A carpenter says drivers hit his mailbox eight times in one year, so he built a new one out of 4,000 pounds of concrete

Mailboxes along curvy country roads take the occasional hit from a stray car, and most homeowners simply replace the post and move on. A Tennessee carpenter says his mailbox was hit eight times in a single year, so he rebuilt it on a foundation of roughly 4,000 pounds of concrete, according to The Mary Sue.

Travis Howard, who posts carpentry and contractor videos as @builtbytravis, showed off the rebuild in a TikTok that has drawn over two million views. “Please don’t hit my mailbox again because you’re gonna get messed up,” Travis Howard said at the start of the clip, before walking viewers through the new structure piece by piece.

The Cookeville-area builder said the new mailbox sits on six-by-six posts set into about two and a half yards of concrete, with the base reaching roughly four feet into the ground. In an earlier video, he said the box sits just past a curve where drivers come through fast, and he showed images from all eight crashes that took out the old one.

Travis Howard says the mailbox kept getting bigger because the hole did

Howard said he never set out to build something this heavy. “Every time I got hit last year, I just had to make it bigger and bigger because the hole kept getting bigger and bigger,” Travis Howard explained in the video. His caption said he hoped he wouldn’t have to make a Part 3, and he asked viewers to place bets on how long it will last.

Drivers have reportedly hit the mailbox from both directions, and Howard said nearby trees and a telephone pole along the same stretch of road have also been struck. He told viewers that cars “fly through that curve,” as several small hills lead straight into the bend in front of his lawn. His earlier video also included a time-lapse of a truck pouring the concrete into the hole.

The clip has also drawn hundreds of thousands of likes, and the rebuild quickly split the comments section. Reactions highlighted in coverage of the clip included viewers worried that the structure could seriously injure a driver, while others argued that a sturdy mailbox only punishes reckless or drunk drivers. One viewer who said they pass the house every day recalled the old mailbox going down within days of each repair.

The safety debate isn’t just a comments section argument, as the U.S. Postal Service says mailbox supports should break away when a vehicle hits them. Federal Highway Administration guidance points to wooden supports no larger than four by four inches, or a two-inch metal pipe buried no deeper than 24 inches. However, Howard’s build goes well beyond both of those limits.

Homeowners who pour concrete on their own terms have run into pushback before, as seen when an inspector banned a woman’s concrete driveway built for her daughter. Howard’s videos, however, haven’t addressed whether local officials or the Postal Service have said anything about the new mailbox, or whether anyone has asked him to change it.

The curve outside Howard’s property is likely to keep testing the new mailbox, and he could share an update if another driver clips it, despite his hope of never making a Part 3.

Attack of the Fanboy was unable to independently verify the drivers’ side of the story, as this account originates solely from Travis Howard’s TikTok video.