Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've had this up and running for 10 days, so I can't comment on durability, other than seeing no signs pointing to future problems. My hyperactive 12-week-old has been up and down 100 times or so. I still wonder about the durability of the very thin fabric glued to the platforms, but so far I see no signs of tearing, wear or separation from the boards, even after witnessing many instances of my fearless, but still somewhat clumsy, kitten clawing her way back from what looked (to me) like near-death experiences. So she seems to get a pretty good grip on the fabric, good enough to muscle her way up and over the edge of a platform without actually jumping or climbing on the vertical sisal-covered elements. She does however make good use of the sisal to stretch and exercise her claws between platforms. As to suitability for intended use, I might have nicked it one star if I had hung it on a door, per its explicit design, which seemed to me a bit wobbly, as corroborated by other reviewers. But my intent, even before ordering, was to scrap the top and bottom brackets entirely and mount it solidly on my wall. Having done that, and having seen how it performs, I can't begrudge it five stars, given the stability of its shelves, the ease of the wall-mounting, and the reasonable price for this much vertical real estate. If I were to build something of similar dimensions from scratch (even without the fabrics), I might use a single 2"x6"'x8' board for the backbone and four 1"x10"x18" boards for the shelves, mortising the boards into the backbone and securing with glue and screws. Even assuming free access to a table saw or router, to buy, shape and assemble all that would have cost me $20-$30 in materials and overhead, and the better part of a day of my time, so 63 bucks for this unit seems a good deal. Mounting details: as the photo attempts to show, I fastened the upper 4 vertical elements to a wooden stud behind a plaster wall, using 4 sheet metal screws, #14 x 4", for a little over 2" engagement of the underlying studs. I felt that pan-heads with cross-slots (Phillips) were more decorative, and less likely to disrupt the sisal fabric than flat-heads and straight-slots, and cross-slots also play better with power drivers. I fully assembled and tightened the unit first, then made a magic marker dot on the sisal at the center of each vertical element to be attached (i.e. the top 4). Then I used an Exacto knife to cut through the sisal strands over each site, to prevent the strands catching and wrapping on the drill bit, which would make a mess, ripping them from the length and width of the fabric. I propped the assembly on blocks at the desired height, centering it over my marked stud. Pressing it flat against the wall, I drilled through one of the middle segments and as far into the stud as I could, using a bit close to the minor diameter of the screw. Then I switched to a bit close to the screw's major diameter (for a slip-fit), and enlarged the hole ONLY through the sisal-covered board, finally driving in a screw to secure the assembly loosely to the wall. After removing the support blocks, I checked the shelves for level and adjusted as needed, then repeated the drilling routine for the other 3 holes, working from the middle outward. To finish, I detached the assembly, vacuumed the sawdust, retightened every bolt, and put it back on the wall, fully tightening all 4 screws.