After I replaced the lockset on my front door, going from an old bronze set to a Schlage brushed nickel set, I wanted to replace the 45 year old bronze mail slot cover (mounted in the sidelite) as well. Altho there are cheaper alternatives to this mail slot cover, I decided to go with Schlage to make sure the appearance matched my new lockset; it matches perfectly. But I had a couple of concerns even before I installed the mail slot cover: First, the description calls it "solid brass." Well, it is brass, not brass plated, and that's good. But it's thin stamped sheet metal, maybe 18 gauge, so I wouldn't call it "solid." This is relevant to being able to seal out airflow thru the slot, since it's the thin edge of the sheet metal flap that is making contact with the bezel when it is closed. In other words, there is no seal. If your house is oriented facing into the winter wind, you will get significant cold air leakage. Second, after I tested the flap several times, I noticed that the top of the flap scrapes against the (thin metal) edge of the bezel, and the clearcoat finish was being scraped off in that spot. Ok, so you can't see it from the curb, and maybe it's not noticeable from 10 feet away, but that's just poor design. Now for the install: Since my old slot opening was only 7" x 1.75", I needed to cut a bigger opening in the door sidelite. There is a template printed on the back of the Schlage package, which I carefully cut out to use for marking up my sidelite. However, when I held it up to the slot cover, I discovered that the slot they want you to cut is much larger than the finished edges of the slot cover, and much larger than necessary. The extra width is because the slot cover hinge pin is on the inside, extending well past the finished edges of the cover; the extra height is due to the fact that the top of the flap rotates inward when opened. I decided to cut the slot to match the finished edges, plus an extra 3/8" at the top to allow the flap to rotate in, plus a small cutout at the top corners just deep enough to fit the ends of the hinge pins. You might think this is complicated and unnecessary, but since the door sidelite is only 14" wide, I didn't want to cut any wider than I had to; I also wanted a better finished look to the wooden inside of the slot, since I'm not using a metal sleeve in there. In fact, I'm not sure those standard metal sleeves will work, given the larger slot opening required for the hinge pin and the flap intrusion. I didn't install the inside bezel; I got a Deltana mail slot hood for the inside for a bit more security. In summary, this mail slot cover is probably comparable to others in this price range, but surely someone can engineer a slot cover that seals against the wind better, and that doesn't scrape the finish every time you open it. I'm not holding my breath; when I replace my front door in a couple of years I'll look for something more solid.
