Community Mailbox awning - any thoughts, guys?

[Nathan Conner]

So, my neighborhood has had some mail stolen in the past couple of months, and we have agreed that we need a new commercial/community box unit - "CBU" for the neighborhood. But the rules are so restrictive, and the cost so high ($2500) that we agree that it would be easier to just rebuild this old thing and then have those who are interested purchase a locking box.

I was volunteered (as "that guy with the shop") to build a new one, which sounds fine to me. Everyone will chip in with materials, and there are a couple of concrete guys who have volunteered to set some posts for me.

My question is...what do I build? I'd like to encompass all of these (and allow room for new locking boxes if they're to be purchased) under one small roof, similar to what's there now.

I'm restricted by height - all of the boxes have to be approximately the same height so that they can be loaded from the mail truck without too much effort. On the hill, there, that may be a bit of an issue. My first thought was to put each of the boxes on a pre-drilled 4x4 post that would be adjustable every couple of inches by the owner to meet their car/truck height, with some restrictions.

I'm also restricted by forward depth - the "roof" can't extend further into the street than the fronts of the boxes, and the front plane of the boxes has to be at the street edge.

That's about it. Do I just make a longer version of what's there? This was built about 15 years ago, when there were 1/2 the houses here. I'm assuming pressure-treated lumber for outdoor stability. Paint? A good outdoor clear finish? Shingles and a roof like this one? Do I make a stepped pair similar to this single one, so I can deal with the slope of the road and it doesn't look funny?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. You can tell it's a little trashy looking and is falling apart. The duct tape on the posts and bent old brackets are a nice touch. A simple, cleaner look would be just the ticket. But something with a little pizazz would make everyone happy, too. Even something fun - Old West theme or something...I think it's all an option, but my design skills are VERY weak. Mechanically fine, but aesthetically falling down.

Anyone have any photos of anything? Suggestions?

[Yitah Wu]

Design wise I think the original one looks pretty good. Simple and clean. Nothing comes to mind quickly as to a different theme - note that you can do a lot by just trimming the 2x6 that hangs down (think of Victorian trim as an example).

Here are some considerations for the new structure.

Expandability: rather than make it so you can add on, you probably should
just make it so you can add in another 25-30% more boxes in the future. Space the existing boxes wider and then pack them closer as more boxes get added.

Damagability: Sink two 8x8's rather than three or four 6x6's. If you're not paying attention you might be able to break a 6x6 backing into it, but you really have to work at it to snap a 8x8 sunk properly.

Repairability: A single 14 or 16 foot 2x8 would span this instead of a 2x6. A 4x4 would also be a good consideration but a 2x8 will sag less. Note that you want a good 4 feet hanging off either side. This also protects the support posts since, worst case, you repair or replace the 2x8 rather than the posts.

The roof structure will probably take a good 4 supports (attached to the 2x8) to keep from sagging.

As far as the slope, that's a real pain. You either live with the roof and boxes being parallel to the slope, or you break the roof into two or three "stairsteps"

You could still go with a single primary beam, but then you'd also want to add two or three stairsteps (for the boxes to be mounted to) which match the roof segments. These would be mounted to the face of 2x8.

Yitah