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I ordered this gate for the top of the stairs leading to our basement. Seeing as I now have this gate and the only other retractable gate from Lascal I will compare the two for other consumers.
This gate was cheaper by $21 at the time. Compared to the Lascal unit it seemed easier to install due to the plastic templates that are supplied so you know exactly where to install the hardware onto the walls. It comes with extra hardware pieces I suppose it is in case the original ones break (They seem sturdy enough though). It also comes with plenty of screws which in my opinion are not the best ones for the job (more on that later).
The gate itself is solid, and the knob that controls the gate is easier to use than the Lascal model. Neither this gate nor the Lascal gate is easy to open without using both hands, but I'd have to say this one is harder because of the hook design. The Lascal model has hooks that are wider horizontally which makes it easier to remove the gate when you want to retract it. With this gate the hooks are smaller which means there is not a lot of room between the wall and the edge of the hook to release the gate. Also the screws that are supplied do not seat flush into the hook hardware which reduces the play room for removing the gate. I found that the bottom of the gate gets caught on the screw a lot and you have to physically reach down and jiggle it to get it to come off. You can fix this by using screws with a flatter head most likely.
I would recommend this gate for an area that you do not constantly need to go in or out of. It might drive you a bit crazy if you have to use that doorway all the time.
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Love this gate. I get compliments and comments on it from all of my guests. I use it at the top of the stairs in a bi-level home, so we use it all of the time to come and go. When it's not in use, it retracts into this skinny roll (tube) that hides behind our banister. This is worth all of the negatives for me to be able to fold and hide a baby gate since it is the first thing you see when you walk through our front door, and I don't want to have a huge gate swinging around in our already cramped house.The gate itself is like a thick white mesh-like material. It seems well made. My dogs have attempted to tear it down several times when they get excited about a visitor and it has held up to 90+ lb dogs trying to put their paws up on it.
I know a lot of the reviews say it requires 2 hands to open and close, but I never use 2 hands. It's a 2 step process (first to unlock the gate, then to pull the gate open or closed), but you can do the two steps with one hand. I am easily able to open and close this gate with one hand with baby in the other arm.
It does have some downsides: 1) it's not exactly great for top of the stair safety. Since it bends and is flexible, I am pretty sure that my 10 month old baby could squeeze herself under it. I keep a close eye on that. 2) It's noisy when it retracts if you don't use 2 hands at once 3) the screws it came with are worthless. Easy solution is to use different screws. 4) the process to open and close is not simple, so frequently, you have to try several times to get the unlock/open sequence right if you are using 1 hand.
It seems like a lot of negatives, but for me, the ability to retract and hide the gate away when not in use and to not have to have a big gate swinging around all of the time is worth it to us.
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We have 2 inches of molding/baseboards around the edge of our floor, so we couldn't place the gate flush with the floor (the baseboard is decorative/not flat so we cannot attach the bottom of the gate to it). I didn't think 2 inches would be enough room for my 9 month old to crawl under, but I was wrong. I guess he learned from watching our dogs do it who had no problem getting under it. In other words, I just have a very expensive limbo bar between my kitchen and living room now.
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I bought two of these gates: one at the bottom of a stairs and the other across my tv console area. Works great for those purposes. However, I would be careful about installing it at the top of the stairs. It is just cloth so there is a give to the fabric, even if it is locked. Make sure you have it as close to the floor as possible. Because of the way the mounting brackets are designed, even if you have the guide all the way at the bottom, there is still a two to three inch gap at the bottom. A baby can easily lift the fabric up another couple of inches. A very determined baby may be able to wiggle out. The first one I did, I started above the baseboard and it was too high. The second time, I started as close to the floor as possible and it was fine. My baby is still able to lift it up a little but not enough to get out. I used various pieces of thin wood to make the brackets even. Worth the money to just get the baseboard adjuster pieces that are sold separately. I love the fact that it rolls up out of the way.Addendum:
It's been a couple of months and we still love the gate. However, as some people have commented, the hardware that comes with the gate is crap, especially the wall anchors. They are not worth the effort. My baby has already ripped the gate out of the wall. I've instead remounted the gate using good wall anchors (the kind that looks like a big screw) and it's been fine.
2nd Addendum. It's been almost a year since I installed these gates and they are still a life saver. My little one is VERY determined to get out sometimes and hangs on these gates. They have taken quite a beating but are still holding up nicely. Definitely worth the money. I recommend it to all my friends with kids.
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