Built-In Letterbox Guide

Built-in letterboxes, also known as wall or fence letterboxes, are extremely common on the streets of Australian suburbs. Basically anyone with a fence or wall in their front yard takes advantage of the ability to build their letterbox into it.

This makes sense, as it saves space that a freestanding letterbox would otherwise take up, it looks good when the letterbox perfectly matches with the fence or wall and they're always going to be easy for the postie to access. 

Heatlie Letterboxes has a small, but quality range of built-in letterboxes to offer you, each suiting different needs. Here's a breakdown. 

Fence Letterboxes

For a letterbox that fits perfectly in most any kind of fence, the Superior is the way to go. It's designed to be a standard proportions that will accept A4 sized mail at landscape width. It then has enough space in its interior to allow that A4 mail to lay flat, preventing damage and folding to potentially delicate mail. The box at the rear won't protrude so far out of your fence that it looks ridiculous either. 

Classic Cream Superior in Wood Picket Fence

The faceplate is slim, sleek and minimal in design. When powder coated to match  the colour of your fence, it blends in so well you hardly notice it's there. With a nice set of numbers on the front in an aesthetically contrasting colour, your Superior letterbox will look the part. 

The Superior can be installed in pretty much any material or make of fence including...

• Wood Picket
• Wood Slat
• Metal Tubular
• Metal Slat
• Metal Sheet
• Brush*
• PVC

* consult brush fencing specialist for appropriate installation method. 

The Superior is held in place with a rear brace that secures on the other side of the fence. Its dimensions are 340W x 140H x 240D for the box, with the brace being an extra 50mm wider and higher (25mm on each side). 

Black Superior in Brush Fence

 

Satin Black Metal Tubular Fence

 

Woodland Grey Superior in Metal Tubular Fence Rear

Superior Surfmist in Metal Slat Fence

 

Satin Black Superior in Emu Wire Fence

 

Superior Monument in Corrugated Metal Fence

 

Superior Monument in Corrugated Metal Fence

 

Wall Letterboxes

When it comes to installing a letterbox into a wall, the Superior may not always be deep enough. Some brick walls can be up to 470mm in depth, which is where the Telescopic is best suited.

The Telescopic letterbox is designed to be more flexible. It features the same width and height as the Superior, however it has the ability to extend its depth anywhere between 250mm and 470mm. This way, as long as your wall is anywhere between these two depths, (you'd be hard pressed to find one that isn't) the Telescopic can be adjusted to fit. If you did happen to have a wall deeper than 470mm, we can do custom sized boxes. Get in touch with us to see what we can do. 

It works by having a sleeve type box that fits around the outside of a slightly smaller inner box, and they slide together to be bolted at the desired depth. 

Wilderness Telescopic Landscape Extended

Telescopic built-in letterboxes can be installed in any kind of wall including...

• Brick
• Rendered
• Gabion (with Installation Channel to keep weight of rocks off letterbox)
• Foam
• Stone

It's important to note that our letterboxes are not structural. They cannot support the weight of rocks or bricks being laid directly on top of them. A space in the wall must be prepared and left open for the box to slide into. 

Unlike the Superior, the Telescopic is available in two sizes, portrait or landscape. Landscape is the same as the Superior, accepting mail at A4 landscape width, while the portrait can fit A4 mail at portrait width. This makes the portrait a narrower box, which is perfect if you have less space. 

Terrain Telescopic Portrait Extended

Front Opening Letterboxes

Our standard range consists of rear opening letterboxes, as most front yard situations offer access to the rear side of a fence in order to collect mail. However, where this isn't the case, we do offer a front opening letterbox. It carries the same dimensions as the Superior, just with a door built into the front faceplate and a flat back without a door on the rear. 

Maybe you have a super thick wall that just isn't practical to put a rear opening letterbox in, or maybe you have a fence with a thick hedge behind it. The front opening is perfect for you. 

Front Opening Letterbox in Metal Tubular Fence

Custom Faceplates

The last kind of built-in letterbox we offer is the custom faceplate and letterbox. This is a custom faceplate with your street name and address cut out of it for some extra style. 

If you don't love the style of the faceplate for the regular Superior or Telescopic, a custom faceplate might be more your vibe. Based on your requests, we manufacture custom designs on either stainless steel or a powder coated aluminium plate. This plate can feature your street name, number or pretty much anything else you want.

Stainless Steel Custom Faceplate

We cut out your design on the plate and then stick a coloured backing plate on the back so your design stands out. This full custom faceplate is then stuck onto your no front box, either fixed or telescopic. All you have to do then is slide the box into the cavity in your wall or fence and secure it in place.

Heatlie Letterboxes Built-In Range

Check out our range here and select your colour, street number and size. Give us a call if you have any questions, we're here to help!