If you have a mailbox that is mounted on a wood or metal post and it is leaning then you are in the right place. If you have a brick mailbox then the following won’t apply to you.
A mailbox is the first thing people see when looking for you house. If you are trying to sell your house then your mailbox may be the buyer’s first impression and if it is leaning it may speak poorly of the condition of your house as well.
Mailboxes end up leaning from a variety of causes, but are all due to poor or incorrect installation. If your mailbox is exposed to a lot of wind and other severe weather then it will need to be installed in a sturdier way than if it is installed in a mild climate with little wind.
The best way to fix your mailbox is to take it out of the ground and start over. There is no real trick to removing a mailbox other than taking to time to dig it out. Once removed you can see what type of installation was used. If the post was simply pushed into the ground then it is fairly easy to see why it ended up leaning. Even a small child could push over a mailbox without a foundation.
Once you have the mailbox and post removed then we will focus on prepping the hole. Your hole needs to be at least a foot and a half deep and up to a foot in diameter. Keep in mind that your mailbox needs to be the right height for the postman or else he/she can opt to not deliver your mail. Generally mailboxes need to be between 41-45″ from the ground. With your hole dug down to the appropriate height add a few inches of gravel to the hole. This will help improve drainage and will help to prevent rust or rot from occurring. Now place your post in the hole and add a few inches of dirt and a time making sure to level the post and stomp the dirt down in place after every few inches. Once the hole is filled back in you will have a vertical mailbox that should stand up to a decent amount of wind and weather.
If your mailbox is leaning and it already has a concrete base, this implies that the base was not large enough. In this case, or if you want to be absolutely sure that your mailbox will not lean in the future, you will still need to remove the mailbox, widen the hole place the mailbox post back in the hole and add concrete around the base of the post. You will want to double the size of the base in order to assure that it won’t lean any more. Even though it is hard work, it is better to do it right the first time than have to fix it later.
With your mailbox standing straight up it will no longer be an eyesoar.