You've Got Mail

Friday, I decided to construct my mailbox.  There wasn't one already, and no mail gets delivered without one.  Even though I'm not living at the house yet, mail was starting to arrive.  Most of the houses in the area had the kind that attaches to the wall by the front door.  I don't like the idea of my mail sitting out all day, where anyone can go through it, while I'm at work.  I decided to put a mail slot into the garage.

More fun times with the reciprocating saw!  First, got the masonry drill bit.  I needed to drill a starter hole for the saw blade.  Going through the stucco wasn't too bad with the drill, as long as I didn't hit a piece of the chicken wire.  When I did, Dad attacked it with a screwdriver and hammer.

Cutting through the stucco was totally going to ruin a blade, so Dad found the worst of the bunch and I set myself to sawing.

The cutting was actually easier than we thought it was going to be.  The blade slowly moved along and no cracks developed in the stucco.  Once there was a hole, I attached a 2x4 underneath.  This will hold the basket to catch the mail.

Attaching the front plate took a bit longer than it was supposed to.  We got holes drilled, put in some caulk and put it up.  Luckily, Dad had the bright idea to open the slot.  It wouldn't!  The brilliant people who made the template for how large the hole should be just traced the actual hole - and didn't account for space for the slot door to open backwards.  Down it came and more sawing took place.  Eventually, got it fine and mail can start being delivered.