My husband was able to put this together quickly on his own, but he did need to get into his tools to fix a piece that wasn't quite fitting properly. We have three cats and they love it so far! The mouse on the string is getting plenty of abuse but hasn't been ripped off yet. We put it in front of a window so they can climb high and enjoy the view. It's a tad wobbly the higher it goes, but being almost six feet, that's bound to happen. A great piece for the price!