Letterbox Construction/repair.

[Groggy]

A friend is rebuilding a letterbox after a visit from a car. He wants to know how the plate that contains the access flap is usually mounted. Do you simply put a bit of mortar under it then pack around it, or is it held in place somehow by wires or whatever until it is set?

He was wondering if the weight of the access assembly would make it sink in the mortar as it hardened. I can't see this happening as bricks don't sink (or do they?).

[pawnhead]

No idea without a look at the assembly.

I don't imagine that bricks would sink under this application, but they can sink.

If the bricks are very wet before laying, then a wall can move all over the place before it's set. If the brickies put too much plasticiser in the mix they can move as well. Most brickies wouldn't go past one lift (2 metres tops) in a day, or the weight of the wall starts squashing the lower beds before they are set.

[Master Splinter]

There's usually a few small tabs that stick out the side that just sit in the mortar bed.

They are pretty much self supporting (less dense than brick, so if you bricks don't sink, it won't either).

Tip for new players: remember you can't balance a whole brick on top of the mail plate (nothing to support it). You have to make sure that the course on top is the one where two bricks overlap the plate!

[autogenous]

There's usually a few small tabs that stick out the side that just sit in the mortar bed.

Aluminium ones have always been a bit of a pain, never really bullet proof.

Build it in best you can and put a bead of coloured silicon around.

Squirt on silicon in joint carefully, dip finger in viscous dishwashing liquid, smooth with finger.