This viewer’s HOA was on his case about his “unsightly” mailbox so, instead of replacing it, we just cleaned it and painted it!
We purchased:
Bleach
We brought with us:
Paint scraper
Soap
Step 1
Clean your mailbox. Bleach works great for this, especially to remove mold. Spray bleach generously all over the mailbox, let it sit for a few minutes, and wipe off the mold and other dirt and grime.
Step 2
Strip off the paint or scrape off the paint. We used a paint stripper (link above), sprayed the entire mailbox with the stripper, and let it sit for 15 minutes. The stripper is supposed to make the paint soft enough where it can be wiped off or scraped off. It didn’t exactly take all off of the paint so we just ended up scraping off the loose paint. Remember - you don’t have to get off all the paint to paint over it, just make sure to remove the loose paint!
Step 3
Wash the mailbox. We used soap and water. Let it dry.
Step 4
Paint it. We used a good quality rust-preventing paint (link above) and sprayed the entire mailbox. Stand at least a foot away and spray with broad strokes back and forth. Let it dry.
That’s it! You just got results at home!
If you have a project you’d like Erik to tackle, send us an email at GettingResultsAtHome@wkmg.com and next week Erik might just show up at your door!