Retract-A-Gate safety gate 52" Black by Smart Retract

Nice gate to use for securing the pool. Easy to remove and install.

I don’t often write reviews, but I have a lot of emotion about this product today, and I want to share it. We have 2 of these gates, and we’ve had them for about 6 months. Both of the gates are at the top of a set of stairs. I particularly like these because I was able to purchase a banister adapter piece from retract-a-gate, and that made it connect better than any other gate to our banister setup. Another thing I like about this gate is that is can easily be opened and closed with one hand while holding a baby. So anyway, as much as I love this gate, I think it could be improved. When you close the gate, you also have to turn the lock mechanism. It’s a 2 step process... close the gate, lock the mechanism. Because it is a 2 step process, it allows a chance to forget step 2 if I’m distracted, or if the baby is crying, and I’m in a hurry. So today was one of those days... I forgot step 2, the gate was closed, but not locked. And my 18 month old leaned against the gate, and came VERY close to falling through and down the steps. I’m still pretty shaken up about it. I’ll be more careful to lock the gate. This story leads to my suggestion to improve the product. I think that the gate should have a battery operated mechanism in the lock that will blink a red light, or sound an alarm if the gate is closed, but not locked. I think the user should have the option of having this safety warning to Light only, beep & light, or off. That way everyone can customize to their situation. I think this reminder would help busy parents lock the gate, and keep babies safer. All in all, we will be careful, and try our best to focus on locking the gate.

This is a great retractable gate. Easy to install & it is nice that it retracts.

In theory, this is a great concept. In practice, not so much. Because the grab handle is not on the top, it’s a huge hassle to use when placed at the bottom of the stairs. When you’re coming down the stairs, you’re going to be standing one stair up from the gate when you go to unlock it, and because this gate’s handle is not on the top like most gates, you have to bend over REALLY far and reach around the front to unlatch it. That alone is a deal killer (there’s no way you could do this safely while holding a baby). Most of the “reviews” of this gate on YouTube are videos put out by the company who makes it. They continually brag about its one-handed operation…I’ve never seen a modern baby gate that requires two hands to use. In reality, the retract-a-gate is far more difficult to use than a regular gate. Passing through this gate requires five steps: - Step 1: Release the pushbutton lock - Step 2: Bend over and unlatch the gate - Step 3: Walk through the gate - Step 4: Latch the gate - Step 5: Re-engage the pushbutton lock (this must be done, the gate is not childproof unless the pushbutton lock is engaged) With a normal metal baby gate, you simply unlock it by grabbing the conveniently located handle at the top, walk through it, and the gate will automatically close behind you and lock itself. Two steps instead of five. Where does this gate shine? If you want to block off extremely wide areas, this gate will work great as normal gates cannot span across very wide gaps. However, those are outlier situations. For day-to-day use, look elsewhere and go with a regular metal gate.

All-in-all this is a very high quality unit. At this price, it's really your hail Mary solution if you're working with an oddball area that simply won't work with a standard hinge-style gate. I went through 3 different hinge style gates along with their special banister adapter kits and none of them worked for our staircase design. You'll take a step backwards usability with this unit as it's a multi-step sometimes two-handed operation to open/close/lock. But once it's all installed, it's very clean and very smooth to operate. Like I said, you're getting what you pay for. I had to use the optional banister install kit to avoid drilling into our gorgeous wood. Biggest flaw is the clear plastic brackets that you drill into the wall are just slightly wider than a wall stud. This means if you want to mount them into a stud (if this is for a toddler... Who wouldn't!?) you need to send the screws in at a hard inward angle that can be a bit tough to get right (see pic for final results). This really could have been thought through better. Outside of that, it's a great solution for tough stairways.