very sturdy, easy to use, 11 mo old brute tries to shake it down, uses it to pull up on and gate doesn't move even though we have not ever actually attached it to the wall. Price well worth it

I use the gate to surround the entertainment system. Easy to install and works very well.

This is a fantastic gate. For months we had a barricade of furniture (coffee table, chair & ottoman) to keep our daughter away from the wood stove and now we have this attractive gate to keep her out of harms way. Everyone comments on what a great idea it is and how attractive it is. We are currently renting and did not want to permanently mount this gate to the wall. Each section locks into place so it is impossible for it to be moved around without lifting on one section and pushing on another (something small children can't do - but adults can do easily) which makes it extremley sturdy. It is high priced but worth my child's safety and my peace of mind.

If you have a fireplace this is a must have. I love it and I even extended it to go around our entertainment center. It works great and looks good.

This fireplace gate is almost perfect. It's extremely flexible, fairly easy to install, and seems very sturdy. Two small issues prevent me from giving it a perfect score. First is the fact that the interior sections aren't attached to the floor, so the can wobble back and forth a bit if a child pushes and pulls on it. I have wood floors, so I fixed this with some U-shaped nails. The second problem is that the door is a little too narrow. That's fine if you have a gate that's big enough to walk inside to tend your fireplace, but if your room is small and you place the gate at the recommended distance of 20 inches from the fireplace, it's a little bit tight to tend the fire through the narrow gate. A 36 inch gate section, or a double gate, would be a nice enhancement.

We have an old, 2-story home and the last 3 steps of our stair case jut out into our living room. We use the gate to keep our 18-mo. old from getting to these steps and gaining acces to the 2nd floor of our home. The resulting little alcove created by the gate is a great place for our 4-1/2 year old to sit and read; we've placed all his books in the area.

The Hearth Gate has been wonderful. We've had it since 2001. It has kept our inquisitive daughter out of the fireplace since then. She has tried to scale it and open it but can't. It's also very helpful during Christmas, she can't easily reach the stockings and pull them and the stocking holders down on top of her. Our fireplace screen would normally be easy for her to knock over, but she can't get to it either. The Hearth Gate looks nice too. And since a child can't get into cold ashes when there is not a fire, it saves on a potential mess too.

We have a fireplace that started as a wood burning and was turned into a gas fire place. Due to this, we found out that we had to have a custom made glass door made that was going to be $400. That would still not keep our son away from the fire place when it was lit. We bought this gate about a month ago and it is a life saver! It is very strong. Our 9-month year old son keeps standing up and holding on to the bars shaking it thinking it is funny. The gate is not going anywhere. It is good quality not to mention it matches our fireplace and keeps our living room looking nice. We strongly recommend this gate!

A very solid gate. We have it in front of our freestanding gas stove. The door is very easy to open and close. I never have to worry about my son getting too close to the stove.

I had an odd shaped hearth, with nothing to attach the ends to. I found that by configuring it around my hearth, I did not have to attach it to a wall, yet, my son can pull on it and it does not even move. It was easy to set up, and easy to take apart. I had to take it with me to another location and it was easily transported. I then set it up for a different shaped hearth, again not attached. I highly recommend this one.

just purchased this product and was pleased how easily it went together ( needed 2 extensions)and adjusted,however, I would suggest that the wood screws for attaching the mounting bracket to the wall be ANY other type than a straight head; the screws are long and the straight headed driver was a pain.Philips or Robertson would be better.

I bought this from the "old" babycenter store back in 2000, and it's been a great investment. My husband is a "fireplace man" and likes to keep the home fires burning... so we had to get something to protect our little ones. It was simple and quick to install (though tools are needed to attach it to the wall), and it removes easily from the wall for vacuuming, etc. One thing we particulary like is that it is tall, so our tall children cannot scale it. It's taller than your average baby gate, so it will protect older kids as well as little toddlers. The gate door opens easily with one hand for an adult, but is too difficult for a young child to unlatch. We love our Hearthgate and have received many compliments on it from guests, friends, and family. It may look like a cage initially, but it really isn't that bad. If your interior is mostly white, you can get the "configure" gate by Kidco and an extra panel or two and you have basically the same thing in white instead of black. (our neighbors did this, and it looks great!) I'm back at this site because we're going to order a second one for our cabin. This is a must-have item if you use your fireplace or woodstove even occasionally.

Very sturdy and straightforward to install. However, the middle joints are not fixed to anything immovable (including the floor), so it's possible for a child to pull or push the configuration out of shape unless you have it up against a raised hearth with no slack.