Moving to mbxs.wordpress.com

This blog has sat with no activity for so long and it was easier to simply build a new blog. We will be closing this blog shortly and hope you will hop on over the join us at mbxs.com

You might wonder why we changed our name. We didn’t really, we just got tired of typing out the whole name. We trade marked our name: Mailbox Solutions but it seems a trade mark doesn’t count for much if every person who sells or rents mailboxes has “mailbox solutions.” At least McDonalds was smart enough not to call themselves Best Burgers. No one messes with their trade marked name. In the same token every burger place in the country cooks/broils/grills and serves the “Best Burgers” this side of where ever.

How DID we come up with the name?? Well, ummm we’re lazy and we don’t love l-o-n-g addresses.

MailBoX Solutions, llc is so much faster. We even have a cool new logo. Our license plates are MBXS1 and MBXS2 because you can only put 6 characters on a license plate.

The new blog is still fledgling, but you will be amazed at the stunning photos of mailboxes we will be posting.

Bookmark our new blog and follow us over. We welcome questions from customers or shoppers about our products. Besides, it gives us something to post. YEA a NEW POST!!

Have a wonderful, safe day. We wish you Peace of Mind.

Sincerely,

mbxs.com

or if you love to type use mailboxsolutions.com either one works

follow us at mbxs.wordpress.com,  please?

Peace of Mind Is Worth It

It’s worth everything to know your mail is safe and secure inside a Mailbox Solutions, LLC locking mailbox. In stock.

Looking for the perfect gift? Your loved ones will appreciate a beautiful MADE IN USA locking mailbox. No more worries about being home when the mail arrives in order to make sure a person’s ID doesn’t disappear with their mail.

Just a thought…it’s also a great gift for the person who has everything.

Happy Holidays

Flush Your Lock

The weather turned on us, and the calls are coming in, “My lock won’t work.” It happens every fall. The cool air; the dampness; the condensation on metal; and the key won’t go in the lock and/or turn.

Blame it on the moisture that just condensed in the lock and turned the accumulation of pollen, dust and pocket lint all being turned into goo or glue or goop.

The inside of the lock has little pins about the size of a pencil lead that are held into place with tiny springs. The wire on the springs is about the size of a human hair and there are many turns per spring. It takes very little gunk to jam the lock.

So here’s what you do to fix it:

Flush your lock!

What you need:

Be warned it is a messy job, take lots of paper towels, be patient. We use WD-40 or any other brand of penetrating oil  (I don’t know what that is either, but your local hardware store will be able to advise you). You need the one that comes in a spray can with the tiny straw.

How to flush:

Attach the straw to the spray can. Insert the tip of the straw into the lock. Flood the lock with the inside of the lock with the penetrating oil. Let it sit 5 to 10 minutes. Flood it again and try inserting the key.

Work the key in and out, try turning it. Add spray lubricant as needed. Clean the dirty mess off the key each time you pull the key out. Keep spraying and inserting key until the key comes out clean.

Don’t be afraid to use a little force, after all you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain if you can get it working. A small hammer and gentle taps on the end of the key are sometimes necessary.

Lube Your Lock!

Use a Teflon or Silicone based lock lubricant. Again you will be using a spray can with a tiny straw. You will again be inserting it into the lock and spraying but this time use only a small amount. Just enough to lightly coat the working parts inside the lock.

A word of caution:     <<<< DO NOT USE GRAPHITE>>>>   Graphite is thick and gummy, it completely freezes up the springs and stops the lock from working. It is hard to clean out of the lock. It is also black and messy. It gets on the key and ends up in your pocket or in your purse.

Mailboxes made in the USA by Mailbox Solutions, LLC have a EuroLock on them. It is shown second from the left. The lock with the large double cut keys. The other locks in the photo are for various other types of boxes.

Check Your Lock!

Now that you have the door open, check the back of the lock. Most locks have a nut on the back of the lock that holds the cam (the lever part that holds the door closed) Check to make sure the nut is tight.

Congratulations! 

You are done. Just remember to lube it again in six months. Clean if necessary first.

Call us if you need additional help or want to replace your lock (if for instance you lost your wallet and keys).

ph: 503-486-5575

PS Gift giving season approaches and a locking mailbox for someone who has everything is always a thoughtful and welcome gift.

 

 

Customer Photo

We do get photos from customers on their finished projects. This customer had designed a column for his mailbox. He had carefully researched and found the exact stone he wanted. He was adamant that he had to have a locking mailbox that would protect his mail and last as long as the stone.

He chose a Skyline Locking mailbox and matching newspaper in Dark Roast to perfectly compliment the stone.

Skyline Locking Mailbox and newspaper box in a custome built stone column.

This is one very sweet mailbox setup. It is surely an awe-some way to greet his guests and to dress up his yard. Thank you Larry, you totally understand that the mailbox sits as a sentinel in front of your house. Well done!

Sincerely, all of us at Mailbox Solutions, LLC 503-486-5575

PS The only sad thing about this is we will not ever see Larry again. Unless the mailbox is hit by a truck or our customer moves to a new house, it will be the only mailbox they will ever need.

 

 

 

What to Do With An Old Mailbox?

This gallery contains 2 photos.

We get that question a lot. Most folks want us to recycle their old non-locking box when we install a new post and locking mailbox for them. It is part of our service, but a few weeks ago, a unique … Continue reading →

Time to Spruce Up?

For some reason, an old mailbox brings a smile. People balk at changing to the new (USPS required for ALL locking mailboxes) rectangular shaped mailbox. “But the others are so CUTE!” are the words I hear over and over again.

Take a close look at Lilly Green’s photo. Please someone, explain to me exactly what you find “cute” about these. (Use the COMMENTS below to share your views.)

It’s not that I love the looks of the ones we build, but then I never loved the looks of the old ones, especially as they get old, rusty and filthy. What I do love about the new style is they work for the letter carrier and they work to keep your mail safe from mail thieves.

So I like them because they are easy to clean, efficient and are not being broken into. Our thousands and thousands of customers love them. They tell me they look so much better than the old ones and they can be gone for a few days and come home knowing their mail is safe.

One Columbia, one Gorge, and another Columbia NW Series locking mailboxes on a single post. Clean, neat, efficient and keeps the mail safe from theft.

So what do you think? Are these really ugly?

Skyline Mailbox in the Dark Roast Color

Skyline Locking Mailbox

Here is a photo of the mailbox you all have been waiting to see in color. This is the Skyline Locking Mailbox manufactured in Oregon by us. Mailbox Solutions, LLC.

After being introduced last summer, this box has proved to be one customers really love. It is the smallest mailbox in our line and has the decorative curved front edges.

We have this model available in several options. The Skyline comes with the standard drill resistant lock shown above. It also comes with the keyless pushbutton option, and in the rear door locking model which is especially handy for busy street installations. No more standing in the street to retrieve you mail, it can be conveniently picked up from the back side.

The mailbox has an optional flag and clip for times when a person wants to mail a casual letter or return a DVD from your movie service. As always no individual locking mailbox is allowed per postal regulations to have locked outgoing, so it is not the safest practice to put out bound mail there. It is always best to drop it in a drop box when you are running another errand.

The Skyline is small but its hopper style door accepts small packages such as prescriptions or boxes of checks with ease. It also handles Express Mail Envelopes and a stack of magazines or catalogs with ease.

There is a full line of accessories available in matching powder coat colors. Standard posts in both one the sidewalk and in the ground styles, plain posts and decorative posts, plus two sizes of metal newspaper boxes. There are also adapter plate to hold 2, 3, or 4 mailboxes on a single post.

The Skyline. It’s AWESOME!!

Still Outside the Box

I promised to share the rest of the photos. You may remember that last week I went on a game of “Eye Spy” to see what I could find that had nothing to do with boxes as in mailboxes. I chose to search out only round things and I was surprised at how easy it was to find 16 cool things in our office. These things all prove we do think outside the box. Or at least we try very hard to be outside the box.

If you every need a little break at work away from your computer consider  brain exercise. Give this little game a try. Think of a color, or shape, size, or texture then decide on your criterion. Count the items that match your “rule”. Then close your eyes and try to remember them all. Were you able to do it?

On this day I used my camera to capture round items. You can see the rest of the photo on last week’s post Think Outside the Box

A Rainbow of Colors

A DVD supplies so much color. Rainbow whirls and arcs and distorted reflections.

Colorful Vinyl Rolls

Exterior vinyl for making signs, lettering, logos and of course address numbers.

Transfer Tape

 This handy tape is used to transfer the cut decal from the paper backing to the door, window, car, placard, sign or a mailbox.

World Time Clock

This interesting clock shows the exact time for anywhere in the world. This flattened view of the world makes everything distorted. All world maps do the same. What makes this map so unique is the center of the clock is one of the poles. The entire outside ring of the map is the other pole.

Nuts, Bolts and Cams

Funny round divided project parts carrier. These parts complete a lock.

Old School "Dinger" Service Bell

This remains a very simple and practical way for a customer to announce their arrival.

A Doorbell Button

A clever gecko swirls its tail around the doorbell button. A very cute alternative to a plain doorbell.

School Room Clock

There you can see we have a classic Roman Numeral clock on the wall.  Handsome round thing indeed and it proved to be very photogenic. That is a good thing.

Have a good week. So far this week we have been busy, normally when the weather is nasty it usually means a quiet day.

Check back next Tues when we share more stuff about the “exciting” world of mailboxes.

Did You Always Dream of This?

Sometimes I get a little paranoid about telling people what I do from 9-5. Especially after 15 years of experience it has become harder to answer that question.

Don’t get me wrong it’s not that I am not proud of our product because I am happy we have awesome product made right here in Oregon. It is not because I am embarrassed by what we make because it is something many people need one and it solves one of their issues. But being a mailbox specialist is a conversation killer.

So I don’t mention it unless of course I’m on a plane and want to read and my seat mate tries to start a conversation. “I’m a mailbox specialist,” allows me to have a peaceful trip. No more questions asked.

Here are sample conversation stoppers when asked,

“What do you do?”

“We manufacture locking mailboxes.”   (Silence, who wants to know more about that?)

“We own a small manufacturing company.” “Really? That sounds exciting. What do you manufacture?”  “Mailboxes.” “Mailboxes? Oh excuse me I see someone over there I’m supposed to meet with. Nice meeting you.”

“We do locking mailboxes.” “Oh, a rental mailbox place. Do you also sell cards and do shipping.” OOOOooo the start of a conversation. “Uhhh, no not exactly we build mailboxes, locking ones that go on a post by the street.” “People buy those?”

So you see, life is difficult when you are a mailbox specialist. Except one time. I’ll never forget how sincere this lady was, mostly I’ll never forget how sweet she was. Such an amazing conversationalist. I actually wish I had such talent. So here goes:

“And what do you do, dear?” “We manufacture locking mailboxes.” “You mean those in apartment buildings?” “We sell those but we do not manufacture them.” “What kind to you make?” We make the ones that mount on a post by the street.” “Did you always want to do that?” [Me: blank stare] “I mean when you were a little girl did you always dream of selling mailboxes.” 

So somewhere out there is a very kind and gracious lady who left me totally speechless, because, no, I would never have dreamed it. My thought process ran along the lines of being a princess or a ballerina. Turns out neither of those were my destiny. I was about five when I figured out being a princess was not in the cards. It took me a few years longer to realize I was getting too tall to be a ballerina, plus I wasn’t that talented.

I was still a young kid when I dreamed of driving a hot sports car. I tried to convince my dad to buy us one. This one would have appealed to me.

One Hot Red Sports Car

Just so you know, little girl dreams do become big girl dreams. 😀

Jan 4 Building a Better Mouse Trap

Building a better mouse trap takes time. Building a better mailbox takes even more time: they are much bigger and represent a show piece for in front of your home. Have  you looked at yours lately? Is it time for a new mailbox?

Mailboxes cost more, weigh more, use lots more metal, and they are designed to protect your mail, not kill it.

They have to look good in front of your house. They have to work, for both the mail and the letter carrier. They also have to work for you, the end-user.

What’s cool about buying one, besides the facts that now your old rusty mailbox is gone and your mail is now safe, is that they last for years and years. We really don’t know how long, we know the ones we sold 15 years ago still are working well and that was before we redesigned our boxes to be stronger and sleeker and work properly.

Just in case you think we aren’t well-rounded since the mailboxes are all square cornered boxes, here are a couple of other cool things we sell.

Wow, key safes. Never get locked out again.

What’s really cool about these is they unobtrusively mount to the door jamb so there are right there beside the door. This model does need batteries to make the monitor work, but with or without the battery the key safe part is completely mechanical. It never fails. The battery-powered monitor keeps track of who uses and they times they enter your house. You can assign a code for several different people.

If you are looking for a little “bling,” we have brass house numbers. Or you might want to use your favorite number as a pendant or attach it to gold french wires to flaunt your style. At 6″ tall each, trust me it will be quite the attention grabber.

Ooooo...Brass House Numbers!

We will be happy to check to make sure we have your number in stock! 😉 Every woman can be a perfect ten by wearing a “1” on one ear and a “0” on the other. Just don’t get them on the wrong ears by looking in the mirror or you’ll be a zero one. 😀

Give us a call, we are here to help:

Portland Metro: 503-486-5575 or out of area 1-800-630-3344

Shop on-line: http://mailboxsolutions.com