In most cases, a letterbox is installed directly into the front door itself. If your door is a timber door, then you\u2019ll have the luxury of choosing a letterbox to suit your particular taste (and to suit the door itself). Moreover, you\u2019ll have the choice of where exactly on your door your letterbox will be installed.<\/span><\/p>\n This isn\u2019t a job that requires a professional hand. Most competent DIYers will be able to tackle the project, provided that they\u2019re patient and willing to set aside the appropriate time. Here, we\u2019ll run through the process from start to finish. But before we do that, let\u2019s do our groundwork, and establish exactly where we\u2019re going to cut the hole.<\/span><\/p>\n Traditionally, a letterbox will go right in the middle of the door, level with the handle. This will allow easy access without having to stoop over. However, not all doors will allow for this. There may be panelling running all the way up the centre of the door. Or, you might have a lot of glazing, which obviously you won\u2019t be able to cut a hole into. Some people might prefer the look of a floor-level letterbox; for most of us, it\u2019s a question of practicality.<\/span><\/p>\n To get this job done right, you\u2019ll need quite an extensive assortment of tools. Fortunately, they\u2019re the sort of common tools you might already have to hand. Be sure that they\u2019re all ready to go before you get started.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You\u2019ll need:<\/span><\/p>\n You should be able to get it done over the course of an afternoon, even if you\u2019re not all that experienced with DIY. If you know what you\u2019re doing, you might be able to get the job done in an hour or even less. With that said it\u2019s better to give yourself more time than you need. You don\u2019t want to end up rushing the task toward the end, as that\u2019s when mistakes can occur.<\/span><\/p>\n Having assembled our tools and set aside the necessary time, we can get started on the installation itself.<\/span><\/p>\n First, we\u2019re going to mark the position of the hole onto the door. This will allow us to see exactly what the hole is going to look like before we make any permanent alterations and to correct any slight crookedness.<\/span><\/p>\n But how do you measure a letterbox? There\u2019s a trick to it. You want your letterbox to be at the door\u2019s exact centre-point, so take your tape measure and measure the width of the door. Then mark a point midway across. You might also want to do the same with height, though a letterbox that\u2019s too far to the left or right will look far more out of place than one that\u2019s slightly too high.<\/span><\/p>\n Next, we\u2019re going to draw a rectangle around our mid-point. Use your ruler and the spirit level to get every edge perfectly straight. You can start by making a short vertical line upward from your midpoint (half the height of the final letterbox) and then drawing the rectangle from there. Once you\u2019re done, double-check every angle and edge.<\/span><\/p>\n Now we can start drilling a few holes. These are what your jig-saw is going to be threaded through. You need one in each corner, large enough to thread the blade. The sides of each hole will need to be just about touching the edge of the rectangle you\u2019ve drawn. Be sure to keep the drill perfectly level, as correcting a crooked hole is a major pain.<\/span><\/p>\n Now we can start sawing. If you\u2019ve never used a jigsaw before, then this might prove a bit of a challenge. The saw will take care of most of the work for you, so you won\u2019t need to apply much force. Stay inside the lines rather than straying outside them, as you\u2019ll be using the file to correct any remaining bumpiness after you\u2019re done.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s time to tidy your work. Use your file to go around the edges. Take your time and make sure you don\u2019t go too far. You don\u2019t need perfectly smooth sides, as the letterbox itself is going to disguise small imperfections.<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s the moment of truth: is your letterbox going to fit? You\u2019re just going to thread it through the hole to make sure that everything aligns correctly. If it does, you\u2019re ready to install more permanent fixtures.<\/span><\/p>\n Before you start drilling the studs, you\u2019ll need to mark the locations. There\u2019s a trick to doing this accurately. Just take your letterbox, studs and all, and hold it over the door. Then, after covering it with a protective cloth, give it a gentle tap at each corner with your mallet. Your stud locations will be marked into the wood.<\/span><\/p>\n Now it\u2019s time to drill the actual stud holes. You can do this by first drilling a pilot hole to make things easier.<\/span><\/p>\n Finally, you can tighten the nuts to fix the letterbox into place. If there\u2019s any excess, you can trim it with a hacksaw.<\/span><\/p>\n A letterbox is a critical part of your home\u2019s front end. Not only does it serve an essential, practical purpose, but it\u2019ll also contribute to the overall look (and \u2018kerb appeal\u2019) of the building. If you\u2019re looking to make an impression on your visitors, then this particular bit of DIY makes great use of your time!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last updated on July 22nd, 2020 at 12:37 pmIf you\u2019re going to be able to receive traditional snail-mail, then you\u2019ll need a suitable letterbox. It\u2019s through this simple device that postal workers are able to deliver our post while we\u2019re out doing other things. In most cases, a letterbox is installed directly into the front […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.expressdoorsdirect.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.expressdoorsdirect.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.expressdoorsdirect.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expressdoorsdirect.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expressdoorsdirect.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.expressdoorsdirect.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":804,"href":"https:\/\/www.expressdoorsdirect.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799\/revisions\/804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expressdoorsdirect.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.expressdoorsdirect.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expressdoorsdirect.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expressdoorsdirect.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What\u2019s the best position for a Letterbox?<\/span><\/h2>\n
What Tools Will I Need?<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
How long does the job take?<\/span><\/h2>\n
Letterbox Installation: Step by Step<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"letterboxes](\"https:\/\/www.expressdoorsdirect.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/christian-stahl-8S96OpxSlvg-unsplash.jpg\")
<\/p>\nStep 1: Find the Centre<\/span><\/h3>\n
Step 2: Mark the Hole<\/span><\/h3>\n
Step 3: Start drilling<\/span><\/h3>\n
Step 4: Get Sawing<\/span><\/h3>\n
Step 5: Tidy Up<\/span><\/h3>\n
Step 6: Thread the letterbox<\/span><\/h3>\n
Step 7: Mark the stud locations<\/span><\/h3>\n
Step 8: Drill your Holes<\/span><\/h3>\n
Step 9: Attach your nuts<\/span><\/h3>\n
In Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n