Letterbox at bottom of door - why?

[Justanotherusername30]

Can anyone explain the reason behind wanting/designing front doors with letter boxes at the bottom?

if you have one, why did you pick that?

(question comes after a conversation with a postie friend who finds them really inconvenient!)

Yes, our old boy would have preferred it.

It's so things don't have far to fall - some items - even if wrapped sufficiently well to protect them in transit while in the postal delivery system may not withstand a drop of a meter or more.

Ours isn’t at the bottom but quite low.
we did umm and aah about its location but we liked the design with 3 sections on glass down the middle ( to let light into the hall ) so went ahead anyway.
sorry postie!

It just seems such a mean thing to deliberately do, though. I know you don't employ your postie yourself, but he/she is providing you with a regular service and you're choosing to make their job harder and more unpleasant. It can't be nice knowing that they will be approaching your door with a wearisome sigh at every delivery - like if you had a difficult client whom you knew would complain and find fault every time you had to contact them.

I used to deliver free weekly newspapers when I was a teenager and I detested the floor-level letterboxes, as well as the already-mentioned sideways letterboxes with the opening on the short side. Also the ones with a vicious snap that threatened your fingers and the ones where dogs were given free rein at the letterbox. At the latter, I used to roll up the next paper and use it to push through the one for the current house. I often heard the sound of dogs bounding up, barking and ripping to shreds what I'd just delivered; fair enough if people aren't bothered about free papers, but they must not have wanted to receive any of their letters or cards intact either - why even bother to have a letterbox at all? Might as well just paint "All deliveries in here, please" on their wheelie bin.

I 100% agree with it being a legal requirement to have your house number visible from the street. Like with the low-down letterboxes, it just seems such a thoughtless thing not to do.

Even if you don't care about any deliveries from non-regular delivery people making it safely to your door, would you really want to have emergency paramedics pacing up and down drives and pathways along your street in order to find you or your loved ones when every second counts? They've blue-lighted their way to get there as quickly as humanly possible and then they have to spend a few precious minutes coping with your lack of bothering to make your number visible from the road?

I'd put it in the same category as people who never indicate - I don't know if it's deliberate arrogance/selfishness or just a pure inability to think about a very basic part of living in a world that doesn't solely revolve around you.

Used to drive me nuts on my paper round years ago.

The stupid really thin letterboxes were worse through, trying to deliver a Sunday Times through one of those was a nightmare, would have to seperate out each supplement and post them through individually.

The stupid really thin letterboxes were worse through, trying to deliver a Sunday Times through one of those was a nightmare, would have to seperate out each supplement and post them through individually.

You should have just forced it through with all your might and seen it go in the style of that Banksy work that shredded itself in the auction room once it had been sold

I have one because it came with the house. The door is a good, solid hardwood one and I see no reason to change it. There is a small porch in front of the front door with 2 unlocked narrow porch doors in the front of it.
The posties usually just throw letters into the porch and shut the porch doors and that's fine with me. [Deliveries of parcels also can be left in the porch in the dry].
The odd postman/woman does post letters through the low letterbox but that's their choice.

eddie I have two newspapers delivered a week. And I have a milkman.

Ours is low down because that’s where our builders put it.

Try www.gourmetbrownieco.com/ I received some lovely gooey gluten free ones from there yesterday. The black forest gateux ones are really really nice.

People get cake delivered in the post?

I have never had cake delivered (or sent it for that matter). Nice idea though.

Just to clarify, I'm not getting at people who have bought a house that already has a floor-level letterbox or otherwise have no agency in it - it's pants for the postie but there's no point in replacing an otherwise fine front door.

I think it's just the people who actively and freely choose it, knowing full well that a relatively arbitrary decision by them will make things uncomfortable for their postie on a regular basis, for years to come; even worse when it's a lowdown stiff snappy letterbox, rather than just a loose flappy one, so the postie has to do Twister-type moves to be able to use it.

I have to confess that when delivering leaflets on a voluntary basis (e.g bags to school or Christmas fair) those with a postbox at the bottom were bypassed ...

Is it so the Borrowers can get in?

Anyone with a letterbox at the bottom of your door. Just know your postie hates you.

::through a mouthful of postal brownie:: YESH

If your letterbox is down at dog's bottom-height, I'd steer clear of any brownies that appear on your mat if they aren't very well wrapped

Just one of the billion things that are very poorly designed. Every single day I see stuff that I can't believe someone got paid to design.

I have one at the bottom and yes we chose it and I’ll absolutely admit it never even crossed my mind about the postie having to bend down until the first day I saw him do it and now I feel guilty everytime we get post. I don’t think I am a ‘stupid, selfish twat’ but I will admit to being a bit stupid.

If you’ve got a letterbox at the bottom of your door then you’re a massive twat. You also will not get your mail as often as you should because your postie will regularly cull it. And you deserve it. Particularly atm when it’s up to them where they go, you ain’t getting your stuff!!🤣

Just one of the billion things that are very poorly designed. Every single day I see stuff that I can't believe someone got paid to design.

For me it's every single time I use a tap in public toilets that requires you to keep the heel of one hand on it at all times, so you can't rub them together.... you know, the simple basic manner that everybody uses to wash their hands. Not just one idiot who designed them, but thousands who consciously choose and instal them in public facilities on an ongoing basis.

I had one in my old house- there when we bought
Agree it is to keep chiropractors busy 🤣🤣
I think the idea is that something posted through door won’t bend, break on the long drop down to the floor
on the other hand they could have had one at normal height and one of those cage things on inside to stop the drop.

Although I'm very happy to consider the postie in this respect, I do wish they'd consider us too by not just abandoning wildlife-unfriendly rubber bands as litter on our drive. Do those all-weather grey shorts not have any pockets in them?

on the other hand they could have had one at normal height and one of those cage things on inside to stop the drop.

Or multiple letterboxes in the door - one at the bottom, one in the middle and one at the top. That way, post could be clearly marked as 'fragile - bottom letterbox only' or 'helium-packed jumbo-sized dog treat selection - top letterbox only'; and you'd also be considerately facilitating for posties of all heights and with varying degrees of back and knee health!!