Mail slot in door?

[Ross]

I have a day job as a controller and do returns out of my house in the evening and on weekends. For the past few years I have had a drop box on my covered porch. However, it is not secure. Some clients have expressed this and hand deliver their stuff to me.

A carpenter was recently doing some work for me and I bought a brass magazine sized mail slot for my side garage door ($25 at Menards). Anyway, it doesn't have a handle to easily open it and being that I'm in Michigan, many people will be wearing gloves in February. Can anyone suggest a magazine sized mail slot with a handle? He didn't think the quality was very good and suggested I find a better one. It didn't have a seal around it, etc. I looked online but can't seem to find anything with a handle. TIA.

[JohnH]

You could drill a couple of holes in it and attach a handle.
Cost for a nice brass handle at Home Depot or Lowe's would be about $1.75 or so.

[BOB W]

I had my carpenter build a 2' wide X 4' long X 6" deep wooden box with a lift up hindged door for placing info in. The front of the box, below the lift door, was hindged to access the contents in the box. I use a combination lock to open the box to remove the contents. He used formica to cover all the wood surfaces. It is now 16years old and still in good shape.

Clients love it because it gives them 24/7 access and it is deep enough where a hand could not reach the contents.

It works for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lion]

Mail Slot

I was looking into a mail slot, also. Had seen some expensive ones at the locksmith I had redo my house locks and add a lock on my home office door. But, Bob's box sounds intriguing. I'm not that great at solid geometry, though, so please describe which dimensions are where. Is the box connected to a door or wall? Is the hinged door your clients use one of the sides of the box or a little door in one of the sides? How exactly is it locked? One picture is worth 1,000 words.

[BOB W]

I was looking into a mail slot, also. Had seen some expensive ones at the locksmith I had redo my house locks and add a lock on my home office door. But, Bob's box sounds intriguing. I'm not that great at solid geometry, though, so please describe which dimensions are where. Is the box connected to a door or wall? Is the hinged door your clients use one of the sides of the box or a little door in one of the sides? How exactly is it locked? One picture is worth 1,000 words.

It is connected to the outside wall next to my entry door to my office. As I said, it is 2 feet from left to right and 4 feet top to bottom and is only 6 inches from front to back.

The upper portion of the front panel, about 1 foot, is hinged to lift up with a large handle for easy grabing. The lower 3 feet of the front panel is hinged to open left to right. This panel has a standard clasp in which a lock is used to secure it closed. The carpenter used a thin flat metal piece to overlap where the two front panel doors meet to protect the contents from any weather issues. This metal strip is attached to the lift up door's edge. The whole box is covered with a formica type material that was glued onto the wood box, which accounts for it lasting so long.

Did I leave anything out?

Oh yea, I purchase some outdoor plastic lettering and spelled out the words "DROP BOX" in large letters on the 3 foot lower section of the front panel.

[Lion]

Thanks

Thanx, Bob. I can picture it now. That sounds like a good, secure drop-off box. I bet I can get my son to build me one this fall.

[Lion]

10% Penalty on Early Distribution

New client took money from her IRA. She'd worked in NY but was laid off. Her husband fell ill, so she stayed home with him until his death. When she had time to deal with NY, they said it was too late to apply for unemployment benefits. Does that mean she can't use Exception 07 to lower the penalty on her early distribution? TTB says :if the individual has received unemployment compensation for 12 consecutive weeks."

If we use Exception 05 for unreimbursed medial expenses, do we get to include COBRA payments?