Nice gate -- once it's installed :)

We have a split level home, so there's lots of stairs all over and one staircase was a bit more of a problem than others. The walls on either side at the top of the stairs weren't parallel with eachother. One is on a 45 degree angle. So I spent some time searching for gates to accommodate this. This one works perfect on the angle.

I'll tell you a bit of general info about it, and then get onto the install part.

- It's designed to fit openings 29-42 inches wide. It absolutely has to be mounted to a stud on both sides. The door is heavy, and to pull up on the latch to open the gate, it puts a good amount of pressure on the stud.

-In addition to the holes in the gate to adjust the length of it, there are long screws at the end of the door that act as the 2 hinges on it that can also be adjusted. This was very handy for us because we found that our walls weren't quite straight (the top latch would close, but the bottom was too far away) So we let out the bottom screw a bit and now it's great.

- The gate is metal with a white coating. The attachment section of the gate is plastic.

-There is a motion-activated light when you approach the gate that turns on and off automatically. We put the 4 D batteries in to try it out and decided we didn't need this feature. We have automatic nightlights in the house already, & the location isn't dark. It's a nice bright white light though.

-when the gate is locked properly a red indicator (not battery operated) will turn to green. Only the top latch needs to fit in properly for it to turn green though.

- They say it has a self latching close feature, but that's only half true. If I slam it behind me then it will close on its own. But I don't have to manually latch anything. So it is definitely something that only requires one hand.

- To open the gate you have to push in a long button on top of the handle, and pull the handle up. It's easy to do one handed, but I find it takes a bit of strength. I'm just wimpy though. I think it would be easier if I was over 5 feet tall and could pull up on it easier.

- it's 28 inches high


Now for installing it!

-All the mounting hardware is included. They even include a spacer for if the bottom screw on the gate has to be put on a baseboard. Ours are short enough that I mounted it over the baseboard. All you will need is a star shaped screwdriver (I get screwdriver names mixed up)hope you have an electric one!

- It comes with a template to show you where to put the screws in the wall. The first time we did it the gate was lower than the other plate and we made the mistake of lowering the other side. All we needed to do was lengthen the bottom screw on the gate to raise the door up a bit. It does need to be fairly precise. I'd be frightened to be doing this in anything more valuable than drywall.

- There is a part on the latch side that prevents the door from swinging both directions, and of course you should prevent it from swinging out over top of stairs. At first I was all upset thinking the gate wasn't going to work... I needed to mount the gate on the 45 degree angle wall for it to lock into the other part, but then it would swing out over the stairs. But the part that sticks out is just a plate over top of the battery compartment and can be flipped around the other way. So no matter what side you mount the gate on, you can have it swing inward or outward. (and both if you leave the battery cover off I guess)

Overall it's a nice gate, and I'm happy to have found one that worked on my wall that wasn't $150 like some of the gates I've seen. My only complaints are:

Despite the template, I have about 6 extra holes in my drywall.

You have to pull up pretty hard on the handle to open it.

It's noisy to close the gate because I have to give it an extra shove to lock in enough for the red indicator to turn green.

It could be cheaper. Baby gates are overpriced.