Post Boxes
Postboxes are used to deliver and receive items of mail such as letters, leaflets and small packages. Almost every resident will have some type of post box or letter box at their premises. The purpose of a post box is to allow letters, mail etc. to be delivered to a residence, workplace or other location, without the need to physically be there to personally accept the delivery.
A typical post box or letter box will have the appearance of a box with a slot in one side of it and can be either vertical or horizontal. The slot or opening is to allow the delivery of the items to be placed inside the box. The slot will generally have some form of flap covering it to protect the items from the weather or even small animals such as birds or rodents from gaining entry to the premises or nesting in the box. The dimensions of the slot are very important as it must be large enough to accept mailed deliveries, yet also not too large as to allow access to the contents by unauthorized persons or even undesirable objects.
There are quite a few types of letterboxes and post boxes and a typical letterbox can be found on many main entrance doors to resident’s premises. They are generally around waist height for ease of use and the letters or items of mail are pushed through the letterbox flap and fall to the floor.
Some letterboxes may have a small box fitted to the receiving end or other side of the door which will catch the delivered mail thus preventing the item falling to the floor.
Sometimes it is inconvenient or not practical to have a letter box opening in a door, and other ways of receiving post must be employed.
The post box is one way of achieving this. A post box is usually a self-contained unit which has been specifically designed to be independent from a door or building. Post boxes can be attached to a wall either internally for use in offices and flats etc., or externally on the wall outside of the building, and some may even be freestanding and totally independent of the building itself.
There are many different types of post boxes available and some of these can include:
o Freestanding mailbox units
o Recessed letterbox units
o Through-the-wall letterbox units
o Surface mounted post boxes
o Mail chutes
o Fence mounted post-boxes
o Mailboxes for door sides
Free-standing post boxes may be bolted or concreted to the ground and can have a horizontal or vertical delivery slot.
