If you’re artistic you can always choose to paint your own scene or design on your box. However, most homeowners choose to purchase a pre-painted mailbox. If you do decide to paint your own box, be sure to do it with the mailbox door open. Don’t close the door until the box has completely dried or you may find you’ve painted the door together permanently! Hand painted mailboxes are available with various scenic pictures, sports logos, floral designs and any other design you could possibly dream up.

Like any other decorative mailbox, you must always ensure your hand painted mailbox fits into the lengthy and strict list of USPS mailbox regulations. Most of the rules don’t apply directly to the color or design your mailbox has. Instead, the rules generally apply to the type of mailbox (size, height). Thus, most often you can paint whatever you’d like on your box and still be within regulation.

Those who are interested in artistic backyard decor can also use hand painted mailboxes as yard decoration, instead of for the practical purpose of holding mail. Homeowners have used them as bird houses and planters as well!

Some even add flowers around their mailbox to add color to their landscape design. Combining a mailbox and planter is becoming more popular. It can make a good impression whether on the porch or on the curb.

One such design of a mailbox planter uses the traditional post with small arm on which the mailbox is extended closer to the street, making mail delivery easier. On the back side, a planter in the same shape, size and color offsets the front of the mailbox into which flowers are planted.

Adding a few flowers at the base of the mailbox can make it even more colorful, presenting additional appeal to the exterior of the home.

On the porch for those whose mail is delivered to a wall-mounted mailbox, a planter can be added to the sides, or under the planter, to add color to the exterior of the home.

Care must be taken to prevent damage to the mail when the flowers are being planted. Traditional metal mailboxes can also be painted in a floral pattern to better fit into the mailbox planter theme.

Choosing colors for the mailbox planter is easier if they are made of wood or metal and painted. Using stone to make a planter that is adjacent to the mailbox can create a stronger area, but the colors will be limited to the available stone colors.

A stone mailbox will also protect the incoming mail from weather-related events as well as vandals, who for some reason enjoy smashing mailboxes along the road.

Most stone mailboxes consist of a metal or resin collector surrounded by either cast stone or stones secured by mortar around the box. They are set firmly on a footer near the road for easy delivery. The colors and shapes of the stone surrounding the box are numerous.

Some homes choose to have the surrounding bricks match, or at least compliment any stone work on the home.

Most people prefer the cast stone mailbox as it tends to hold together and are not subject to the effects of the weather. They also do not crumble as easy as those built of stones and mortar if they are hit by a vehicle along the road.

Protecting any important incoming mail is often cited as the prime reason most people opt for a stone mailbox, but appearance also plays a role in their decision.

For the stone mailbox that is made of cast stone surrounding a traditional metal box, the outside of the box must be treated to protect it from rust due to the moisture being contained within the stone.

However, a little airflow through the stone mailbox often provides the means from which the moist air can escape, extending the life of the mailbox.

Even as landlords and management companies entrusted with the purchase of a mail receptacle approved by the United States post office will try to keep things safe, cheap mail box raiders seek your identity. Depending how cheap your landlord is, they may find it. There are essentially two routes you can take at this juncture to safeguard your personal information.

First and foremost, consider contacting the building owner and lobby for the purchase of a secure, commercial mail box or even individual mail boxes to which only the tenant has a key. Granted the expense is higher. But, if you can get enough tenants to get together and appeal to the building owner, you may have some success.

Barring that, you may need to consider getting a post office box and keeping your mail and identity safe at the post office. Although it is a bit of an inconvenience to pick up the mail from there, the inconvenience you save yourself by not having to dispute fraudulent charges is huge!

While this is not as secure as the locked box—most individual boxes do not offer a locking feature—it does make it easier on the landlord who does not have to worry about getting back a key.

Of course, there are also other commercial mailbox options for apartments and townhomes, and many townhomes in particular have begun featuring the in-door mail slot. Since this virtually eliminates the need for an outside mailbox, the integrity of the building is maintained and so is the privacy of the individual renter or unit owner.

For larger apartment buildings this is of course not a viable option since mail carriers most likely will not be willing to traverse several floors within the building to drop off mail and instead will only consent to dropping the mail at a central location.

In some cases the manager’s office is still the mail drop off point and from there a clerk or employee may sort the mail into individual slots, but because of the security problem this approach represents it is virtually phased out—usually in favor of the communal mail drop with individual keys– as one of the commercial mailbox options for apartments and townhomes.

After all, there is no better way to stand out on the street than by virtue of the mailbox, and copper, aluminum and bronze mailboxes all have the ability to be crafted in such a manner as to be eye catching designs that passersby and others are bound to notice.

Many homeowners have begun to capitalize on the way personalized mail receptacle dress up a residence, and the truly imaginative have often chosen to make their own. While aluminum is the most commonly used material because of its inexpensive nature, copper is used with a bit more hesitation.

First and foremost, copper, aluminum and bronze mailboxes stand higher risks of being vandalized or stolen, but off all those, copper has the highest risk, simply because so many are now entering the recycling trade and found that there is good money to be had for copper wiring and other items.

Bronze is beautiful but it tends to be heavy and requires reinforcement of the pole and special anchoring and for this reason mailboxes made from this material are not stolen quite as often.

Of course, handcrafted decorative mailboxes must meet the standards set forth by the US Postal Service and prior to embarking on this task, you will be wise to pay a visit to the post office for some general guidelines and rules. Usually these will pertain to height, width and actual location of the box, but depending on the municipality where you are located, additional rules may apply.

Once you have all the facts, you are ready to begin first drafts for your handcrafted decorative mailboxes. Choose materials wisely for sturdiness and ability to withstand weather and other impacts. In addition, carefully weigh your options with respect to making it a secured mailbox with a key for access, or simply a basic open one which does not protect the content from those not authorized to view it.

Last but not least, be mindful of your neighborhood with respect to vandalism. While in many areas there will be no problem with beautifully handcrafted decorative mailboxes, in other areas such gems may invite unsolicited attention by local kids who might destroy your art work or even severely damage the entire box. In some cases, the whole setup might even be stolen.

In extreme cases objectionable materials might have been deposited inside the mailbox or maybe in other extreme cases the little flag alerting the mail carrier to some outgoing mail could have been ripped off.

Today, vandals are known to deface mailboxes with spray paint, knives, and simply brute physical force, while in the countryside it appears to have become the norm to see mailboxes ripped off their stakes by those driving by.

In addition to the foregoing, identity theft is becoming a most serious consideration and those who fear that such crooks will steal their credit card information or even bank account access there is a good reason for having rugged, sturdy vandalism proof mailboxes.

Purchasing such improved mail receptacles is not hard to do and most big box home improvement stores now carry them as a matter of normal inventory. They are a bit more expensive than their lightweight counterparts, but if you live in an area where you might find consistent and recurring vandalism to be the norm, a rugged, sturdy vandalism proof mailbox is certain to soon pay for itself – especially when compared to the amount of money it would cost to replace a less expensive model time and again.

Protecting your mailbox from drive-by vehicle damage begins by measuring the distance from your mailbox to the road. The United States Post Office has several clearly defined regulations with respect to the minimum and maximum amount of space that should be left between the road and the mailbox, and ensuring that you fall within these guidelines is the first step to cutting your mailbox expenses.

Next comes the question of snow plowing. If you live in an area where snow is plentiful and snowplows are a fact of winter, then there are additional steps you need to take to be adequately protecting your mailbox from drive-by vehicle damage. After all, the plow may either shove snow into your box dislodging it from its pole, or it may actually get the edge of the plow itself snagged on the box and thus rip it off the pole.

Ascertaining the cause for the problem will be fixed most commonly by modifying the pole itself to ensure that there is enough clearance between the ground and the box. Yet be careful if you opt for adjusting the height of the pole to begin protecting your mailbox from drive-by vehicle damage in the winter; the post office is very clear in its requirements when doing so as mail delivery by vehicle should not require the mail carrier to leave her or his vehicle and a heightened or lowered pole may actually affect just that.

Although it makes sense that the heavy duty roadside mailboxes are going to last a lot longer, sometimes it might appear to be a bit of overkill to invest so much money in such durable designs for something that is usually not all that expensive to replace.

Of course, when you take the time to observe any one of the many heavy duty roadside mailboxes, you soon find out why homeowners in the countryside seem to favor this design over others! On horse properties it is not unusual to have equines backing into the mailboxes—sometimes at a good clip—and a lesser box would be knocked over and trampled.

In the same vein, tractors, farm equipment, trucks, and unwieldy, hard to maneuver trailers all seem to connect to the mailbox at some point, necessitating the installation of heavy duty roadside mailboxes that can withstand a lot more than then average mail receptacle.

Were the homeowners to replace their cheaper mailboxes consistently, the cost would soon climb at a rather steady pace, showing off the heavy duty roadside mailboxes to be actual money savers, even though at the onset they are a bit more expensive! Furthermore, a sturdier box is sure to cut on the amount of mail that is lost during tumbles and accidents.

Having solar lighted mailboxes and posts in such a situation makes the job of the mail carrier a lot easier and also allows those coming home in the dark to see their lit up mailbox as the homing beacon alerting them to the proximity of their driveways. In such instances security for other reasons plays a vital role as well.

How easy would it be for an identity thief to simply drive by and empty your mailbox while you are away? Yet with the advent and growing popularity of solar lighted mailboxes and posts, this kind of activity no longer goes unnoticed but is now illuminated, greatly increasing the risk of the individual up to no good.

In addition to the foregoing, the idea that solar lighted mailboxes and posts are a great way of saving on money is a given. After all, simply consider that even without the need for electricity, your property is still properly illuminated and thus provides safety to your home as well as your mail – all with just the simple solar lighted mailboxes and posts.

You have everything canceled and your driver’s license replaced. Three months later you begin receiving collection agency phone calls about cellular phone bills, credit cards and loans. They have your name on them but you don’t live in Washington and you did not buy a houseboat. You have become a victim of identity theft. Who do you call? Where do you turn?

You can resolve this nightmare and have your identity repaired by using a restoration service online. These companies guarantee that they will make the phone calls and do the necessary talking to get this resolved. You simply have to have an affidavit notarized, get a police report, mail letters that are provided by the agency with instructions and keep track of this with a record form.

The stress and hassles are relieved. The collection calls and harassments are stopped. For a single person case it is estimated that it can take about $400.00 dollars to repair a persona-stolen identity. This may vary depending on the extent in which your identification was used and how many people it was sold to. No matter the cost of the repair it will be worth knowing that your name once again belongs to you.

Rust-Free Components

One of the highly beneficial traits associated with a cast aluminum mailboxes is the fact that it is often a rust-free product. Due to the exposure to the weather elements that a mailbox often experiences, this attribute is an important one. A rust-free mailbox will help to ensure that the mail stays dry and your mailbox stands the test of time.

Durable Material

Cast aluminum is an extremely durable material therefore it is no wonder that mailbox manufacturers choose to make various mailboxes out of this component. This type of material can take bumps and bangs while still maintaining its new look. It is also able to weather the storm, so to speak, and survive in various forms of inclement weather. A durable mailbox is very important to individuals as the mail which fills it can be quite important and keeping it well contained is necessary.

Cast Aluminum Can Be Decorative As Well

When some individuals think of cast aluminum mailboxes, they may conjure up images of sterile looking objects which are not very aesthetically pleasing. The truth is that cast aluminum mailboxes can be quite decorative as well as durable. These types of mailboxes come in a variety of styles and if searching for a new mailbox, you are sure to find some good options with regard to cast aluminum mailboxes which are pleasing to the eye.

Not only does this organization provide replacement mailboxes but they have new posts as well, and demonstrate the choices at the community recreation center. The mailboxes, with post, cost between $125 and $625.

The mailbox replacement program is a cinch for the homeowner. All she or he has to do is select from the vast array of mailbox and mail post designs and make their payment. The delivery as well as the installation of the mailbox is included in the cost. The installers even remove your old ugly mailbox and post. Street numbers are included, and the proceeds after cost are given to an area beautification committee to fund further projects.

In this particular mailbox replacement program there are eight different mailbox and post styles from which to choose. At the lower end, the $125 Hickory style, is the traditional but attractive look of wood. The 4×4 wood post is treated to withstand the ravages of inclement weather and the size of the mail box itself is standard. You can choose from white, black or brown. The price includes vinyl decal house numbers.

Clearly the most striking, the Linden, is the highest priced. This $625 mailbox replacement is oversized, with a monogram on the box and a post made of cast aluminum coated in powder. The house numbers are golden and two sided. You also get a gorgeous three inch raised bronze initial. The color choices for this beautiful mailbox and post are black, white and French bronze.

This is not to say that making a change is a bad thing, but you should definitely consider what you are doing.

The best reason to get a new residential mailbox is if you want a fresh look. Even though residential mailboxes can last a long time, they are not going to last forever. And as they get older, the way that they look is going to decline.

If you have an old residential mailbox on a nice home, you are not doing yourself any favors. Instead of opting for a quick fix that will not last, you would be much better off simply making a purchase.

Of course, you may want to buy a new residential mailbox for no reason at all. Maybe you are just hoping to change the way that the outside of your home looks.

If you have the money to do this, there is no reason that you shouldn’t. A change to your residential mailbox can go a long way in making your home more visually appealing.

There are many reasons to buy a new residential mailbox. If you have even one reason in mind, you should start shopping around.