Mailbox Lettering Review #6544: Roadside mailboxes. We just bought 2 very expensive all-cast-aluminum mailboxed and wanted very nice numbering for them.

We bought two expensive roadside mailboxes in 2006 which were supposed to be partly cast aluminum. Well, the doors were aluminum, but the steel bodies of these mailboxes now have large holes & gaps were the rust has completely eaten through the thick steel in less than six years. We just paid over $200 apiece for two new all-aluminum roadside mailboxes. So, instead of buying those cheap stick-on numbers from the local hardware store that completely fade in less than a year, we decided to invest in DIY Lettering retro-reflective numbers for our new mailboxes. Overall, I’m pleased with these new numbers and I hope to use your services in the future for other projects. But, I’m still worried about these new numbers falling off of our new mailboxes in just a few months after exposure to the elements. We live on a busy rural road, and a lot of road salt is applied in Winter. That’s why our old mailboxes rotted out so badly after only six years. These new DIY Lettering numbers just don’t seem to want to adhere very well. I expected that if I paid a few dollars more for your DIY Lettering (instead of that crap sold at the local hardware store) that I’d have mailbox numbers that would last. Only time will tell. I’m an engineer, so I understand that pressure is key to make adhesive stick properly, so I applied a lot of pressure to these new numbers over and over to ensure they stick well. I did prepare the surface as best I could to make sure there was absolutely no chemical residue of any kind left over from the manufacturing process on the painted surfaces. I also scuffed up the area slightly where I put the numbers, too, so try to ensure that the new numbers would adhere well. I made sure that I didn’t touch the adhesive at all. The DIY Lettering process did work quite well. I did exactly what it said to do on the little business card enclosed with the new numbers. I would point out that the removal of the inner liner doesn’t really show up that well in your instructions. Please consider adding another photo to your instructions showing that the liner that’s pulled off first is the one that’s UNDERNEATH. Either that or expand on the written text to effect my recommendation. I did have trouble because the products were rolled up for shipment, as they kept trying to roll back up while I worked with them. I’d recommend you consider mailing these letters flat. But, I guess you’ve been doing this long enough that you’ve worked out the kinks and that shipping these rolled up is likely the way you found works best. Wouldn’t mailing be cheaper, though, if they were flat and you could ship as a “USPS Flat” instead of a “USPS Package?” That’s a rhetorical question. Anything you could do to reduce costs would be appreciated. Thanks for listening!!!