SECURING A LETTER BOX
If you want to know how to make a letter box secure, here are ten tips to get the job done. It’s wise to fit a box on the inside of your front door. This will prevent wouldbe intruders from reaching through your letter box to open a night latch, as well as stealing your correspondence.
However, if you’re going on holiday, remove the bottom of the box first; otherwise the buildup of post will mean letters poking out of the letter box — a sure sign that the house is empty.
- Use 10mm ply for the box and cut two 250mm X 150mm rectangles for the side panels.
- Shape the box top for easy access; cut the tops of the side pieces at an angle of about 35°.
- Cut the four corner pieces from a length of 13mm x 13mm batten.
- Use a sliding bevel to mark the cutting angle to match the profile of the sides.
- Cut the front panel from 10mm ply so that the height matches the front of the sides and the width extends at least 25mm either side of the box.
- Fix the longer battens in position on the door.
- Cut the fixing battens for the bottom of the box and assemble the three sides away from the door.
- Next, fix the free edges of the panels to the battens on the door.
- Screw a bottom panel to the underside of the battens; that way you can remove it when you go away, allowing letters to fall directly on to the floor.
- Finally, fix the lid in place using a piano hinge cut to size and screwed to the door above the opening of the letter box.