Building a Brick Mailbox - Do It Yourself

We're enclosing a mailbox in brick.
If you're looking for this type of mailbox, dVault and has models available from Amazon: amzn.to/3aLhZT5, Home Depot: thd.co/2KMacKu and Lowes: low.es/2WnPXZ1.
Qualarc also has models, here's one on Amazon: amzn.to/3cZruzC and Home Depot: thd.co/35dLeNt.
This info is for reference, I have no experience with these companies.
Install
- Stake out the area where you want to install the postal vault in your yard and then dig it out to a depth of 4”.
- This is where you’ll pour the concrete for the base.
- Build a concrete form out of 2X4” lumber according to the dimensions for your base.
- Put the form in the area you’ve dug out, and then place stakes on the outside of the form and hammer them into the ground. Then nail the stakes to the form. This will prevent the form from shifting when you pour in the concrete.
- If you don’t want to go to the hassle of using re-bar to reinforce the concrete, use fast drying fiber reinforced concrete and the fiber will take the place of re-bar and give the base strength when it dries.
- Once the concrete is mixed and poured, take a two by four board and place it on top of the form to smooth out the cement.
- To finish smoothing out the concrete, use a trowel and lightly drag it across the top of the cement to get a nice, smooth, even surface.
- Let that dry overnight, and then you’re ready to come back and brick in around the Postal Vault.
- Once the concrete’s dry, remove the form.
- Now take your bricks and do a layout.
- You want to use as many full bricks as possible so you won’t have to make as many cuts. As you’re laying the bricks out, be sure and leave a small space in between each one for a mortar line.
- Once you’ve centered your postal vault in the center of your base, use a multi-purpose thin set mortar and a margin trowel to put a thin coat of mortar down on the base to set your first course of bricks.
- The thin set acts as a bonding agent between the slab and the first course of bricks. Now put mortar on top of the thin set and use a generous spreading on top of the thin set.
- Put this coat of mortar all the way around your base.
- A you start to set the bricks in use a brick gap to make sure you’ve got a consistent spacing for your mortar joints.
- Take a trowel, dip up some mortar, and butter the side of the brick where it will butt up against the first brick you’ve laid down.
- Use the brick gap to check spacing and continue this process as you go.
- Once the first row of bricks is down, use a level to make sure that they are level.
- Check the back row and the side rows. If the bricks are not level, use the handle of your trowel to tamp them down until they are level.
- For cutting bricks, you can rent or buy a chop saw, or a masonry saw.
- After you’ve cut a brick, and are ready to install it, make sure that the factory edge to the outside so that you’ll have the best look.
- As you lay row after row, you need to consistently check to make sure the bricks are not only level, but plumb.
- In other words, you don’t want to have a brick wall that leans like the leaning Tower of Pisa. Again, use the level to check for plumb as you go.
- As you go along, you’ll also need to use a tool called a striker.
- This is a curved metal tool that you put into the mortar joints and move back and forth. This gets rid of excess mortar and puts an indentation into the mortar joint so it will look better.
- To finish the project, once you’ve got your exterior walls to the height you need them, you can put a flat cap on top of the vault.
- To do that, span the gap between the brick walls with a thin piece of metal.
- Again, use multi-purpose thin set and apply it to the top of the metal piece. This will act as a bonding agent for the bricks to adhere to the metal.
- Then lay the bricks and mortar across the metal and you’re done.
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[@dirttdude]

high school kids were smashing rows of mailboxes, mine included.... i disguised the 12 foot long steel and concrete post that was buried 8 feet down to look like a 4X4 wood post and the very next night one wrapped his truck around my mailbox. Sometimes life is good, not often, but when it is, it's really good.

[@TheRealMonnie]

That's illegal to do where I'm from. You could have killed him with that. Yeah, he made a mistake, but it's somebody's kid. A mailbox isn't worth somebody's life.

[@dirttdude]

@@TheRealMonnie His parents owe me for 8 mailboxes plus 200 bucks labor for each one. i doubt that i'll hear from them.

[@xchemicalXladybugx]

@@TheRealMonnie Someone purposely running a several ton vehicle off the road to hit something 100% deserves it. It’s incredibly dangerous to run a vehicle off road, at night, in a neighborhood. Adults, kids, and pets can be out. It’s easy to lose control when off road or get the vehicle stuck on or in something like a drainage ditch and even flip the vehicle. Trees and their root systems aren’t lit up so they can be hard to see. The road is for vehicles, everything else is off limits to drivers. I’ve personally see people do this type of shit and knock out powerlines, trees, and get stuck in ditches. They were gonna learn one way or another that being in a car or truck doesn’t make you or the vehicle invincible

[@geraldsmith3423]

This is a prime example of why building permits are needed for mailbox structures.

[@Chris-cj5rh]

You are my hero!

[@crowfeet8443]

After watching this, I've decided to hire an experienced bricklayer.

[@ayshalenae]

😂😂😂 SAME

[@SecretSexSkeleton]

It's almost as if no one realizes this was quite clearly filmed in the 90's 🤣

[@TheLegitFinesser]

This comment has me screaming 🤣🤣🤣

[@edzukation]

Oh. We can tell. Because it seems real.

[@missrose9164]

Great boxes! Smart. Great to see a lady get into hands on projects :)

[@ejam1117]

Yeah...showed the 1st course then magically she was on the 12th course. And she didnt even use a trowel.

[@dougcox835]

Since you determine the size of the base yourself wouldn't it be easier to lay out the bricks and boxes on the ground first to set the size to whatever fits exactly right so no brick cutting would be required?

[@kennethyanni1845]

Mike can you use plain cement board (wonder board) and skip the wire?

[@ivinawashington4803]

Please inform me where you purchased the mailbox. Thanks in advance🙏🏾

[@edwinhenderson1166]

Did I miss it, or was the mailbox never secured to the concrete base?!

[@elkskiutah8204]

and that front filler wall could be kicked out quite easily plus the top will rot with no slope or capstone if its a 4 season climate

[@jg2611]

Were the vaults secured any?

[@Magesandrogue]

Just to be safe you should call your local city or public works and inquire about the city code to putting in a brick mail box. Don’t just call the post office. Make sure u get the approval in writing. Otherwise you might get cited. Cheers.

[@Capt.DPeterson5171]

Everybody has a brick mailbox in their cites! hahahah Your fine.

[@uncut3293]

Go Girl ✅

[@randyfewell]

I really could use you as a neighbor

[@nostacientist8110]

Why did she install two postal vaults? Didn't one of the mailboxes belong to the neighbor???

[@TheRealMonnie]

yes. she said so at the end.

[@bonanzatime]

I remember this handygirl. What a Cutie🤗

[@mickeycricket1265]

Great work. Ignore the nasty men comments below.

[@Richie-uy6io]

She can level my bricks anytime!

[@harryballsacky]

MAKE ME A SAMMICH

[@HansDelbruck53]

She forgot to put numbers on the mailboxes.

[@harryballsacky]

IT'S A PORTA JOHN

[@thomasfoster5200]

I wanna work for her. She can yell at me all day

[@harryballsacky]

MOST STATES, MAILBOX CAN'T BE CONCRETED, NEEDS TO BREAK AWAY...AND THE HOA WOULD NEVER APPROVE THIS

[@ejam1117]

Diy video that didnt even show her(or whomever actually laid it) do anything. Good luck building one.

[@serge.crispino418]

The workmanship equals the look of the final product and that is being kind - never seen such a poor video related to brick work.

[@michaelfitch5593]

A brick mailbox is roadside hazard. If someone drifts off the road and hits the mailbox, it could kill them. This is not a legal installation. All mailboxes per federal guidelines have be constructed with a breakaway material.

[@chadcarr552]

Its perfectly legal.

[@mickeycricket1265]

Are you freaking kidding me?? If some drunk hits it- Tough crap. Theyll either hit the brick box or a freaking tree. Cant believe you even said that. Maybe you've had experience hitting brick walls.😂😂😂

[@alexl9334]

Would rather they hit the mailbox and stop than plow into my living room thank you very much

[@ionpisarencu4826]

You should never drive and stay home then. Did you know that many people dye while they eat? Let’s not eat anymore! So many stupid rules just because some people don’t think and don’t see the obvious.

[@kevinbrill3117]

as someone whos had my mailbox run over by a drunk, I wish it was a concrete vault...

[@Paogrin]

Why is your mailbox being built on public property... Someone didn't think this through...