Let the new mail box installation begin

We started digging for the new mail box installation since we are in small short project mode until the weather stabilizes.

The winter of 2011 was not kind to our mail box post.  The mail box survives the snow plow but the post did not.  Heavy wet snow being flung from a plow doing 50mph+ can kill even the best of mailbox posts.  Ours was not the best so if didn't withstand the power of speeding slush.

This area has always been a pain in the butt.  When the curb was installed many moons ago, they never bothered to grade the earth accordingly.  When we purchased the house in 2004 the curb was not even visible because the dirt and grass were growing right over the top of it.  During one of our many "let try and find the edge of the driveway" escapades we found the curb.

Once we cut the dirt back from the curb we were left with the lawn being on one elevation and the curb about 6 inches lower.  It made mowing a real nightmare plus it just plain ugly.  We spent last summer trying to think of solution.

We did manage to at least buy a new mail box post.  I wanted something that did not need paint.  The flinging slush works as a sand blaster and I just do not have the time to paint my mail box post every year.  We settled on a molded plastic post in black plastic and molded to look like it was made of wood.  The design is a paneled look base with a decorative arm to hold the mail box.  The black will match the black iron gates that are close by.

First, we dug out the corner where we are installing the post.  That area has about 6 inches of top soil and then goes right to a thick slimy clay.  Next, R started to dig the hole.  He got to about the 24 inch mark when he hit ground water.  clay and water = big mess.

The old mailbox did not originally hang out over the curb like it is now.  The only area soft enough to dig when the plow destroyed the post in the middle of the winter was the very edge.  So R dug there and installed a 5 gallon bucket with sand and placed the broken off post into the sand.

Finally we installed the 4 X 4 cedar post and currently waiting for the concrete to harden before we move on to the next step.

While R dug...I swept the curb and removed a winters worth of dirt and bits of junk.

I forgot to take a before photo, so all I have is the photo of piles of dirt and the final 'after' photo.

Ahhhhh.....clean curb.