Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

UPDATE 2018: All 3 of my gates are still working perfectly. There have been no issues whatsoever with the lock / unlock mechanism of the handles and they still hold tight. I have 2 young boys at home who give these gates a run for their money. They love to swing my front entry door open to hear it bang into the gate....nice right?! Even with being abused, these gates are unstoppable after the nut-and-bolt modification. This is an additional review after having used these gates for well over a year. I still highly recommend them but read on for very important info. I have 3 of these gates and I noticed on all 3 that the plastic hardware used to lock the two gate pieces together will eventually loosen over time with repeated opening and closing of the handle. The plastic parts I am referring to can be seen in the photos and they are on the top and bottom of each gate. The main purpose of them is to "lock" the gates in the desired width for your hallway. The problem is that the plastic parts cannot withstand the screw torque necessary to hold the gates together firmly. This leads to the parts loosening and allows the gate to "slide" left or right when opening and closing the gate. This can be a dangerous problem because it could lead to a failure of the gate to lock and someone could "push" through it. I tightened and retightened the screws in the plastic hardware however the hardware is not durable and the plastic pieces eventually cracked. These parts should be metal and not plastic. I do love the gates so I decided to fix this issue permanently. I went to the local home improvement store and bought some 1 3/4" screws and nylon lock nuts to prevent it from coming off. I drilled holes through the gates and bolted them together (see photos). This will lock the gates in place and prevent any unwanted "sliding" left or right. You can rest easy that the gates will never fail after doing this simple fix. I still highly recommend the gates but be aware that you should check and recheck the gates every so often for loosening of the plastic retaining pieces if you choose not to bolt these together. ORIGINAL REVIEW: Very sturdy gates and they look great. Be warned, these MUST be drilled into a STUD in the wall. Do not mount these into Sheetrock only as they are heavy and can easily rip out of the wall. If you don't have a stud near your stairs, you can use a piece of wood to extend out and give a proper base to mount the gate to. See photos for examples.