Letter box problem

[Nick Odell]

When I've been away from home for a month or more, I've stopped the build-up of mail by resting a board at about 60deg under the letterbox. Letters just slide down it further into the hallway. Doormat in the right place stops the board sliding down and effectively jamming the door. 60deg is good enough so that opening the door pushes the board into the vertical position. It's a bit fiddly setting the board up with one hand round the door as you close it but for a month long trip it's worth it and if you were to do it every day I dare say you'd get quicker at it.

Nick

[Terry Pinnell]

I've been using a sliding tray:

But last week I finally got around to clearing out my garage and the tray accidentally ended up in the local recycling tip. Hence this post!

On a more general point, why isn't this a problem for the majority of homes? What clearance do most doors have over the interior mat?

[Muddymike]

Just back from a few days away and picked up on this. Anyone suggested the basket fixed to the back of the door around the letter slot?

Mike

[Tim+]

My front door has very little clearance but it's a square edged wooden door. I suspect the rounded profile of your door may be more inclined to allow mail to get wedged rather than "sweep" it away as the door's opened. You might consider fitting a square edged strip to the bottom of your door to see if this sweeps the mail more effectively without jamming.

We constructed a porch subsequently with a double door which definitely cures the problem but is maybe more than you're prepared to do. ;-)

Tim

[Nightjar]

I just put a large plastic container behind the door when I am going away. My postman seems to be trying to see how far down the hallway he can get post when he puts it through my letterbox, so it does not need to be tight behind the door. All the post ends up in the container and it pushes away easily when I open the door.

Colin Bignell

[Terry Pinnell]

I don't see how that could possibly work reliably here. Presumably you have to place it a couple of feet away from the door, depending on the size and girth of the largest departee. All it would need in my case for the door to get jammed would be a few *inches* of space into which deliveries could accumulate.

But that gives me an idea, thanks. I used to be into practical electronics as a hobby. Maybe I'll dust off my shed workbench and try designing some sort of remote control gadget to push a laundry basket-on-wheels snugly alongside the door.

Then again, there's always Royal Mail KeepSafe...

[Nightjar]

As with Nick's board, you set it with an arm around the door, so the gap is only a few inches. It was something I did mainly to avoid having to search further down the hallway for letters my postman sends flying through the letterbox. I once found something weeks after it was delivered, under furniture I would have thought well out of reach of the letterbox.

You could link it to opening the door and have it auto-retract as well.

Colin Bignell

[F Murtz]

I live in australia and have fun trying to figure out UK posts. Here we have very few slots in doors (extremly rare I would say maybe a few in cities) All detached houses have a box on a post at the front gate. All units have a bank of boxes at the entrance for the building semis would have the box at their front gate. Postman ride along the street on their motor bike or bicycle and rarely get off them in the suburbs. Gone are the days when the milkman ,posties, bread men come up to your house for anything

[Dave Liquorice]

Ah, the KISS solution at last!

As for how do you position it when leaving? Doesn't the house have another door to exit by? Attach it to the door, bit of string or light bungey around it to a couple of eyes or SA cable tie pads?

[Andy Champ]

Either reach around the door, as has already been suggested. Or put a bit of string under the door to pull it.

Andy

[jgharston]

Because doors open *in* to the place you're going *in* to. Fire *exit* doors are *exit* doors.

JGH

[jgharston]

+1 several-fold.

Why do letter-box installers assumes that deliverers have three hands

- one to open the letter box, one to push through the delivered item and one to hold the rest of the stuff you're carrying. A sensibly- designed letter box can be opened with half a finger of the same hand pushing the letter through.

JGH

[jgharston]

Vertical letterboxes are the spawn of the devil. With a horizontal letterbox the flap only has to move about 15 degrees before the whole slot is accessible. With a vertical letterbox the flap has to move the whole 90 degrees before you can get anything through, with the exponetially larger amount of force and precision needed to do that. Even worse are the brain-dead morons who mount a horizontal letterbox vertically, ambushing your fingers as you push against the immovable hinge side when it suddenly leaps away from you at the other side.

JGH

[SteveW]

All the vertical letterboxes that I've ever encountered (right back to paper round days) have opened sideways, so that's the way I'd be expecting them to move. Why on earth would anyone put in a vertical letterbox hinged at the top, with the problems that gives to get anything through?

SteveW

[mully]

There used to be a design with the outer letterbox cover also serving as a knocker. Quite heavy and awkward. That was hinged at the top John

[F]

I remember a couple that were top-hinged from my paper round days. A long time ago but definitely top-hinged and a pain to get the newspapers through.

[Bob Martin]

Mine is top-hinged (from 1936).