Kidco Safeway Wall Mount Top of Stairs Gate
by Kidco
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List Price: Our Price: $49.50 You Save: $126.85 (72%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Baby Product See more product details |
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Baby Products Reviews of Kidco Safeway Wall Mount Top of Stairs Gate
Customer Review: Keeps puppy and baby where they belong!
Summary: 5 Stars
We originally thought that we were going to be gate-free since we lived in a ranch house with pocket doors blocking off the kitchen and hallways. However, we soon realized that the best-laid plans are often thrown aside when it comes to a mobile baby. Yes, we could block off areas of the house with the pocket doors, but we couldn't see our son and our son couldn't see us, which soon led to our search for baby gates. Soon after the search began, my husband came home with a Labrador puppy (surprise!). Now we had an active seven-month old and a new puppy to keep out of trouble. The gate search went from a priority to a TOP priority. We had been all set to buy the Hands-Free gate from The First Years, but decided against it because of the plastic pieces. The puppy would soon make lunch out of those, and the gate would then be useless. We decided to try our luck with the KidCo, and we're very glad that we did.
What we love:
-Sturdy metal construction. The gate has been able to withstand a puppy who hasn't found his brakes yet crashing into it on numerous occasions, as well as a seven month old in a walker who insists on ramming into everything to see what kind of noise it will make. Since it is metal, the puppy can't chew his way to freedom.
-Vertical bars. There is nothing to aid a toddler in climbing the gate. The bars go up and down and there isn't anything for a little one to get a foothold on.
-Versatility. YOU pick which way the gate swings and what side it opens on. This was very important to us, because we were working with a cramped space and there was only one way we could have a gate open.
-No U shape. A lot of gates, even stair gates, have a bar running along the bottom of them. This doesn't seem like a big deal until you trip on it or stub your toe trying to go over it. On the top of a staircase, this bar is a terrible idea for obvious reasons. The Safeway gate eliminates this bar, and still stands sturdy.
What we'd change:
-The installation. My husband did have a few choice words for this gate during the installation process. Once I intervened and we read the directions step by step the gate went up fine, but for someone who just skims the directions this could be a nightmare.
-The latch. Other reviewers have mentioned the latch, and its difficulty. The latch can be difficult to work with one hand, especially at first. What I have found helpful is to push down ON AN ANGLE on the triangle piece with your thumb and use the rest of your fingers to lift up on the top bar (thumb still holding triangle piece at an angle).
All in all, the pros far outweigh the cons and you have a sturdy, well-constructed gate that will give you piece of mind. No gate should be thought of as a baby-sitter, but when used properly this gate prevents nasty stair accidents.
Customer Review: If you need a baby gate this is the one....
Summary: 5 Stars
Our 7 month old will be crawling soon so it was time to get a baby gate. After some research we bought a couple of these Kidco gates. The instructions are pretty clear and the quality of the workmanship of the gate is excellent. Metal. Welded together. Heavy white paint. We needed to buy an 8' length of 3 inch by 1/2 inch oak at Lowes. Cut it so it would fit against our banister. I stained it light oak to match the stairs. Screwed it into the banister to form a firm surface to mount the hinge hardwear. Very sturdy. For the other side I used a similar board and used hollow wall anchors (toggles) to hold it against the sheet rock. On that side I put the latching hardware. The kit comes with templates to position the hinges and latches and you need to be pretty precise. After that there is a series of adjustments to get the gate centered. Once that is done you put the spring in the bottom hinge and pop on the retaining clip and you are good to go. Very very sturdy and easy enough to open. The second one was heading up a different stair case and I was able to screw the hinge side right into the upright banister. I had to put another length of oak board to hold the latch side. The first one took a couple of hours of messing around not including the dry time on the stain. But I am pretty methodical. The second one was installed in about 30 minutes because I knew what I was doing. The gates look very good. We have oak and white trim on both stairs and it blends well. I am very pleased with this purchase. A bit pricey and the extra costs for the two piece of oak, stain, foam brushes, brass screws, and hollow wall anchors added up. But it looks as good as a gate can look. My wife is pleased so I am happy. It will keep the baby from going head over heels down the stairs as long as you remember to latch it. I would recommend this gate to anyone. Open the box. Lay out the pieces. Read the instructions and you should be fine. Do not hesitate to buy another piece of wood to secure to the surface on either side of the gate so you have something sturdy for it to hang on. That is truly the key. Good luck.Customer Review: Plastic hinges seem cheap, 20 month old figured it out
Summary: 3 Stars
We bought two gates before this one because the dimesions at the top of our stairs are wide (45" at one point, 54" at another). The mouldings and base boards wouldn't allow us to use the tall gates, and this one is just the right size (32" I believe). We installed it without too much effort. It comes with a template so you know exactly where to drill. We used the extension with this gate, but what it failed to tell you online was that even though it expands up to whatever size, you can only expand the gate in something like 2" incriments. So, we had to install the gate in a different place. There is a bizzare problem with the studs in our walls-they don't seem to be straight. The first time we installed it we made sure the hinge side was in a stud (very important for top of the stairs). Only three out of four screws hit the stud, and we used their template and made sure it was perpendicular to the floor. We had tried three other places and used two stud finders, so we thought that would be good enough. After three days, the top screw which was not in the stud, started pulling away from the wall. You have to lift up on the gate to open it and push down on it to close it, so this puts pressure on the hinge side. I don't know how long it would hold up under normal wear and tear, we've only had it installed for about 3 weeks and my 20 month old son has figured it out already. To open (and you can use one hand very easily) all you do is put your thumb on a tab, push down on that tab, and simultaneously lift up on the gate. The hinges and tabs are all plastic, and the gate is metal. There is a big screw with a large circular flat head on the end of the gate that is the part that locks into the hinge on the wall. This has already worn away the plastic a little. I just don't think the hinges would last. They are cheap to replace (like $1-2) but what a pain. I also forgot to mention that first time we went to install it, it was missing one of the hinges. We had to wait another 10-12 days for them to send us the correct hinge. Back to the drawing board for us!Customer Review: Excellent, Secure Gate
Summary: 5 Stars
After sifting through what seemed like thousands of reviews on various baby gates, my husband and I decided on the Safeway Gate and have been extremely happy with our purchase!This is an excellent gate for the top of a staircase. It's kept my inquisitive 13 month old safe as well as the 25 month old and the 3 year old that I babysit. None of the three boys have learned to open the gate yet which I find encouraging. This gate has definitely passed the test in my book with three boys who try to hang off the top bar and shake it like crazy!
I didn't find the latch to be difficult at all...of course I tend to push on the actual latch rather than the triangular button above to release the catch and open the gate. I also like the audible "click" when the gate is securely shut. Like others have mentioned, the lack of anything on the floor (bar, pad, etc.) was perfect since we do have ours installed at the top of a flight of stairs.
A nice perk for small animals living with baby: We have 2-3 inch baseboards/molding at floor level so we installed the gate about two to three inches above that which gave just enough clearance for our three cats to slide underneath without letting our (then) seven month old crawl underneath.
The downside is the installation process, but after reading the reviews we were prepared for that part and went to Home Depot and bought a simple $3 box of deck screws and it made installation much easier.
This gate is a bit more expensive than some of the gates out there, but it's metal not plastic; secures with screws rather than pressure mounting against the wall; the rails are made vertically rather than horizontally or "mesh-like" holes (vertical rails help deter if not downright prevent climbing toddlers from getting over this gate) and we just decided that this gate was the best value and safest for our son (and his soon to be little brother or sister).
Customer Review: Good engineering, poor manufacturing quality
Summary: 3 Stars
This was the only gate that I found that met the needs we had for a top and bottom of the stairs gate. I've been very happy with the functioning of the gate and its looks.
Based on other reviews I was very meticulous with following the instructions. I found the instructions to be descriptive enough with the inclusion of the pictures. It would have been nice if the pictures were on the same page as the instruction text. I imagine it was done that way so that the pictures didn't have to be reprinted for each language.
I really like the engineering of the gate. It's metal and there's good attention to detail on the mounting points. It works well and it's relatively simple. I chose to purchase the stair mounting kit and wall mounting kit to make it as sturdy as possible.
The problem was with the manufacturing quality and its what I've come to expect from products made in India. I ended up going back to the store (good thing I didn't purchase online), because one of the thread holes for the spindles wasn't threaded properly. I checked the one I got in the exchange and it had the same problem. Fortunately, the second one had a problem on the other gate piece, so I was able to make a complete workable kit between the two.
The gate being made in India was interesting considering that the wall mounting kit was made in the US and the stair mounting kit was made in China. I've seen this before where companies have manufacturing facilities all over the globe and they just cannot manage a consistent quality between them. Kidco better fix this.
It's hard to recommend this product for purchase, because of the quality problems; however, I love the gate and to me it was worth the hassle -- I probably wouldn't have thought so if I had to ship the kits back and forth.