I'm VERY pleased with this potting bench. It's sturdy and stable; I have no concerns about storing things on the top surface or the shelf underneath. The Quality for the Price - it gets five stars. I think you would have to spend significantly more or make something to get better quality. Two minor quirks: The top rail is designed to fold down thus it doesn't bear a lot of weight if you want to hang things. The bench itself is designed to fold, which it does, but it doesn't fold flat. I don't like the way it folds but it folds well if that matters to you. I don't plan to fold it.

You WILL want to stain the wood before putting it together. I got a simple oil based stain from the home improvement center and gave it good coating. That made a huge difference to the finish and its waterproofing. Invest the $10 on stain.

Again, an EXCELLENT potting bench for the price. Highly recommend!

Assembled in 30-45 mins. Seems adequate. Have to loosen fasteners prior to folding otherwise you also may find the wood cracks.

Instructions suggest oiling to preserve finish / product.

Paid almost $40 more than the 2017 summertime price being shown. Due to cracking of wood and extra work needed to finish the wood the lower price would make this a better value. As it is, overpaying is unfortunate and reduces the satisfaction level.

Absolute piece of crap - DO NOT waste your money. The "wood" has about as much integrity and hardness as foam board and split during assembly. This can be easily dented by general use because it's so soft. I would not feel comfortable putting any real weight, like a bag of potting soil, on this poorly designed item. Only bolts connect the top shelf to the legs and given the material is so apt to splitting and denting it's only a matter of short time before the whole thing collapses. Will likely be in the recycle bin by the end of this summer. Would return but for the hassle since the box was recycled before we assembled it and it's bulky to ship.

It does the job as expected, however putting it together was another story. You can't quite go with the pictures in the instruction. They were misleading to me. You have to pay attention to the holes that were pre-drilled. The holes are very tiny, so ensure they are pointing in the right direction. The front and back legs are the most important to install correctly and then everything else will fall into place. The back legs were the most tricky because I focused on making sure the bar was on the outside but unfortunately I placed them on the wrong side. The gap should be facing towards the back. I refused to take apart so I made my own holes and went from there.....good luck.

This bench is lovely. However, it's been up one week and the wood is already splintering and wood slats that make the table top had obvious chips out of them that were glued back on ( not very well). I also see the price dropped since I bought it, so I'm a little bothered by that.

It is definitely sturdy enough to use as a server for a cook out and a bench for potting. If you keep it in a sheltered part of your patio or deck it should be fine. I won't know until the end of summer about the durability of it.