Mayne Charleston Mail Post - White - Includes Decorative Post, Mailbox Support Arm & Hardware Kit - Polyethylene (5857-W)

Oops! I did not read the details. This is for a lightweight mailbox not for a larger metal one that I have. It looks great though. In the description it says it is for a lighter weight mailbox - I did not read this. Now mine is drooping like something needing a little blue pill. I have ordered the Mayne Manchester to properly hold my mailbox in a full upright position. Sigh - next time I will read the description a little closer and my mailbox will be happier.

My husband and I wanted to replace our aging mailbox and wanted something nicer than our equally aging cedar post. This was my favorite out of all the slip-on posts that I saw on the Internet. When I saw the previous review citing a flimsy arm, I hesitated in buying this post, but I am glad I did. First the post and arm arrive in separate boxes. The post is hollow on the inside so it will slip over either an existing 4x4 post, or one you provide and install. The arm is also hollow, but has a 2x4 slipped into the arm, for stability and to have something to screw the mailbox and/or mounting board to.Installation was pretty straightforward. Slip the Mayne Charleston over your existing 4x4 post, measure the distance from the ground to the arm within the specs set forth by the USPS (available on their website), use the provided three bolts to screw in the arm, which basically go in through the arm, through the Charleston post, then into your 4x4 post. As long as your 4x4 post is sturdy, this post will be sturdy. We didn't find the arm to be flimsy at all.The post looks great!! We are very happy with it. The only trouble we ran into was that the post did not come with a mounting bracket for a mailbox. Neither did the Architectural Cambridge mailbox we purchased. We did try a universal bracket, a couple actually, but couldn't get the holes to line up with the 2x4 and the mailbox at the same time :P We ended up having to use a piece of treated wood, having to trim it a bit with a table saw to get it to fit into the mailbox floor. That was a bigger pain than installing the mail post :)I will update my review if anything changes, but a few weeks after installation, I still think it looks great and I am happy with my purchase.

This is a very good looking post for a mailbox. After reading other reviews and seeing that it needed some modifications I knew what I was getting into. First off some carpentry skills are needed to install this post the right way. The instructions say to install over a 4x4 wood post but the pvc post isn't snug over the wood post. What I did was cut down a 6x6 post to 4 1/2 by 4 1/2 and this was a perfect fit. The post felt very solid and didn't move at all. Next is the arm which supports the mailbox and the 2x4 they supply isn't pressure treated and is to small. I recommend cutting down a 2x6 to tightly fit in the arm and make it longer so it's the same length as the arm. After you lag bolt the arm to the post and install the screw at the bottom the arm will still wiggle. I used two 2 1/2" screws with the heads painted white on the sides of the arm where it will go through the wood inside the arm, to the wood post under the pvc post. This will stiffen up the arm. And lastly is mounting the mailbox. You could purchase a plastic mounting bracket or I used a piece of wood which I painted white. I made the wood the same size as the bottom of the mailbox. I screwed that wood down into the wood in the arm then installed mailbox on that and used stainless screws inside with washers to secure the mailbox tight down. You will now have a very good looking and study mailbox. I hope my experience installing this helps someone else.

The Charleston Decorative Polyethylene Mailbox Post in white has a grand look to it...is very easy to keep clean...is easy to install...and I am very pleased with it.

This is a great mailbox for the price and simple to install.

Well made. Very sturdy and looks great!

Very flimsy not solid at all even when mounted..the arm has no side to side support may return..there is nothing but thin plastic to mount the mailbox to …this is a horrible design ….if the support arm for it was better it might work

As others have said... and I should have listened. No matter how tightly you screw the lag bolts through the plastic into the 4x4 beneath, there is considerable lateral movement. The design simply does not offer enough support of the arm. When you handle the mailbox door the whole arm just wobbles from side to side. The "solution" offered by Sean would look horrible and maybe has a 50% chance of providing more rigidity. I'm going with the other reviewer who mentioned simply trashing the plastic arm and going with a metal bracket. At least it won't feel so absolutely cheap. For people who just want something that looks decent from 20 ft away.... go for it.