Mailbox

Our house was painted last June. But already there is some peeling on the front of the house. I guess that’s the hazard of having wood siding and temperatures that range from the 90s to below zero.

I peeled off the loose paint and repainted Thursday, with a second coat on Friday. I also decided to do a little restoration of the mail-slot. It was covered with at least four layers of paint (from the outermost layer in: blue, grey, red, and white) and its texture was no longer visible. Worse, after the mail was delivered, it sometimes stuck in the open position.

I took the covering off the outer wall, which was not easy since the bolts were almost fused to the nuts. Using a method I learned when fixing an apartment in 1989, I put the covering into boiling water, which caused the paint to soften and come off more easily. It took two rounds of boiling and scraping to get all the paint off. After that, I used steel wool to remove smudges and a bit of polish to brighten it up.

 Now, the slot, which I suspect has been on the house since it first went up in 1942, looks as it should. Not brand new, but not dirty either. The letter M (which either stands for the old owner’s name or for “Mail”) is clearly visible. And when the carrier drops the mail down the chute, the slot closes with a resounding klang, which always gets Mason’s attention.