Styles of Australian Made mailboxes suitable for Residential and Commercial markets
The Letterbox Man has letterboxes for sale and is the leading specialists in manufacturing Australia Made letter boxes. We carry the “Australian Made” logo. All letterboxes except for two models, are made by hand in our Brisbane Factory.
We have a range of letterboxes including free standing letterboxes (on a post/s), commercial letter boxes, box only and stainless steel fronted letterboxes.
The Letterbox Man is moving to a system where you can be creative with your letterbox; having a different colour for the post and another for the letterbox. The new range of letterboxes allows more versatility.
The Letterbox Man even has besser block sized letterboxes suitable for the building industry so they don’t need to cut down the blocks or pack up with capping blocks, therefore making projects more cost effective.
Australia Post compliance – The mail slot must be a minimum of 900mm from the ground and no more than 1200mm from the ground to be Australia Post compliant.
Australia Post also require that mailboxes allow the mail to lie flat inside the letterbox. Therefore a letterbox marked A4/A3 will comply.
People refer to mail boxes and letterboxes in a multitude of different ways, however there are two major categories; residential and commercial.
Let’s look at each category a bit closer and the different types of mailboxes in each category.
Residential – House / Home (commonly used in suburbia)
Freestanding (on a post/s)
When referring to a residential freestanding letterbox, the letterbox industry is usually referring to a letterbox that comes with a post and most times a number plate. Some get rather fancy and even have scroll work and spears to enhance the decor of the garden.
The post can either be under the letterbox or a central feature with the letterbox off to one side and the number-plate or maybe even a newspaper holder on the other side.
They can be bolted either to the ground or installed in the ground.
Duplex
Duplexes are more common in southern regions of Australia; to service these regions we have two letterboxes attached to one post.
Options include having two boxes , one on top of each other mounted on a central post under the letterboxes or if looking for a more federation style, having two letterboxes offset from each other on each side of a central post with a spear and scroll work.
Sit on brick wall
Traditionally letterboxes sat on brick walls and were top opening requiring a padlock to secure them. We have a range of letterboxes that suit this style both in Australia Post non compliant and compliant sizing. As the population is moving away from physical mail, some customers do not see the non compliant sized letterboxes as an issue; however they still have the functionality to receive the odd piece of mail.
Brick-in front/back plates with or without a sleeve
Some builders prefer to build pillar letterboxes with brick-in front and back plates with or without a sleeve (a sleeve is a metal section between the front and back plates) for the mail to rest in. This gives a sturdy option for turn-key homes.
Brick in front/back plates with or without a sleeve is also an economical option for the budget conscious purchaser wishing to upgrade their mail box. The major consideration to be addressed is at what height to insert the front and back plates. The mail slot must be a minimum of 900mm from the ground and no more than 1200mm from the ground to be Australia Post compliant.
The Letterbox Man has cast aluminium Brick-in plates in four sizes:
- 356M – Mill finish – 345w x 160
- 353M – Mill finish – 235w x 160h
- 359M – Mill finish – 370w x 190h
- 350M – Mill finish – 200w x 200h (commonly used in northern regions of Queensland or with besser block fences.)
A side note, these come in mill finish however can also be powder coated by our in-house powder coater.
We also have a range of brick in front/back plates with fixed sleeves with Polished brass / Bright Chrome or Satin Chrome finishes. These come in a couple of sizes:
- DB.1938.PB – Letterbox Front Plate Brass Polished ‘MAIL’ (220Wx155H)
- DB.1939.PB – Letterbox rear plate Brass polished (220w x 155h)
- DB.9210.PB – Letterbox Front Plate Brass Polished (355Wx170H) with Opening 300x30mm
- DB.9211.PB – Letterbox Rear Brass Polished (355w x 170h)
Sit in besser block wall
The building industry and tradies (an Australian colloquial term that refers to a tradesmen) are not always aware that the Letterbox Man has letterboxes in our range suitable for the 200 series besser block. No longer do they need to cut down blocks to fit, as our besser block sized letterboxes are 390mm wide x 200mm high x 200mm deep.
This makes a quick and easy fix for besser block walls / fences as there is no waste of material. Our besser block letterboxes come in a range of finishes:
- Marine Grade Stainless Steel front plate with powder coated aluminium letterbox behind.
- Marine Grade Stainless steel front plate with galvanised or stainless steel fixed sized sleeve with an end enclosure. To ensure the right size sleeve is selected, The Letterbox Man needs to know the depth of the wall / fence.
- Marine Grade Stainless steel front and back plate with a galvanised or stainless steel telescopic sleeve that moves out to the depth required. This model comes in two sizes depending on the depth.
Piers or Pillars
As piers or pillars are usually not very wide, The Letterbox Man has a couple of options for this situation:
- Brick in front and back plates in either cast aluminium or with brass / chrome finishes and sleeves can be used
- Marine Grade stainless steel front and back plates with telescopic sleeves (two pieces that move out to desired size.)
Rural
Usually rural properties require a larger mail box than suburbia; therefore The Letterbox Man has designed larger letterboxes for this need.
Again the larger boxes can be mounted on to a central post underneath or with two posts either side. The mail boxes can be large enough to accept parcels as well as letters.
Commercial/Large apartment blocks
Common attributes to all Commercial letterboxes
When looking for new or replacement multiple-letterboxes for commercial buildings, apartments or office blocks, people usually refer to them as stacks of letterboxes, banks of letterboxes or body corporate letterboxes. These names are interchangeable when looking for multiple letterboxes for the one premise. Essentially a bank of mail boxes is a larger construction of a multitude of individual mail boxes. The largest single practical size is overall 2326mm wide x 835mm high x 250/350mm deep. (Any larger and they either won’t fit in our powder coating oven or are too heavy to handle and transport). Where a commercial application needs a larger number of boxes, several sections can be manufactured and bolted together on site to look like one single unit.
Regardless of the type of building, our commercial mail boxes can be manufactured to accommodate almost any dimension.
Australia Post Compliance
Australia Post has a standard size they require for these premises, and The Letterbox Man’s standard size mailbox which is 350mm wide by 250mm deep by 175mm high is compliant. This orientation can be changed from landscape (wide front) to portrait (narrow front) 250mm wide by 350mm deep by 175mm high if there are space restrictions.
Front Opening / Rear Opening / Or both
Mail boxes can be manufactured as front opening, rear opening, or in the case of special custom needs, both.
In a location where you have a locked office behind the mail boxes, the mail can be loaded from the back of the mail box, with residents retrieving the mail from the front.
Security
The Letterbox Man takes mail box security very seriously and has incorporated security features into the design to make each letterbox more secure.
Our mail boxes have the doors flush with the exterior of the letterbox making it almost impossible to get a screwdriver under the door (sometimes the letterbox door is referred to as a flap) to open the boxes. We have our own in-house designed extrusions making our doors 2mm thick compared with the industry standard of 1.2mm used by many of our competitors.
We have a number of locking mechanisms: key locks; latch locks suitable for padlocks; Radial Pin GEM locks; as well as REAL 3 dial re-settable combination locks. The range of locking mechanisms provide the customer with a variety of suitable options that enable the bank of mail boxes to be tailored to customer needs and application.
Furthermore, with the key locks, we no longer supply master keys to premises as a precaution, although there are some exceptions. Our keys and locks are imported and therefore the local locksmith is not able to easily duplicate our keys. Replacement keys, however, are available from The Letterbox Man.
Numbering
The commercial range of mail boxes have a recessed space in the door for a number strip or a name strip. The strip is made from plastic.
Other options include large or small stainless steel (or brass) numbers on the door or self adhesive stickers.
“No Junk Mail” self adhesive stickers can also be put on each door, or “No Junk Mail” engraved into the number/name strip.
Something to remember: Boxes are numbered in the English language tradition, so that the numbers go from left to right on the side of the mail box that the postman places mail into the box. If the mail box is rear opening, the residents will see numbering going from right to left (i.e. reversed).
Mounting Options
Sitting on top of a wall: Letterbox banks can be installed so they sit on top of a wall.
Attached to a wall: When looking at installing on the face of a wall, the size and weight of the bank of letterboxes, as well as the type of wall must be taken into consideration. As The Letterbox Man letterboxes are made from Australian Grade aluminium that ranges from 1.2mm to 2mm thick, the average weight of a single box is 2.5kg. When you times that by the number of letterboxes required you can start to see there is a lot of weight to be hanging off a wall. Depending on the size we suggest either an extra trim above and below the bank allowing for more attaching points or in the case of very large banks we recommend a framework with legs, for the banks to sit on whilst also being attached to the wall.
A strong sturdy wall is required for this option.
Mounted on Posts: Either onto a concrete surface, or into the ground.
Inserted into a wall: The type of wall will determine the size of the letterbox bank. For example a besser block wall the individual size of the letterboxes will 390mm wide x 200mm deep x 200mm high for the 200 series blocks, whereas if brick the size is 350mm or 330mm wide x 250mm deep x 175mm high. The mailboxes for the besser block wall is not Australia Post compliant whereas the brick sized letterboxes are.
Office Blocks or Industrial Units
Commercial office buildings have a variety of different ways for mail to be handled. High rise office building can have banks of mailboxes in the building lobby and architects are often looking for statement pieces to embellish the building’s lobby. The Letterbox Man can manufacture special doors, or powder coat doors different colours to help brighten the space.
In the case of industrial units, blocks of letterboxes can be mounted on posts either onto or into the ground and are often referred to as freestanding banks of letterboxes.
Number strips can be made to have just a unit number and/or have the full name of the business each mail box is allocated too.
Residential Buildings, Apartments and Town Houses
Letterboxes used in residential spaces, are much like those used in office block or industrial units.
Banks of letter boxes can be in the foyer or lobby of buildings, especially if security is an issue.
In the case of units, whether they are 6, 8, 10 or more units, there are options for letterboxes on posts, on top of walls, in walls or attached to the surface of walls.
Many times a parcel box is also required for residential units and townhouses and The Letterbox Man is able to incorporate these into the design of the banks for our customers.
Hotel or Apartment Hotels
Hotels with residential apartments / rooms are required to have a block of letterboxes and The Letterbox Man has designed custom banks to suit individual needs. Some customers in this situation have requested that their letterbox not be able to be accessed for mail to be inserted into their box whilst they are away for lengths of time. The Letterbox Man has designed a system that makes the particular letterbox temporarily inoperable.
Caravan Parks
Banks of letterboxes can be freestanding with posts or installed in walls in Reception areas. Both front and rear retrieval have been supplied to Caravan Parks all over the Eastern Seaboard.
Student accommodation
As more Student Accommodation is being built the building industry and tradies are looking for letterboxes to compliment the multi dwelling facilities they are building. Whether they use besser blocks, bricks or cladding, The Letterbox Man is positioned to manufacture mailboxes to suit.
Key-lock Box
The Letterbox Man has designed a small key lock box system that is suitable for Airbnb properties, as well as hotels for pick-up or drop off of keys outside of business hours.
This box would also be a valuable addition to motels for the guests that arrive late at night or leave very early in the morning.
The automotive industries have also utilised this system for pick up and drop off of keys outside of business hours.
This box is 100w x 90d x 175h. It is front opening and can have a mail slot to drop key in or be fully concealed.