Mailbox Makeover

Part of what we worked on during the Labor Day weekend was fixing up our mailbox. It was looking rather rusted and weathered.

The plan was to detach the mailbox and give it a coat of primer and paint. Lowe's is no longer selling Krylon spray paint so it was on clearance for $1.25/ can.... I bought the remaining three cans of primer + paint in white.

While I was at the store, Tim attempted to remove the mailbox from the post and ledge. The screws were melted into the mailbox which made this a rather difficult task. We started to wonder if we would have to replace the post as well since we could not remove the mailbox from the ledge. Luckily, we were able to saw the mailbox off the ledge, saving the ledge but ruining the mailbox. The mailbox was almost rusted through on the inside so back to the store I went to purchase a new mailbox. While I was there, I also picked up this mailbox sign:

Tim set to work on washing the post and ledge. I taped up my new mailbox sign and gave it two coats of oil rubbed bronze paint. Luckily, they give you a great template for laying the numbers so there is no guesswork in placement.

 While that was drying,  we coated the existing post and ledge with two coats of white spray paint. After everything was dry. We attached the mailbox.

I originally wanted the mailbox sign to hang off the ledge, below the mailbox. But since we had to add a bracket to support the weight of the mailbox a few months' back, this was not an option. Second choice was to hang the mailbox vertically, along the post.

Not too bad for an hour of work?

Oh and while we were adding curb appeal, I decided to address the dying flowers around the tree. I pulled them all out and purchased four large ceramic pots at Lowe's. I don't think I ever realized how expensive these pots can be! Luckily, these were on clearance, saving me $5/ pot. I also picked up 4 plants at $2.50 each.

Total cost for our labor day project= $115 (One can of spray paint- $1.25, New Mailbox- $18.98,  Mailbox Sign- $19.98,  4 ceramic pots- $60 and 4 plants- $10).