It arrived with small cracks. I called customer service right away and they offered solutions to my satisfaction. I have not finished staining it yet. I would say that when you get it you should take a electric sander to all the edges. The edges are sharp and have some splinters. I also re-glued some of the diagonal boards. I also used stainable wood filler in some of the joints that had large gaps. For all the above reasons I took away 1 star. The price is very good and it does come assembled which was a plus.