While doing the lawn mowing yesterday, I noticed that as my mower brushed next to the letterbox – the letterbox shook. I then had a closer look and it was staying upright, but it could be pushed backwards with a little force. It was still attached at the back mainly, away from the street, but the steel post has most likely rusted almost through.
Once I brushed away the dirt and removed the grass that was covering the concrete block, I could see that there was a rusted hole in the post. The concrete pad used to be at the same level as the grass but the grass has grown up, and the dirt had migrated, causing the steel post to be covered with dirt and allowing moisture to attack it.
I decided to make a temporary repair – to remove the post, then insert a piece of timber that would fit inside the post and in the hole left in the concrete. First step was to remove the post – I was able to bend the post down and could see that the hole was also full of water.
I used a universal tool with a metal cutting blade, and cut the post off at the level of the concrete.
Next step is to cut off as much of the rusted section as I could, and then to clean out and empty the hole or water and dirt. I was able to soak up much of the water with a small rag, then scraped around the bottom of the hole, then used a vacuum cleaner, to remove the dirt and debris.
I needed a section of timber that would be 35mm square. I didn’t have anything to hand that would suit but could join two thinner pieces together. I remembered that I had some small pieces of Blackbutt decking board leftover from building my deck. Blackbutt is an Australian hardwood and is suited to outdoor conditions but I would need to do something to protect it from moisture eventually.
I cut a piece of Blackbutt to 150mm in length, then cut a section of it to about 35mm thickness. As the decking board is 19mm in thickness, I glued two of these pieces together, then after it was dry, cut the side to be a total of 35mm thick. It had a firm fit on the steel post, so next thing to do was to try and hammer it into the hole. It wasn’t easy to do, and only managed to get it in partially, so that might have to do. I could see the concrete pad moving as I was hammering it in.
Then finally to put the post back on – I had taken the actual letterbox off the post, and was able to hammer it onto the Blackbutt section. It seemed to be very firm – and didn’t seem likely that I could easily take it off again. When I push on the post, I could see that the concrete pad was shifting.
Anyway, it seemed to do the job – although as I mentioned, it is a temporary fix. The best option, would be to buy a replacement post, then dig up the concrete, and install the new post in new concrete, but this time, make the concrete higher that the ground level and slope it so that water doesn’t stay at the bottom of the post. In any case, concrete is alkaline and would cause corrosion anyway of the steel post. Maybe I should think of another way to install the new post.
For now, it is quite serviceable, and definitely will not fall over when the postman next puts a few letters of parcel into the letterbox. To help the timber last, I should most likely fill the gaps and seal it maybe with a waterproof paint – let me see what I have sitting around. That’s it for today. I know that this won’t last long, but who knows – it could well last a year. That should give me plenty of time to arrange a replacement post.
R.IT 