In-Wall mailbox repair
We recently renovated our 8 unit coop vestibule. In the process, the tile that surrounds the in-wall mailbox was replaced. During the renovation, something happened to the mailbox that now prevents it from being opened by USPS. The contractor has refused to fix it as it’s USPS property. USPS (Prospect Heights Location) said they’d take a look months ago, but I’m fairly certain they may be a lost cause.
Does anyone know of a contractor that is able/willing to fix or if I must continue down the USPS route?
[Screen Shot 2020-09-14 at 12](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s2/:brownstoner:0LyL:screenshot20200914at12.51.50pm.png.jpg)
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in General Discussion 4 years and 11 months ago
2
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brokelin | 4 years and 11 months ago
The box is indeed yours (if you have one like the one in the photo.) The lock that the mail carrier uses to flip open the entire box to be able to fill the individual mailboxes is provided by the post office, and the post office controls use of that lock with their key. If you have a larger box that the post office owns, though I don’t imagine you do in an old 8-unit building, the post office would be able to tell you if they own it.
Your post is unclear as to whether the lock was somehow gummed up (stray grout?) in the renovation process and won’t work, or whether the key turns fine in the lock but the replacement of the tile to the side introduced some barrier that prevents the box from flipping open.
Talk to your mail carrier – they are a great source of information on all things mailboxes. Your mail carrier will be able to tell you where the problem lies. If the lock is functioning, and your mail carrier shows you that it is, then the fault lies with the contractor, and they should fix it – but that may be the lost cause, and you may need to hire another one to fix their poor work it you can’t get them to do it. I am assuming there is tile or some other material that prevents the box from opening, though I suppose they could have somehow warped the mailbox itself and need to unwarp it. If the lock itself is malfunctioning, from whatever cause, the post office will be able to replace the lock for you.
And, since you renovated the lobby, why leave the ugly old mailboxes there? When we replaced our building’s original old brass mailboxes (the kind with the tiny individual mailboxes with the half-height doors that flip up) with something the size of the one in the photo (it was sized like that because these are “post office approved mailboxes” that are required for multifamily buildings), we thought the ones we saw for sale in both the aluminum color and the alternative ugly gold color, which were the only two options then, both looked so ugly that we found a place that brass-plated a new 4-door post-office approved mailbox (we got one with flat-front doors, not the corrugated ones in the photo.). That looked much better with the original marble and unpainted oak in our 1890s vestibule!
stevecym | 4 years and 11 months ago
i do not think that mailbox is USPS property and there are folks on here who can confirm that. the main lock is probably usps property. the smaller ones belong to the building and i know that as i had some in my shop and gave them to a customer for just this purpose.
i do smaller jobs in between and while i am doing the bigger jobs in my shop (while the glue is drying). i am busy now and even have people on here, reading this asking me to do things, so i can not get there for something like this too fast. but my website is below. even if i cannot fix it (i will not charge you if i can’t) i will be able to tell you what is going on- i won’t want to destroy the place in the process.
for some reason i am usually pretty good with things on hinges and things that open and close.
steve
www.thetinkerswagon.com