Customer Reviews

Summer Infant Sure And Secure Extra Tall Top Of The Stairs Gate With Alarm

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(31)

 

 

Well, this gate has some good stuff and some room for improvement. This has been our experience:

- It is good and sturdy once installed. The templates which show where the hardware goes worked well. We didn't have any problem getting it level and swinging properly.
- The alarm is very distinctive - you wouldn't confuse it with something else. It isn't too loud but you would recognize it.
- It looks nice and is quite tall (36"). The height matches with our existing banister nicely.
- Since it comes with 2 panels, it is plenty wide for most doorways (adjusts from 28"-54").
- It did take a long time to install - about 1.5 hours. But to be fair, this is the first gate with hardware that we've installed, so I don't have a basis for comparison to other hardware installed gates. Of course they're going to take longer than the pressure mounted ones.
- It does take a bit of effort to get the gate open. I can do it with one hand, but it takes a bit of practice to lift the gate up and over the latches on the top and bottom. I wonder if some of the other folks were trying to pull it open straight instead of lifting it up and over the latches.
- It will swing 'closed', but won't really latch on its own unless you push it shut.
- With the latch and alarm, I can't imagine a small child getting thru it.

All in all we have liked it so far. Good luck with whichever gate you decide to get!

This is the THIRD gate we've purchased for the top of our stairs and the only one I actually feel safe using. It's easy to use, but the younger kids can't get it open. They can't climb it or squeeze through the bars. It's even safe for our 10 week old puppy who got his head stuck in the gate this one replaced.

Please know the instructions for this gate STINK and the alarm was so annoying we took the batteries out. We put it together using the picture on the box.

We've owned several safety gates over the years and this one is by far the best and well worth the $59.99 we spent on it.

***Update***
After almost a year the hardware on this gate broke. I simply called the company and they sent out new hardware free of charge. Still loving this gate!

I blame myself for this purchase. The gate seemed solid, but when I pulled out the plastic bits you are supposed to hang the gate on, I knew I was in trouble. Plastic mount broke as I was putting in the wood screw. Returning it for a refund and picking up an Evenflo Top of Stairs Gate. CRAP!

I bought this gate based on the metal construction, ability to screw securely to the wall and the alarm feature. Once I got it home I found that the locking mechanism is very poorly designed. The locking latch pivots on a center pin with a spring to return it to the locked position. The only problem is that the spring isn't strong enough to return the latch to it's home position which allows the gate to be opened without having to use the latch - which kind of defeats the purpose of the lock to start with.

Spend the extra 5 bucks and get the Safeway gate - a friend has it and it actually works.

This is a terrible gate. It neither opens nor closes with ease. Opening the gate requires both hands and a foot.

We purchased this gate for the top of a wide staircase- liked that it was wider than most gates and would fit securely. My husband is very handy and it still took 1 1/2 hours (and much swearing) to put it in. Now that it's in, we find that it is taking both hands and a foot to get it open- probably because it is so wide, but it is hard to use! The screws were cheap, the wall mounts are plastic, and the latch is too difficult to open with one hand (as advertised on the box!!). I wish I had read all the reviews before I purchased it- now my husband is removing the gate so that we can take another trip back to Babies R Us! Save yourself a trip and don't buy this stinker.

I don't know what's wrong with the other people! This gate is absolutely awesome. WE have been using it for over 1.5 years. And we moved it from our last house to our new house. Works great. Our kids stand on it, hit it, slam it closed etc. And it's still going strong. We don't use the alarm. I dont' even know what it sounds like. My husband installed it and said it was quite simple. He said it was a little challenging reinstalling it again with out the templates, but he figured it out. And has lowered it since to keep the dog out. This gate is awesome.

I purchased 2 of these gates and not only found them very difficult to install (kind of a one size fits no one), but the craftsmanship was awful.

First, both of the gates I purchased were warped and would not bolt together correctly (not all of the holes would line up and the hinge bolts would not screw in all of the way).

Second, the hardware (hinges and door latches) were of extremely low quality.

After about an hour of messing with this kit and drilling holes into my staircase walls, I realized this company doesn't take my children as serious as I do.

Do yourself a favor and look at the Kidco gates.

I do not recommend

This gate has not worked for us since we purchased it. It took us over 2 hours to install. Now that it is installed, the latch doesn't not keep the gate securely in place. The latch gets stuck and won't pop out to hold the gate in place. We have even received a 2nd latch from the company, and it still doesn't work. The alarm doesn't work very well either. It is supposed to give us 10 seconds to close the gate after opening it, it is a very fast 5 second count sometimes. I would not recommend purchasing this gate.

We have a very tall staircase, with two separate entrances at the bottom. It imperative for us to find a tall, safe, and secure gate. This one did the trick. We installed it at the top of our stairwell. It stands as tall as our wood bannister rails, so there is no chance of my child trying to crawl over it... or an adult for that matter.

I will admit there are some drawbacks: 1)The alarm, which for security purposes is worth its weight in gold, can be somewhat of a hindrance. There is a button you press to disarm the alarm for 10 seconds so that you can pass through. However, 10 seconds is not enough time to pass through the gate before the alarm rearms and sounds. Also, if you have not closed the gate securely, then the alarm will sound... again a great feature when you think about it. If it is really annoying, you could just take the batteries out and not use the alarm system. 2) The gates lock is a metal bolt that hooks into the plastic locking mechanism. If installed proberly, it hooks very securely, but its noisy when done. It sounds like your opening a metal gate outside (like a dog pen). So trying to get through the gate at midnight, without waking the household is impossible.. even if you have the alarm disarmed. 3) The directions for this gate were confusing... even for an experienced carpenter. We had to reinstall it 3x for the whole thing to line up correctly... no big deal if your installing into drywall, but we were installing into a beautiful wood banister... which is now full of holes! 4) Another problem we had, were the screws provided. They are cheap screws (all baby gates come with cheap screws we found). They assume you're installing into drywall. If you install into wood... GO BUY SOME GOOD CARPENTRY SCREWS FIRST! The ones provided will strip.

The finished outcome however is that for all it's idiosyncrasies, this is the best gate that we found anywhere! It's tall and secure, so I have absolutely no fear of letting my infant cruise around the upstairs, nor of getting the gate open, or crawling over it! If it is installed properly, and inline correctly, you'll have no problem getting through the gate. My guess is, that the others that wrote in to comment that they had to use their feet to open the gate, or that they couldn't open it one handed, did not have installed properly. We didn't either at first. Once we aligned it properly, it was great!