is sandy, so we’re able to dig a hole quickly; we only had to go about 2 1/2 feet of the way towards China, so it wasn’t so bad. It only took a couple of minutes to mix up the Quickcrete and water in our bucket. We set the post in the hole we dug, leaving about 2 feet sticking out, and poured the concrete in, taking care to level the post.

A couple of hours later, the concrete is firm enough that we can continue, as long as we’re careful. Prior to sticking it in the ground, we pre-drilled the post for the mounting holes, so the last part was really easy. With a keen ear out for the sound of the Mail Truck of Suffering, we firmly wiggled the old mailbox’s post back and forth a couple of times, until it broke right off at the base.

I unceremoniously tossed the whole assembly in the trash as my spouse slipped the new mailbox over the post. With one of us holding it steady for the benefit of the not-quite dry concrete, we screwed the lag bolts into the 4X4, and BAM! We were done, just like that. And none too soon, either, because it wasn’t 15 minutes before our Post Mistress of Doom showed up. Lucky we dodged that bullet.

This was just about the easiest home improvement project ever, coming in a little longer than an hour.