Locking Mailboxes

Do you associate locking mailboxes only with apartment buildings and condominium complexes? Most of us have done our time in apartments, whether for a few years or a decade or two, struggling with those tiny little Post Office keys, wondering why the boxes are always too small for three days worth of mail. But now you have your own house and a private mailbox.

You like the idea of locking mailboxes because there's a reassuring security about them. But you wonder if you're stuck with the ugly slightly off-shape rectangle you're familiar with. The basic answer is yes, because of USPS requirements. The more complete answer is that a little creativity goes a long way as far as exterior home decor is concerned.

Building a mailbox into a retaining stone, brick, or stucco wall or column is one possibility. Many models are designed with this adaptation in mind. Another option with even greater design flexibility is to build a mailbox of any material and shape that fits your decor scheme, but slightly larger than the USPS box you'll mount inside. Make sure, if it's a curbside box, that the bottom of the mailbox box itself is the required 42 to 48 inches above the ground and the door is the required six to nine inches from the curb face.

How Locking Mailboxes Work

Your local letter carrier must be able to leave incoming mail in your mailbox without a key. This means that the slot through which the carrier puts the mail must be large enough to accommodate standard four-inch by 10-inch envelopes and a nine- by 12-inch parcel. The idea is that the slot is large enough to receive the mail but not enough for a hand to reach through. Homeowners use a key to retrieve their mail from their locking mailboxes.