You’ll get what you pay for. If you tighten the screws too much, even by hand, to close gaps where there shouldn’t be gaps, it’ll start to crack the wood. I was going slow so I noticed before there was noticeable damage. Chairs creak when you sit in them, but again, you can’t tighten screws without risking damaging it. It’s cheap disposable furniture. It’ll do the job if you don’t have a big budget, and live alone, but don’t expect it to stand up with heavy use.