Evenflo Top of Stair Gate
by Evenflo
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List Price: Category: Baby Product See more product details |
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Baby Products Reviews of Evenflo Top of Stair Gate
Customer Review: My toddler can't get over it, YEH!
Summary: 4 Stars
Before I bought this gate, I had purchased a pressure mounted gate which was one of the worst mistakes: my toddler could climb over it, it didn't stay up very well (the adults would walk over it and if your toe touched it, down it went) after my daughter fell into the gate and it fell on my baby, out the door it went and here I was back on the market for more gates. I read the reviews and based on my price range, I got two of these. I just installed them last night by myself, which was kind of difficult because the directions were very hard to understand so I just ended up using my knowledge based on different gate I have in my livingroom. They are now up and working great! My toddler can't get over this one, yet anyways, and my older kids aren't allowed to climb over it because it is physically impossible. I gave all 5 of them opening instructions and so far, I've had no major problems with it. Dad can open it easily and I can sleep at night knowing that my kids aren't going to wake up in the middle of the night and decide to go play in the road.
The only little minor problem that I could see was that the bottom is hard to latch sometimes, but I just ended up taking those off because we will be moving the gates soon and the wood on the door stops the gate from going too far. But it seems fine now, I haven't noticed anything bad.
Customer Review: A great gate
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased one of these gates originally for the top of the stairs.My main reasons were the fact that it is made of wood and that it is very sturdy. Forgive my for vanity, but I wanted something that was at least partially tasteful to look at. I was skeptical about the sliding aspect, I felt it might not be easy with only one hand. But it works fine with just one hand. I liked it enough to purchase and install another at the bottom of hte stairs.
The gate is bombproof! I always felt 100% certain my child was safe while he jumped and played on the gate at the top of the stairs.
The other key feature is that the gate can be removed (sans hardware) in 2 seconds. That is more handy than I originally thought it would be.
I think the key to success with this gate is proper installation. I actually hard mounted lumber onto my drywall and then added the gate hardware to the lumber. In that way I mount the hardware with 2" screws into solid lumber. At the same time I could control where I put the screws going into the drywall so that post restoration would be easier. For the Newell post I zip tied a piece of lumber to the post and mounted the hardware to it.
We sold that house and bought another. Our toddler is competent on the stairs but we have another on the way. There is no doubt we will be installing more of these gates here.
Customer Review: Good gate, if installed properly
Summary: 5 Stars
What I like about this gate:
It's wooden and more attractive than many of the metal or plastic gates I've seen.
It's sturdy. I have no qualms about using it at the top of my stairs.
It swings in both directions and can be swung against the wall when not in use to keep it out of the way.
It lifts out of the mounted brackets easily - which allows you to remove it when not in use (or when you need to move large furniture up your stairs!)
Because it lifts out of the brackets, you can buy duplicate hardware and use this ONE gate in several locations around the house!
Cautions:
I've installed this gate 4 times. Good installation is key. Three of those times, the gate worked wonderfully! The fourth time, I was sloppy and the gate was not as secure, was harder to latch, and slipped out of the bottom bracket as others have described. Taking time to install properly is worth it. You may need to get longer screws or other wall anchors - depending on what material you will install it in.
I have found this exact gate sold in pet stores, too, but it is was cheaper when marketed for children.
If you use it for a dog, the wood is soft enough that quite a bit of chewing damage can be done.
Customer Review: Bad design and workmanship--very difficult to operate
Summary: 1 Stars
Stay away. This gate is badly designed, badly engineered, and impossible to operate easily. The fatal flaw: Instead of a one-time, "set it, forget it" width adjustment, you must re-adjust the width of the gate *EVERY SINGLE TIME* you open and close it, in order to mate/unmate the gate to the latch bracket on the wall. There's no earthly reason why anyone would want/need a non-portable, hardware mount gate to do this.
To make matters worse, the wooden gate sections--which become much more flimsy when the gate is open--rack and bind together and make this adjustment impossible to do one-handed. No amount of tinkering on my part could resolve this issue.
The very first time she tried it, my wife caught the skin of her wrist in one of the metal brackets on the top rail while shrinking the gate in order to open it. Please consider other better-designed options.
Don't get lured in by the wood construction, as we did. If you just can't live with a metal gate, then either find a different one than this, or call a carpenter.
If you get this as a baby shower gift, open it right away and see for yourself--don't set them aside for later, when you'll wish you could still return them.
Customer Review: Good value for the money
Summary: 3 Stars
The Walk-Through Stair Gate is one of the less expensive gates I found when searching for a stair gate. I have been satisfied with the results, but it isn't the greatest quality. Installation was quite simple, and once the gate locks in it is quite secure. However, the unlatching mechanism for the gate can be tricky at times. My whole family has had problems opening the gate at one point or the other. Sometimes when it unlatches, it can pinch your fingers, and you have to get both the top and bottom of the gate in the correct angle, or else it won't open. The same problem arises when closing. You have to make sure the two openings are aligned, or else the gate won't lock properly. I find myself double checking constantly to make sure the top and bottom have both "clicked" into their respective spot because it doesn't always on first try. We purchased the First Years Hands Free gate for a different room (not a stairway) and it works GREAT. So simple, easy to install, and very secure. I have found that the metal gates work much better than the wood ones, not only from experience at my house, but at other friends as well. It is worth the money to invest in a better quality gate if you can afford it.