Review on Regalo 44 Inch 6 Inch Extension Pressure by Lexi Mastandrea

Gates work great without upgrades! However, extensions are the weak point of the system. This is my second purchase of the Regalo Easy Step Gate. I bought one without any extensions, it works really well, it definitely gets 5 stars from me. However, my second purchase, a Regalo Extra Wide Easy Step Gate with extensions, was very disappointing. As I observed each time the gate failed, I found that there were 5 design improvements that could be implemented. to make it the best gate system. 1) Where the extension plates meet the gate there are two weak points in the fully extended gate. If a violent child or precocious pet hits the gate at or near the expansion point, they can buckle the gate and eject. I have owned the gate for over 4 months and this has happened at least 3 times. So I am very disappointed with the operation of the gate. The extension points need to be reinforced with thicker long pins and possibly extra coating around the extension points to keep the impact from knocking the pins out of their sockets. 2) The screw handles are too small to tighten by hand. They should be bigger. and probably shouldn't be plastic. 3) The bolts connecting the gate to the wall platforms are too small. They need a thicker diameter to handle the extra force needed to keep the extensions tight and straight. 4) The screw holes in the extensions do not go through, so the screw cannot be fully inserted. 5) This particular gate has a hard latch, so it doesn't work as well as the 'unenhanced regalo' I own. It may just be an issue with the individual product, but now that I've used the gate quite a bit, the latch is still difficult to engage. So, in general, the gate is functional. I save and use every day. However, it is not as good a product as the non-enhanced version. My recommendation is that if you want an advanced version of Regalo, look elsewhere.