This is truly a beautiful work of art and looks terrific once built. I do see some tough reviews and heres my take on my whole experience and what I've learned from other peoples reviews.1. The packaging is not very good, but it does arrive unharmed with all the necessary pieces. (At least mine did)2. The direction are horrible. Its a 1 pager where the diagram looks nothing like the unit so I had to reference the picture here on Amazon to articulate what I needed to do. The good news is that its not difficult to assemble. (You will need some help because the pieces are a bit heavy and awkward)3. I went to home depot and bought a can of good quality clear wood sealer. This will protect the wood from sun, rain, weather etc....I can see how it could eventually break down just like any other piece of wood out in the elements, but if you treat it, it should certainly last a lot longer. Time will tell. (Oh and I do plan to tarp it tightly in the winter.)4. Once its all set up, its very sturdy and looks amazing! I had one of those cheap metal things which worked (well let me not call it cheap), but this is a piece of art and makes the yard look really good!I fully recommend it, but you have to seal it and be a little bit handy to put it together. My daughter and I put it together in about 40 minutes.Good Luck!