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Most mailbox companies sell you a box and leave the hole to you. Here's what a real professional install includes, and who actually does it.
Dream Mailboxes Team
7 min readUpdated July 2026
The short answer
Yes, Dream Mailboxes installs nationwide, and that alone is unusual, because very few mailbox companies install at all. A professional install sets the post in concrete about two feet deep over a 4-inch footer, finishes the base with a decorative rock bed, and places the box to USPS spec. Tiers run $499 standard, $699 pillar, and $799 extra-large. See the full install process for what happens on site.
You found the mailbox. It's the right material, the right look, the right size. Now comes the part nobody photographs: getting it into the ground straight, at the correct height, deep enough that the first hard freeze or a bumped bumper doesn't tilt it. That's where a beautiful box turns into a leaning one, and it's the reason a lot of homeowners search for someone, anyone, who will just handle it.
Search for a custom mailbox and you'll find plenty of companies that ship a box. Search for one that will actually come set it, and the list gets very short. Design, build, and install usually live at three different phone numbers. You buy from one place, hire a handyman from another, and hope the two ever talked. When the post leans in a year, no one owns it.
Dream Mailboxes does all three under one roof, and installs across the country. We design the box, hand-build it in the USA, and set it on your curb ourselves. One company, one point of accountability, one warranty that covers the whole thing rather than just the hardware. Nationwide reach matters here because a custom box is rarely a local purchase. You found the design online, and the hard part has always been finding someone qualified to set a heavy, non-standard mailbox once it arrives.
That height and setback aren't a suggestion. The Postal Service's published mailbox standards (DMM 508) expect curbside boxes to sit within that window so a carrier can serve them from the vehicle. Miss it, and delivery becomes a judgment call you don't control. Placement is the homeowner's responsibility, which is exactly the part a professional install takes off your plate.
Setting a mailbox to last is a small concrete job, not a shovel-and-tamp job. Here's what our crews do on site.
The post goes into a hole roughly two feet deep and is set in concrete, over a 4-inch-thick concrete footer at the bottom. That footer spreads the load and keeps the post from working loose as the ground moves through freeze and thaw. It's the difference between a box that's plumb in five years and one that's leaning by spring. Depth is what most DIY installs get wrong. A post tamped into a shallow hole feels solid the day you set it and starts to wobble the first season the soil shifts.
Before the concrete goes off, the box is set to that 41–45 inch height and 6–8 inch setback. Getting it right while the mix is still wet is far easier than discovering it's two inches low after everything has cured. Our install instructions walk through the measurements we use.
A raw concrete collar at the base looks like exactly what it is. We finish the install with a decorative rock bed around the post, so the ground-level detail matches the box instead of undercutting it. The curb ends up looking designed, not patched.
Installation is priced by what you're setting, not by a surprise hourly bill at the end.
We also offer hourly travel-based installs for sites that don't fit neatly into a tier. If you're not sure which applies, the placement details settle it fast.
| DIY / handyman install | What we recommendDream Mailboxes pro install | |
|---|---|---|
| Placement to USPS spec | Measured by hand, easy to miss the window | Set to 41–45 in high, 6–8 in back |
| Concrete footing | Often just tamped soil or a shallow pour | ~2 ft deep in concrete over a 4-in footer |
| Finish / rock bed | Bare dirt or exposed concrete collar | Decorative rock bed around the base |
| Time & tools | Your afternoon, plus mixing and cleanup | Crew brings everything; you don't lift a shovel |
| Warranty | Split between box seller and installer | One 1-year warranty on the whole build |
| Result | Depends on who held the level | Plumb, at spec, finished to match the box |
"Nine leaning mailboxes out of ten aren't a product problem. They were set in dirt, or set too shallow. The footer is what you're really paying for."
— Dream Mailboxes install team
The value isn't just convenience. It's that the same team that designed the box knows how it needs to sit. Because every order is made to order, you approve a design mockup before we build anything. The box ships free anywhere in the country, and when it's time to set it, the install crew already knows the weight, the base it needs, and the placement rules. Nothing gets lost between vendors.
That's the recommendation, plainly: if you want a custom mailbox and you don't want to become a part-time concrete contractor, have the company that built it install it. It's covered by a single 1-year warranty, and there's no finger-pointing if anything needs attention.
Ready to plan it? Tell us your address setback and we'll spec the install for your curb.
Very few do, which is the whole point. Dream Mailboxes installs across the country, not just one region. Most sellers ship a box and leave the setting to you or a local handyman, so a maker that also installs anywhere is the rare exception.
The post is set roughly two feet deep in concrete over a 4-inch footer, the box is placed to USPS height and setback, and the base is finished with a decorative rock bed. Our install instructions walk through each step.
It's tiered by what you're setting: $499 standard, $699 for a pillar, and $799 for extra-large units. Hourly travel-based installs are available for sites that don't fit a tier.
USPS expects the bottom of the box 41–45 inches above the road and 6–8 inches back from the curb face. See the USPS guidelines. A professional install sets it inside that window so your carrier can reach it.
You can, and our boxes ship free nationwide. The catch is the footing: a shallow or dirt-set post is what leans later. If you'd rather not pour concrete, have the team that built it set it instead.
We design, hand-build, and professionally install custom mailboxes across the country. From aluminum to faux stone pillars, we set the box we made, to spec, on your curb.
Everything to get right before the box goes in the ground.
