letter box through porch brick wall

[newdiy]

good morning.

I like to pick your brain on what letter box or letter box plates (inside and outside) I can have to replace existing draughty letter box in porch wall built in single brick wall.

external letter box plate is metal and non-sprung so it rattles at windy days or night. it is fixed to metal bracket inside the opening.

The opening in the wall is about

265mm (width) x 65mm (height), the wall thickness is about 109mm.

https://imgur.com/IX5Ovt9 shows the letter box location and porch.

thanks a lot for your help.

 

[JohnD]

you can copy and paste photos into your post. No need for a link to other sites.

your pic is not very clear, but I can see the letter flap is in a bad position. It is close to the door handle so that a simple home-made tool can be used to open the door and even turn a key from outside. Children with small hands and thin arms are sometimes used for this job.

So I think you need at least a cage on the inside, preferably a box. In your case, the letter slot is on the inside of the wall, so a small cupboard can be used and look quite neat (with the hinge on the door-handle side to frustrate attempts to open it)

There is a large variety of letter flaps here:
https://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/search?query=letter flap

https://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/search?query=letter guard

Chrome and brass-plate are two popular finishes, depending on your whim. On the inside, have one noticably bigger that the hole in the wall to prevent objects catching on the edge.

A lot of the common letter boxes have an opening on the back so they can be fixed to the inside of a door or wall and will catch envelopes pushed through, but this is not always obvious from the photos. If you have a dog, small children or a dishonest housekeeper, they can be locked to prevent interference with the mail. This is not often done.
https://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/search?query=letter box

If you ever have newspapers delivered it needs to be big enough to catch them.

 

[foxhole]

I used large mail box , you could then seal the inside removing any chance of draughts.

 

[newdiy]

thank you JohnD and foxhole, that is a lot good information and advices.

 

[Tigercubrider]

Also, adding a brush seal /flap helps.
But postmen hate brushes that are too tight, thin envelopes are a bitch to get through

 

[newdiy]

indeed, brush is a useful in draught-proofing.


most letterplate/box 's sleeves can only accommodate a depth of 80mm when two sleeves are connected together, it is still shorter than my wall thickness of 109mm.

how can I get around this issue ?

 

[Tigercubrider]

You could make a liner out of UPVC or thinner plastic. You might be lucky and find extractor trunking that's slightly bigger that you could modify

 

[newdiy]

great tips. thankyou Tigercubrider

 

[foxhole]

Small offcut of plastic facia would make easy liner .