DIY: Mailbox Refresh

Today my honey and I took care of a honey-do that amazed us with the result we got.

Our mailbox and post have been in sad shape for a while. But really, how important is that in relation to other things you normally have to take care of around the house? The post (metal, ornate, huge, and quite attractive) was in need of some scraping down and a new paint job, and the box (plain ‘ol black) needed new numbers (they were faded) and a little touch up too.

I had purchased new reflective numbers and paint several months ago, but let time slip by (plus we’ve had a lot of rain), and just forgot about it. Today’s great weather inspired us to action.

Now, we could have tossed the mailbox and picked up a new one (as I think most folks would), but I wanted to give paint a try. After a bit of elbow grease we were prepped. Then – Rust-Oleum Universal (http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=178) Gloss spray paint to the rescue! I used a piece of cardboard as a shield for over spray and went to work. In just a minute, I had what looked like a brand new box!

Then I went to work on the post. It has a lot of detail (a sort of Victorian-looking post), so there was a bit of a challenge getting all the nooks and crannies covered. This is where the Universal is great. You can pretty much spray in any position (I had the can nearly upside down) and have consistent performance. I have used it on a lot of small wood projects, but not on a large, vertical piece.

Our next door neighbor stopped as he was driving by and was amazed at the result we got. He even joked (a bit too fervently) about my wife and I working on his post and box when were finished. I hope he’s not still waiting for us to stop by…