I would love to give this product 5 stars because we enjoy it immensely but it did require an important hack. We wall mounted the unit into drywall (no stud) with average anchors and wood screws which provided plenty of stability. However kitties just couldn't navigate the narrow steps - especially coming down. Our solution was to drill one new hole on each shelf and shift shelves approx 3 more inches past their already offset position. This is exactly what was needed! See video of kitty coming down climber with no fear. Good luck!

I've had this up and running for 10 days, so I can't comment on durability, other than seeing no signs pointing to future problems. My hyperactive 12-week-old has been up and down 100 times or so. I still wonder about the durability of the very thin fabric glued to the platforms, but so far I see no signs of tearing, wear or separation from the boards, even after witnessing many instances of my fearless, but still somewhat clumsy, kitten clawing her way back from what looked (to me) like near-death experiences. So she seems to get a pretty good grip on the fabric, good enough to muscle her way up and over the edge of a platform without actually jumping or climbing on the vertical sisal-covered elements. She does however make good use of the sisal to stretch and exercise her claws between platforms.

As to suitability for intended use, I might have nicked it one star if I had hung it on a door, per its explicit design, which seemed to me a bit wobbly, as corroborated by other reviewers. But my intent, even before ordering, was to scrap the top and bottom brackets entirely and mount it solidly on my wall. Having done that, and having seen how it performs, I can't begrudge it five stars, given the stability of its shelves, the ease of the wall-mounting, and the reasonable price for this much vertical real estate. If I were to build something of similar dimensions from scratch (even without the fabrics), I might use a single 2"x6"'x8' board for the backbone and four 1"x10"x18" boards for the shelves, mortising the boards into the backbone and securing with glue and screws. Even assuming free access to a table saw or router, to buy, shape and assemble all that would have cost me $20-$30 in materials and overhead, and the better part of a day of my time, so 63 bucks for this unit seems a good deal.

Mounting details: as the photo attempts to show, I fastened the upper 4 vertical elements to a wooden stud behind a plaster wall, using 4 sheet metal screws, #14 x 4", for a little over 2" engagement of the underlying studs. I felt that pan-heads with cross-slots (Phillips) were more decorative, and less likely to disrupt the sisal fabric than flat-heads and straight-slots, and cross-slots also play better with power drivers. I fully assembled and tightened the unit first, then made a magic marker dot on the sisal at the center of each vertical element to be attached (i.e. the top 4). Then I used an Exacto knife to cut through the sisal strands over each site, to prevent the strands catching and wrapping on the drill bit, which would make a mess, ripping them from the length and width of the fabric. I propped the assembly on blocks at the desired height, centering it over my marked stud. Pressing it flat against the wall, I drilled through one of the middle segments and as far into the stud as I could, using a bit close to the minor diameter of the screw. Then I switched to a bit close to the screw's major diameter (for a slip-fit), and enlarged the hole ONLY through the sisal-covered board, finally driving in a screw to secure the assembly loosely to the wall. After removing the support blocks, I checked the shelves for level and adjusted as needed, then repeated the drilling routine for the other 3 holes, working from the middle outward. To finish, I detached the assembly, vacuumed the sawdust, retightened every bolt, and put it back on the wall, fully tightening all 4 screws.

It did take a few days for my cat to feel comfortable using this, but once she got the hang of it, (with a little help via toys and treats to tempt her up one shelf at a time), it became one of her favorite spots. There's a ledge above my closet door, and this climber lets my cat climb right up to it, which she loves.

Like lots of other reviewers, I had trouble with noise and stability at first. I did follow the tip to pause after each new bolt was tightened, going back to re-tighten all the others before moving on, so the construction itself was tight and as solid as could be. The issue seemed to be simply that the brackets are made to accommodate a much thicker door than mine, so the whole structure was being held out from the door rather than flush against it. I saw a few people had suggested shoving some cardboard back there to fill the gap, but that looked messy to me. My new solution? Hot glue and a couple of wine corks.

I found two wine corks of the same length, and pushed them into the gap behind the climber, mounting them with a dab of hot glue to the inside of one of the middle shelves - one either end. (I only glued them to the shelf; not the door itself.) The corks are actually a tiny bit longer than the gap is, so I had to force the climber to bow just a tiny bit, and this actually means there's a little tension that helps hold the corks in place, even without the glue. This has pretty much solved the whole problem, with no need for ugly cardboard or straps. I've attached pictures to show the results.

The climber does still make just a little noise when the kitty is racing up and down it like a mad thing, but it isn't loud anymore, and no longer moves around while she's climbing.

The only other down-side is how quickly the cloth that covers the shelves gets scratched up and turns fuzzy, but that was probably inevitable. Some day I may need to recover them with something, but for now it's no big deal.

Pros:
Cat LOVES this thing.
Easy to assemble and attach to door
Easy to remove, or move to a different door, when the time comes
Overall construction seems very durable
With corks in place to brace it, it's both stable and quiet
Great space saver for a small apartment
Cost effective

Cons:
Needed a little "tweaking" to be stable enough and quiet enough to use
Fabric covering shelves is getting scratched all to fuzz.

Overall: Extremely pleased with my purchase, and would absolutely buy it again.

I purchased this to install on the side of a linen closet to give my cat access to a high tray light shelf. I watched the video on how to put it together, had no trouble putting it together. I removed the metal grooves that are meant to attach to a door and used one of the shelves to provide support. It works beautifully and the cat loves it. This cat tree is attractive and versatile and I would recommend it for anyone with a cat that is always looking for a new adventure.

I ordered this product knowing that it had mixed reviews but hoping for the best as I have 4 cats and needed some more vertical space in my house. It came very quickly since I ordered it through prime but when it got here, I found that one of the boards that was supposed to have a pre-cut out channel did not, and another one was not straight, making it VERY hard to line the pieces up. Fortunately I'm handy with a drill and made the channels myself instead of dealing with the hassle of sending it back and waiting for a new one since I already had everything out of the box. It is loose against the door as some others have noted, but I plan to secure it against the door with a piece of strapping. My cats seem to like it, I just don't know that it was worth the money I paid for it since the manufacturer clearly does not have good quality control. In the picture I attached of the board, the right side is the way it should look, with the channels cut out. They were not cut out of the left side.