ARBORIA GARDEN DECOR MAIL BOX BLACK

Well made construction looks great in our 300yr old Coachhouse

Update after almost 4 years:I've reduced my review from 5 stars to 3 stars. I'm still pretty happy with this postbox, however it definitely has flaws.1) We have had occasional problems with wet mail (I think water gets in around the front door, and occasionally the postman doesn't close the top). You can avoid some of this by putting a little bit of wire mesh at the bottom so that the mail isn't sitting right on the bottom where the water pools. I suspect it might have benefited from having more drain holes in the bottom.2) Unfortunately and more seriously after 2 years the bottom of the unit starting to show rust and more worryingly also seems to have cracks in it. After investigation it seems that the paint has very poor adhesion to the surface, and is coming away in whole sheets - anywhere water gets in, the paint comes lose from the metal but stays intact, trapping water between the paint and the surface. A thorough wire brushing (difficult due to awkward shape of the interior) and a couple of coats of smooth hammerite seem to have given an acceptable repair, but it is thoroughly unacceptable for an pre-painted outdoor item to be showing rust after only 2 years.Note that for some reason the one I have is a different design to the one shown in the current amazon image - mine has a side opening door and only came with 2 keys. The amazon image now shows a door that opens upwards and says 4 keys.Original review:I bought this to replace an old postbox, as our postmen had been having trouble getting magazines or packages to fit in. I spent a lot time searching, and didn't find anything else that even comes close to Arboria design.This one is very well designed. The entry is on the top (not the front side), so the post doesn't have to be bend around a corner to go in, and the entry slot and storage space are both good sizes - A4 magazines are no problem, and packages in a jiffy bag upto a fairly decent size are going to fit in.The door is well designed - easy to open, and stays open whilst you retrieve the post. (The picture Amazon have seems to show a door that hinges at the top - the one we received is side opening, which I think it preferable.)It probably is possible to remove items through the postbox if you try hard enough, at least if they're tall or your hands are small enough to get right through the slot (mine don't seem to be). This is obviously going to be an issue with any external postbox. With the postbox we had before, the postmen ended up leaving many packages he couldn't get into it on the door step (and it was also easy to get items out of the old post box), so this one should be an improvement on both counts.The metal the actual box is made of is a little thin, but seems acceptable for the price we paid (35 pounds).

Good value compared to many of them which mostly still have the same problem of occasional rain getting in

On it’s own the box is fine. There are only 3 screws to secure the box to the wall. With the rubber washers, it’s a bit wobbly on the wall. Not bad for the money and speedy delivery.

It took a little while for us to start using this box, but it is now safely ensconced in my porch and looks so lovely. It goes well with the Victorian house we have doesn;t look too modern and ugly but newither is it bright red and ostentatious. When selecting it, I saw some reviews suggesting it was being used outside with no cover and I can well understand why this is not a great idea. This is not a terribly heavy metal box, in fact, I think one of its absolute plus points is that it is fairly lightweight without being flimsy, but it is also slightly more ornamental and I would hesitate to expose to all weather elements. That being said, I can see it lasting well for years under the shade of my porch and has solved the problems we had with our post. So on that basis, I thoroughly recommend it. Plus, the postman commented on how stylish it looks - now that's a worthy endorsement!

Absolutely perfect, now saves the postman bending down and breaking the door letter box again

Very happy with our post box. We bought a new door and didn't want to carve a hole in it, hence deciding to go with a wall-fitted letter box. Looks quality. It does get drops of rain on it but is mostly under our porch. Had it 3 months now. Top opening for post/ side opening for retrieving the mail. Takes large packages easily. I can reach into it (just - lady's hand) to retrieve post though (without using the key), so not 100% secure(!), but to be honest we could fix that if we really wanted to, with a brush on the inside. To be honest, it's more useful to have a box that parcels and packages can be left in.

I'm sure, for a fractional extra cost during manufacture, this item could serve its purpose fully as an out door post box.My solution; thin plastic hollow self adhesive piping obtainable from B&Q and I guess other DIY outlets sold as a draft excluder for doors & windows. Unfortunately I only saw this item in brown or white (I used brown, it doesn't show from the outside) but there might be something similar available in black. I'm sure if the manufacturer decided to waterproof this item properly, they'd source what was required.I fitted four pieces around the door surround for the door to close onto, and two pieces, one to the box at the rear of the opening flap and one to the rear of the flap itself. This did the trick and the mail no longer gets soggy!