Review on Munchkin Extra Wide and Tall Baby Gate, Hardware Mounted Safety Gate for Stairs, Hallways and Doors, Expands from 33" to 56" Wide, Metal, White by Christine Marquez

Love these gates but hate the screws and anchors that they come with. I have one at the top of my stairs and one at the bottom of my laundry room. This gate worked really well to keep my kids out, but I'm adept at using it and spent several hours carefully installing it. These gates are heavy enough that they should always be secured with rivets, especially since children will be hanging on to them. If you need to install it on drywall, DO NOT use the breakable anchors that are included. Use something MUCH stronger, like snap bolts. I recommend using larger screws. The supplied screws are approximately 2.5 cm long. Since most US drywall is about 1/2" thick and plastic mounts are 1/8" to 1/4" thick, you have OVER 3/8" screws in the stud. I've personally used screws that were about 1 3/4" long and a bit thicker, but I also had to mount through a 1/2" baseplate, so I still only have 1/2" to 5/8". " screws. hairpin. You can see in my photos that I added some 1/2" washers behind the top brackets to adjust the spacing between the baseboards. I also added two extra screws to hold these boards to the studs to accommodate the To increase the strength of the gate.The gate itself is strong and can be opened with one hand, but my kids find it difficult to open.The triangular latch swings out to the side, allowing you to lift the gate.It takes some practice to open it with one hand and the spring is strong enough that people with problems like arthritis have trouble latching.Also you have to lift the gate to close it.If you just close it the gate will bounce off ADVANTAGES: - Sturdy (gates, fixings not included) - Can be used at the top of stairs (when mounted on posts, not drywall) - Difficult for my kids to open n - Can be opened with one hand (with practice) - Can be adjusted to open in one or both directions -Highly adjustable (Fine adjustment possible with included wrench.) CONS: -Supplied drywall screws and anchors are too short and feel weak to (buy your own screws) -Not easy to install properly (unless you are handy) -Opening the latch with one hand requires practice and may be too stiff for some people -The gate does not latch automatically. You have to lift it to fix it.