I bought one of these to cover half my patio. Loved it so much I decided to buy a second one to put beside it. I am a 50 year old woman and was able to assemble both by myself with a few tricks. The second one took only 2 hours and 6 minutes. I held the corner posts up by tying them to kitchen chairs while I installed the cross beams. Just a note, screw in the smallest cross bars on the very top before screwing the larger beams to the posts so the spacing will be perfect. It will make sense when you see it. The pergolas really look great on my patio. I havent tied them down yet and they have weathered many storms without a problem.