This appears to be a great gate and, when installed precisely, I've had no issues opening and closing it with one hand (as opposed to many reviewers trying to claim it it nearly impossible to close with one hand). I did buy my own wood screws instead of using the ones that came woth the gates due to multiple reviewer comments relating to the low quality of wood screws that came with the gates. I had unusually difficult and angled installations I had to perform, so my install time was probably 1-5-2 hours for each gate, but I am a person that "measures 5000 times then cuts/drills once", haha. It didn't help that my locations were so unique/tricky.

Important Note: the products I receieved (I ordered 4 gates total) are the G2100, not the G2000, as were shown and stated on the product page I ordered from. It appears G2100s cost more and, since I didn't see any issues initially with the G2100 vs. the G2000, I decided to keep them. It is possible the G2000s have the issues when trying to close them with one hand.

As a first time mom, I was looking for a safe baby gate that could be installed at the top of our stairway that would be mounted with screws rather than pressure mounted. (Safety reasons -- so baby can't push over the gate and fall down the stairs.) We also have an odd stairway, where one side is comprised of a wall, and the other is bordered by a railing, so the gate we purchased would need to be secured between those 2 things. We bought the KidCo Stairway Gate Installation Kit, which was a lifesaver. However, the gate itself was somewhat of a letdown.

The gate itself has a nice appearance, good finish, and matches our home. The central metal gate looks and feel fairly sturdy. However, the mounting brackets are VERY cheap in appearance. They did feel as though they were mounted securely to the wall, so that is one pro. However, once you attach the gate, you realize that the cheap plastic mounting pieces do not feel nearly as secure. The hinge side mounting piece on the bottom has an overlying plastic piece that is supposed to lock the gate into place, so that it will not pop out of the mount when it is swinging. This "locking piece" has popped off on us several times without using excessive force when opening the gate, which then lifts the whole metal gate out of the mount and subsequently scratched our wall.

The gate is also advertised as "easy one hand adult operation.". That is not true for our gate. You are supposed to be able to press down on the button to unlock and lift the gate open, but again the plastic piece appears cheap and does not function this way. We have to push on the vertically oriented plastic beneath the button to bypass the mechanism and release the lock, which generally requires 2 hands.

All in all, the gate seems secure when it is locked shut, but it seems much more cheap and flimsy whenever we have to open and close it.

Had one I purchased in 07 for our first daughter. Still kicking and blocking the bottom steps. Bought another one to block the top steps as we have two little ones who shouldn't be walking down the stairs in the morning. My only gripe is that this doesn't screw on well to banister ends. The top of my stairs has two banister sides. I could have used a different method for connecting gates to banisters but I feel screws hold better. As a result, the gate is angled a bit (due to where it was screwed on the banister and not a flaw of the product).

I noticed slight differences from the old one to the new one. The new one has a white bumper guard near the latch point where the old one doesn't. Not a big deal, I love that they're sturdy and easily opened and closed by an adult.

This gate is perfect. We use if for our two 90+ pound dogs to keep them in their room when we leave the house. I had no problem putting the gate together or mounting it. Instructions were simple and easy to follow. We actually mounted ours in a doorway and did not put the stopper in the hinge so we could open it flush with the wall when it is not in use. The latch is easy to use with one hand. You do have to lift the gate to put it in the latches and when you are taking it out, but it is very easy. We have not had any issues with the hinges. They work exactly like they should and have not broken like I had seen in other reviews. We do have a 15 month old son who watches us use the gate, so he will try to lift up the gate so you do have to be sure when you lock it that the latch clicks. It's not a problem for us because it is not to keep him off of stairs or out of the room, but if that is your purpose it is something to pay attention to. It is very sturdy. Ours is mounted into 4x4 solid wood posts, but our son can stand on the bottom rail and so far no damage done. The vertical rails are not as strong. They can be bent with some force. I would purchase this gate again if I needed another.

Bought this gate for the top of the stairs since it mounts to the wall. The installation was super easy. I used a sheetrock anchor rated to 65lbs for the hinge side where it wasn't screwing directly into the baseboard/stud. I had originally used a basic blue anchor and that was definitely not enough... began to pull away from the wall within a week before the kiddo was even fully crawling! So please use appropriate hardware (not included) to install.

Two problems with the gate, both minor. First, the latching side doesn't always match up... could be an install issue, but also I just think that it's a bit finicky to close at times, especially for our 4.5yo. Second, because our staircase is wide, for this type of gate without the threshold to step over, it makes the swinging portion extra wide as well. It'd be nice if there was a way to have it be a smaller swinging door.

We haven't had the newly mobile kid try to challenge the gate at this point, but if he does and it changes my review of the gate, i'll report back!