Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 50
 Took a chunk out of my wall August 5, 2010
B Ry (Columbus, OH USA)
I ordered this gate because it had high reviews. It works well. But I specifically chose this type because I didn't want to drill into my walls for installation. Well, I may as well have. My wife barely bumped it one day walking through, it fell down, and the supposedly 'padded' tension feet took a chunk of paint off the drywall.
It will stick to your wall regardless because of what they use for the 'pad' so that it "won't" do that. May as well just install it with screws, or go with an alternate gate.
 My baby can open this child proof gate August 3, 2010
Jeff the tinkerer
Yes, before my baby learned to walk she learned how to open these gates. To open these gates, theoretically, you need to slide a little button with your thumb and lift up on the gate. However, there is a little tensioning wheel on the gate that has to be dialed in perfectly in order for the thumb slide to work properly. Too tight and the gate won't open, too loose and one doesn't need to use the thumb slide at all. The difference between too loose and too tight might be an eigth of a turn. Let the gate slam closed a couple of times and you're now out of that sweet spot. I had three gates and they all had the same problem. I was adjusting them each twice a day. If the gate is out of adjustment a baby can easily lift it a half inch and open it.
I gave the gates away to my parents who have small dogs who aren't very bright, (the dogs aren't bright, not the parents) and bought First Years Hands Free Gates which work perfectly and are more user-friendly as well. By the way, I think a dog could open these gates if it had a sharp nose and a habit of sticking it under fences and doors.
Not good for upstairs unless bolted into the walls. July 7, 2010
Puchunguis (Arizona)
I bought this gate for my lab puppy. It works but I would not recommend it for upstairs use with babies.
It works well and does the job for my puppy but I don't think it with work with babies without being bolted into the walls.
My older dog is able to push it and it slides a little out of place without falling but it won't be safe for children. If you are looking at this one for kids make sure it is bolted into the walls and you will love it.
Great but... July 1, 2010
D. Miller (Kailua, HI)
This gate is wonderful for the top of our stairs. It keeps the dogs from running to the front door and over crowding our guests. It also keeps them from sneaking down there to go to the bathroom. The only issue we have with this gate is that it doesn't truely swing closed. It does automatically close behind you but doesn't latch...so you still have to turn around and latch it yourself. The other issue was during assembly. This gate was so difficult to put together that we will never buy it again. But...after it is mounted into the wall it's great. You just have to get past the painful assembly process. You will need two people with this one. Preferably atleast one male or strong female. It does it's job and atleast it's not plastic and so i know it's not going anywhere. We will get another gate for the top of our stairs on the third floor when my baby girl starts walking...but not this one...something similar though.
Does not work for some openings, misleading instructions June 10, 2010
J A Cook
I bought this gate to install at the top of a staircase. I had two significant problems with it: 1) the way the gate works is that there is a central gate and two "extension" panels included, the panels being 5" and 10". With both included, the gate can go up to its full stretch; with neither, it can fit its smallest stretch. My opening was 43.5", precisely at the break where I needed both extensions. I couldn't fit the gate into the opening with both extensions because I have baseboards, and when I tried to extend the adjustable screws all the way to fit it without the second extension it popped out because it couldn't extend that far.
The second problem I have is informational: the instructions say to use the sticky stuff to mount the cups on the wall to use as positional guides (presumably for installing the drywall anchors). There is a hole in the center of the cup so this is plausible. However, the hole is not large enough to actually let the drywall anchor all the way through. When I tried, it just busted.
I called Summer to give them a chance to make it right. They told me that they don't give refunds. The best they could do to prevent my long drive across town to return the thing was send me a shipping label to return it to them, for which they could give me a voucher to their web site. The service was polite and prompt (I only had to wait about a minute) but effectively useless.
So, to sum up, I'm stuck with a) a baby gate that claimed to fit my space but does not b) the nuisance of having to return it, c) adhesive cups stuck to my wall, which will damage my paint and possibly my drywall, and for which I may well be fined by my landlord, and of course d) the hour of baby's morning nap completely wasted.
I recommend against buying this product, especially for the top of stairs if your opening is near 33", 38", 42" or 48"; if you do purchase it and it is for the top of stairs check carefully that it will fit your space before installing the permanent adhesive or screws in drywall, and do not try to use the adhesive to place the cups before installing the drywall anchors.
Update: my husband was able to muscle the bottom half into the space with the baseboards, including both extensions. It is not, however, secured by the cups--there's no way on that one. Our only solution is to drive nails in to create about the same amount of obstacle as the cup. It looks like we can drive a regular nail in through the pressure cups on top since there's metal flashing there around the edge of the stairs so we don't need the drywall anchor. I really don't feel safe with this gate, though, and if I could just undo it all I would. I may be forced to keep it since the cups are already attached. This gate is probably pretty good for halls but do not buy it for the top of stairs!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 50
|
4313 reviews
