Masonry style mailboxes stand out among the standard wood stick and post mounted options.
Homeowners realize that a custom brick or stone mailbox allows their home to stand out and is ultimately the main focal point that compliments the overall look and feel of the property. A well planned design with quality workmanship will provide an attractive mailbox structure that immediately catches your eye upon arrival at the residence. You may build your mailbox from a variety of materials including brick, stone, cast stone, and stucco. Mailboxes may be built in a traditional brick fashion with an arched or flat top design, or you may select an assortment of custom cut stone in various sizes to create a unique one of kind design. There are endless opportunities to build the masonry mailbox of your dreams, and Superior Masonry will gladly assist you with identifying your needs, choosing the right materials, creating a design, purchasing materials, and constructing the mailbox to meet your requirements.
Mailbox Construction
You may hesitate to repair or replace your existing brick or stone mailbox after it has been damaged by a hit and run driver. Simply breaking down and removing the existing brick is a separate job of its own that may leave you wishing for a visit to the local chiropractor! That’s right, breaking up and demoing a brick mailbox by hand is certainly a tough job that may stop you dead to your tracks!
Now, it’s time to pour a concrete footing or foundation after cleaning up and hauling away the remaining debris. All structures start with a solid foundation that allows the mailbox to stand upright and straight for many years to come. Negating this essential step will easily allow for sinking, settlement, and ultimately a leaning mailbox that looks unsightly. The foundation should be a minimum of 4” thick and 24” x 24” square to allow for the most structural integrity. The use of a leveler is crucial throughout the mailbox construction process and will ensure your new structure stands up straight and in proper alignment.
Now that the foundation is set we will begin the brick and stone construction starting with the bottom course and working our way upwards towards the top. It’s important to search around for the best looking brick or stone that will closely match the surrounding architectural design of the front elevation. Many times homeowners are left with stacks of extra brick after their house is completely built allowing for the new brick mailbox to perfectly match with the surrounding exterior. On separate occasions, it may be best to find a relatively close matching brick or even mix up a combination of brick and stone that compliments the home’s exterior finish.
Start by laying a fresh bed of mortar around the top perimeter of the concrete footing. Next, gently place the first brick or stone onto the existing bed of mortar along the footing. Repeat this process of laying brick ensuring a layer of mortar is applied at the end of each brick or stone before setting it in place. Continue this pattern until you have completed the first course all the way around the concrete footing. The following courses will be laid in a similar fashion of troweling in a mortar bed around the base and ends of each brick or stone. Ensure the joints of the bricks are overlapping or staggered prior to pressing the following courses in place, and always remove any excess mortar with a trowel prior to establishing the next course on top.
After you establish the correct height press down and seat the metal insert assembly in position on top of a thick bed of mortar. Now continue laying brick and mortar until the entire insert assembly is completely covered and installed at an accessible height that meets your local post office standards.
Upon reaching the top of the mailbox it is now time to shape and contour the brick to present the rounded arched top finish. First determine the look you prefer and begin to temporarily set brick around the arch in order to determine which bricks need cut to fit. At this point you should use a thicker mortar mixture to hold the bricks in place as they are fit around the top arch.
Finally, cut the remaining brick to fill in the area along the back side of the arch and custom fit the brick and mortar to cover the exposed opening. All surrounding joints should be tooled and mortar packed down to create a recessed joint similar to the bottom half of the mailbox. A soft brush will allow clean up and removal of any remaining dried out mortar with a gentle brushing movement going diagonally across the brick surface.
As you can see, building a new masonry style mailbox is definitely a job for the experienced mason and not the average DIY homeowner. Every year we see the inexperienced attempt to tackle building their own mailbox only to become frustrated half way through the process. Here at Superior Masonry we are committed to providing you an on site visit that covers your mailbox needs. We will gladly assist you with implementing a custom design, provide the requested materials, and custom build your new mailbox to meet your specifications. Call us today for your free consultation!
Mailbox Repair
Brick and stone mailboxes are constantly affected by the weathering elements as they stand outside away from the house receiving lots of sun and rainfall. Over time, mailboxes will slowly age showing signs of wear and tear that can be repaired to avoid a complete break down and rebuild of the old brick mailbox.
Some common signs are seen along the mortar joints where erosion has caused the surrounding mortar to disintegrate leaving holes or missing pieces of mortar. Also, the metal inserts inside the structure can rust out inside causing constant water penetration leaving your paper mail soaking wet! In this case you absolutely must break out, remove, and completely replace the damaged metal insert which isn’t the easiest piece to remove.
We also have customers call in with a mailbox insert lid that is barely hanging on by one side or has completely fallen off the hinges. Unfortunately, the metal mailbox inserts come together as one assembly and cannot be purchased separately. Our masons are highly skilled with mailbox repairs and can quickly have your brick or stone mailbox serviced as soon as possible.
Many times, you may have noticed your neighbor’s mailbox is leaning to the side or even leaning forwards or backwards. This is due to settlement from ground movement over the years combined with rain that causes the mailbox to settle along the foundation. The best solution is have us come out to perform a mailbox lift where we will pour new concrete around the base allowing the structure to stand up straight and in proper alignment.
Do you need masonry work in the DFW area?
Superior Masonry strives to help our customers with quality masonry work and excellent service.
If you need masonry work in the DFW area, please call, email, or use our online form to schedule your free estimate and consultation. We look forward to hearing from you!
972-433-9372 – info@superiormasonrydallas.com
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